Battle o' Texas and the SEC

[Kam]

Last year the red raiders were supposed to upset the horns and got shelacked. this year they're supposed to be better. well.. so is tx. this could be the year that all the hype from those countless top 3 signing classes finally does something. am rooting for at least a high flying shootout, but that tx D isn't like anything else the red raiders have seen. i think the horns win.

TX (2) vs. TTech (10) - horns win.

VaTech (3) v. Maryland - vick goes into another hostile environment before the eagles and my 'canes come to blacksburg. this has the feel of that virginia upset of fsu. if tech doesnt get on beemer ball early and put them away, the terps could be dangerous.

Will the SEC have another undefeated champ left out of the nat'l championship game? George and Alabama have to run the table first. georgia (4) gets arkansas at home and should do fine. but if everyone runs the table (and hoping vatech doesnt, obviously) the sec champ could be two steps removed from the title game. best doomsday for the bcs is having 4 undefeateds, the pac10, big 12, acc, and sec champs all clamoring for the 2 spots in the game... and all having pretty legitamate claims. but that wont happen.... could it? then again... everything happens for a reason...

UT (17) v. 'Bama (5) - a lot of experts (espn, sportsline, si) have been picking UT here, but i think bama has a LOT of revenge on its mind with phulmer turning in the crimson tide still fresh on memories. i say tide roll.

Auburn (16) v. LSU (7) - tough call here. not sure who will pull this one out? i say lsu in a close one, auburn fights hard to stay in the sec race, but falls just short.

OSU v. UCLA (8) - cal got a wake up call from the beavers so UCLA is forewarned, they'll be ready. just have to keep their focus and not look ahead to usc.

and another hurricane comes through to postpone sports and lives. hope everyone in south fla and the region stays safe as wilma comes through!

peace
k2
go 'canes!

[Woochifer]

I'm still a skeptic about Texas, and I have a feeling that Tech will pile up points, but the Longhorn offense has looked very impressive so far.

'Bama's been winning very ugly, but their defense will probably be good enough to get over on the Vols.

Haven't seen enough of LSU or Auburn to go one way or the other on that one, and I still don't have a read on VT either.

On UCLA, I don't think the Bruins will overlook OSU, not with former Bruin QB Matt Moore making his return to the Rose Bowl. The crowd will be all over Moore the entire game, and the Bruin defense will be looking to send a message as well. So long as the offense plays their game and avoids mistakes, I think UCLA will win easily. If anything, they went down to the wire against the Cougs last week because they were looking ahead to this grudge match. I don't think the Cal game was a good measure for the Beavers because Cal was coming off a crushing loss and their injury problems finally caught up to them. If the Bruins stumble before the SC game (and I think they will), it will probably come against Stanford or Arizona. Those are the teams that they can easily overlook, and those are the types of teams that they've had trouble putting away. If anything, I want the OSU game to turn into a Bruin blowout early because our future QB Ben Olson (redshirt frosh who was the #1 high school prospect in 2002 and just came back from a Mormon mission) needs to get some playing time.

[dean_martin]

Will the SEC have another undefeated champ left out of the nat'l championship game? George and Alabama have to run the table first. georgia (4) gets arkansas at home and should do fine. but if everyone runs the table (and hoping vatech doesnt, obviously) the sec champ could be two steps removed from the title game. best doomsday for the bcs is having 4 undefeateds, the pac10, big 12, acc, and sec champs all clamoring for the 2 spots in the game... and all having pretty legitamate claims. but that wont happen.... could it? then again... everything happens for a reason...

UT (17) v. 'Bama (5) - a lot of experts (espn, sportsline, si) have been picking UT here, but i think bama has a LOT of revenge on its mind with phulmer turning in the crimson tide still fresh on memories. i say tide roll.

Auburn (16) v. LSU (7) - tough call here. not sure who will pull this one out? i say lsu in a close one, auburn fights hard to stay in the sec race, but falls just short.

peace
k2
go 'canes!

The UT/Bama rivalry is one of streaks. Bama is on the short end of the latest streak, but I see the streak turning this year. Home field is actually an advantage again for Bama. It's amazing, but since Bear Bryant's streak of over 50 wins at home was broken (a record surpassed by Kam's 'Canes), home field hasn't been all that favorable to the Tide. Bama can't come out tight though. Hell, if they come out as tight as I am just thinking about it they'll get beat. The Vols have nothing to lose. Make no mistake, this is a big game for Bama (one of 3 remaining). Bama must protect Brodie Croyle this week. It was close between back ups Gullion and Wilson, but Wilson won out. However, he got a DUI over the weekend and might be suspended for the Tenn game. Gullion's reps have increased in practice this week.

The Bear always put more emphasis on this game than on the Auburn game. There's lots of tradition to this rivalry including cigars in the winner's locker room.

Bama's closest wins were over So. Miss, Ark and Ole Miss. Bama dominated the 2nd half of the So. Miss game. Bama controlled the Ark game despite terrible field position and was in a position to break the game open before Ark scored on a 70 yard run. The Ole Miss game was an 11:00am game. For some reason Bama has never performed well in morning games. But, that last drive was impressive. Bama could not have put together a drive in the waning seconds to win a game during the last 2 seasons. Clock mismanagement, turnover or missed field goal from an unreasonable distance would have been the result. Bama showed poise and confidence.

Even though I'm a huge Bama homer, I'm not sold on their playing in the championship game yet. If the Tide remains undefeated and beats an undefeated Georgia team in the SEC championship game then Bama will have a strong argument.

LSU is under a new head coach and has dealt with unimaginable distractions this season. They're hitting their stride now. LSU should beat Auburn.