Tag: 2011

The Final B1G Win / Loss Chart.

It’s all over for the B1G this year. Michigan beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl to round out a lackluster 4-6 bowl season for the B1G.

The winners this year were Michigan State, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Spartans won the Legends Division and the Outback Bowl ending up 11-3.

The Badgers won the Leaders Division and the B1G Championship game but lost in the Rose Bowl, so they also ended the year 11-3.

The Wolverines were a surprise to me but a weak schedule and a much improved defense certainly helped. Michigan won the Sugar Bowl and ended up 11-2.

Now attention turns to recruiting, coaching staff comings and goings, and whatever scandal or otherwise unfortunate mess comes to the surface during the slow news cycles. Hopefully, the B1G steers clear of that business for a while, we’ve certainly had our fair share lately.

Great job to the eight B1G schools with winning records this year, and better luck next time to the four schools that ended up in the red. Spring ball is just around the corner.

Go B1G or go home!

“Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

Yep, I snagged that from Brian Bennett who of course is quoting a Clint Eastwood line from Unforgiven, but it is an absolutely accurate way of describing the bowl selection process and pairings. Here’s how Brian (whom I happen to like 98% more than Adam Rittenburg, BTW) put it…

Best quote to remember: “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.” Just keep repeating Clint Eastwood’s line in “Unforgiven” whenever you complain about bowls. Did Michigan deserve a BCS bid over Michigan State, who finished ahead of the Wolverines in the Legends Division and thumped their rivals by two touchdowns? No. Did a 9-3 Penn State team deserve to slide all the way down to the TicketCity Bowl? Of course not. Did 6-6 Ohio State, which lost to Penn State, deserve to go to the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl? Heck no.

Always keep in mind that the BCS is set up only to pit the No. 1 vs. No. 2 teams (and it doesn’t even get that right every time). Virtually every other bowl is an exhibition game put on by a city to boost tourism. That’s it. Nothing more. It’s preposterous that schools allow their most valuable property — the postseason — to be run by some chamber of commerce in a distant city and will eagerly agree to outrageous ticket guarantees that amount to little more than blackmail.

But that’s the system we have. And deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.

His words, my sentiments. But you know what, we had our shot. We were one of very few teams who can say they actually played for the bowl they really wanted, and just didn’t win. I’ve got to not have a bad attitude. I’ve got to buck up. I’ve got to get behind the Spartans and pull for a bowl win since we haven’t done that yet. Go Green! Go White. Here’s to Michigan State beating Georgia in the Outback Bowl!

I’m going to re-charge, re-load, re-think, re-whatever and get behind my B1G brethren and cheer for their success.

Best of luck to you Wisconsin, I hope you kick the shit out of Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Gods speed to you Michigan, I hope thrash Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

Here’s to you Nebraska, I hope you shut down South Carolina in the Capitol One Bowl.

Cheers to you Ohio State, I hope you steamroll Florida in the Gator Bowl.

Go get ’em Penn State, I hope you spank Houston in the TicketCity Bowl.

Fire up Illinois, I hope you dominate UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Fight the good fight Northwestern, I hope you crush Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.

Get ‘er done Iowa, I hope you route Oklahoma in the Insight Bowl.

And lastly, Boiler Up Purdue, I hope you flatten Western Michigan in the Little Ceasar’s Bowl.

Let’s dominate! Go B1G or go home.

MSU 3, Nebraska 24. Spartans go to 6-2, 3-1 in the B1G.

Nobody likes to lose. I certainly don’t. But a hard-fought game that ultimately becomes a loss is an easier pill to swallow than 60-minutes of disfunction. And yesterday’s Spartan-Husker game was a very bitter pill. Taste’s like Iowa 2010.

The Spartan stats don’t lie.

On offense, 101 total yards rushing averaging 3.4 yards per carry. 86 yards passing with Cousins going 11-27 with one interception. Zero receptions for B.J. Cunningham. Cousins was sacked like 45 times (or so it seems). Total offense was 187 yards with no TDs and one FG. Credit to the Nebraska defense (they finally received their notorious black shirts after the game), no doubt about that, but boy were the Spartans off. Just not there at all.

Defense was a better but not spectacular. Burkhead ran for 130 of Nebraska’s 190 rushing yards, but they averaged only 3.3 yards per carry.

“T-Magic” had 80 yards in the air, which after seeing the mechanics of his throw is remarkably good – he throws the ball like a 7th grader. Martinez went 7-13 also with one pick.

With a few exceptions, the Cornhuskers were running the show. They were doing their thing and MSU was reacting. In a nutshell, Nebraska was totally up for this game and Michigan State was not.

So, the Spartans head back home. Re-group and re-load. We’ve got Minnesota at home next week. The good news is that the “October From Hell” is finally over. We played Ohio State in the Shoe, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska in Lincoln, and we came away 3-1. In September I was just hoping and praying that we would be 2-2 in that stretch, so I should be pleased. And I guess that I am. But that damn bitter taste just won’t go away.

All the B1G teams played yesterday, and it was an interesting day. I’m 14-4 on the conference season going in to this week. Here’s how it played out…

Northwestern beat Indiana – I picked NW by two TDs, and they did a little better than that in their 59-38 score-fest.

#18 Michigan beat Purdue – Shoelace & co. took it to Purdue 36-14. Purdue maintains their perfect alternating win / loss pattern. I picked U-M because I thought they would be rested and highly motivated to prove they are not the 2009 or 2010 Wolverines. So far, it looks like they are not, but they have some tougher match-up still in front of them.

Minnesota beat Iowa – Yep. Who’d of thunk it. I guess when Floyd of Rosedale is on the line, the Gophers can get it done. I missed on this one.

#19 Penn State beat Illinois – I picked the Lions because they were playing in Happy Valley, and I believe they are the better team. They waited until the fourth quarter to prove it, but they got it done in the snow.

Ohio State beat #15 Wisconsin – I underestimated the Buckeyes and I overestimated the fury that the Badgers would bring after a crushing defeat last week. What a second half. Braxton Miller may be the real deal.

I’m now 17-6 for conference games. Pretty good, I think. For the Lucky Strike Extra, Notre Dame blew out Navy. I called that too.

I think the Spartans will feel this one for a while. But Dantonio will use it to get them focused and fired-up for the Gophers and beyond. Unfortunately, the B1G race just got a lot more interesting. Bring on November!

Go Green!

B1G GameDay!

I already miss the ruckus and spectacle of College GameDay being in East Lansing, but it was fun while it lasted.

This week it’s #11 Michigan State vs. #14 Nebraska in Lincoln. Both teams are 6-1 overall with MSU 3-0 and NU 2-1 in the B1G. This game is important as it is the match-up of two schools likely to be at the top of the Legends at the end of the year, and winning this game could decide a tie-breaker down the line. Not to mention it’s two really good football teams squaring off for the first time in-conference. The game is set for a Noon kickoff on ESPN / ESPN3.

Elsewhere in the B1G, here’s who’s playing and my predictions:

Northwestern at Indiana – Noon on BTN.  The Wildcats are the best bad team in the B1G. They’ve played some good teams and payed the price. Indiana is just not good. The only thing worse than their offense is their defense. I pick NW by two scores in Bloomington today.

Purdue at #18 Michigan – Noon on ESPN2/ESPN3.  The Boilermakers are 4-3 and they have alternated win / loss all season (they’re up for L based on that pattern). Their running game is solid and their defense isn’t bad either. But then there is the Wolverines. Who can tell what they’ll do now that they have a loss. We know what happened in the past, but I think things are different in Ann Arbor. I’m not saying U-M will be a one loss team at the end of the season, or anything like that. But at home today, after a bye week, I pick Michigan over Purdue.

Iowa at Minnesota – 3:30pm on BTN – Hawk. Eyes.

Illinois at #19 Penn State – 3:30pm on ABC / ESPN2 / ESPN3.  The Illini are 6-2 after starting 4-0. Penn State is 7-1 with their only loss coming from Alabama. This is the (once) overrated vs. the (not for long) underrated, and the Nittany Lion defense is the deciding factor. JoePa gets win #675,921 today at home.

#15 Wisconsin at Ohio State – 8:00pm on ESPN / ESPN3.  The Badgers are mad. And they’re damn good. The Buckeyes are a shadow of their former self. Wisconsin wins in the Shoe decisively.

No byes this week, everybody plays.

Lucky Strike Extra: Navy at Notre Dame – 3:30pm on NBC.  The Midshipmen are sinking fast even with an offense that averages 325 yards on the ground per game. Navy’s defense leaky and their passing game is one of the worst in college football. The Irish strung four solid wins together only to totally collapse against arch-rival USC. I think Notre Dame wins today, but I just don’t know what to think about Coach Kelly and the Fighting Irish these days. Get it together already.

It’s mighty chilly out there, so throw a pot of Chili on the stove, bundle up and hunker down for some B1G football. And lest we forget, Go Green!

Ranks and Rants.

Top Ten? Almost. So close.

The latest BCS rankings have Michigan State at #11, up from #16 after the win over Wisconsin. We are now the highest ranked B1G school. Other MSU rankings: AP #9, USA Today & ESPN: #10.  A nice improvement over 15, 13 and 14 respectively last week. As with last week, this feels pretty good to me.

Other B1G schools…

Nebraska – BCS: #14, AP / USA Today: #13, ESPN: #14.  About the same from last week after dusting Minnesota.

Wisconsin – BCS: #15, AP / ESPN: #12, USA Today: #11. Dropped nine spots are losing to Michigan State.

Michigan – BCS: #18, AP / USA Today / ESPN: #17. No change after a bye week.

Penn State – BCS: #19, AP / ESPN: #21, USA Today: #19.  Up a couple after beating Northwestern.

Illinois – No longer ranked after a loss to Purdue.

Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Ohio State and Indiana continue to be unranked.

In terms of B1G standings, MSU leads the Legends and Penn State is starting to pull away in the Leaders:

Five more weeks to go. Anything can happen as we finish out Oct0ber this week and look towards November. It’s gonna get cold! It’s gonna get rough! It’s gonna be B1G!

Go Green!

 

 

Week #4 Of B1G Play Is In The Books.

By now it’s old news. #16 Michigan State picked off undefeated #6 Wisconsin in a thriller in East Lansing.

What a special day all the way around. ESPN’s College GameDay was in East Lansing for the Game of the Week. It was Homecoming at State. It was a rare night game at Spartan Stadium. It was televised in Prime Time on ESPN nationally. In a word, this one was B1G.

The game delivered on the hype. A great match-up all the way through and right down to the last play. Kirk Cousins, B.J. Cunningham, Le’Veon Bell, Keshawn Martin, and of course, Keith Nichol all were awesome. They left it all on the field. And the defense played very hard, very intense, at times, even dominated a Wisconsin team that has net felt that all year.

And MSU played a 100% clean game. No penalties, fouls, flags, etc. So let’s cease and disist with all this “dirty team” BS.

I’m happy for my Spartans. I feel bad for the Badgers. I like Wisconsin. I feel that there is a kinship between the two schools. East Lansing and Madison are both great college towns. Fun towns with fun people who know how to have fun. But once a year (most years), we’ve got to face-off. In those instances, I always want MSU to win, even if it isn’t necessarily great for the B1G. I’m sorry, but I’m that loyal to Michigan State.

So anyway, there were five other B1G games yesterday…

Iowa beat Indiana – I picked Iowa by 20. I was close, it was by 21 (45-24).

Purdue beat #23 Illinois – I picked Illinois. It was Purdue 21-14. Purdue did theirs in the first half and Illinois tried to come back in the fourth quarter, but it was too little way too late.

#13 Nebraska beat Minnesota – Huskers 41-14. Picked it.

#21 Penn State beat Northwestern – I picked NW but it was the Lions 34-24. I thought PatFitz would raise his team up at home, but nope.

I went 2-2 in week #4 of conference play bringing my overall record to 14-4. Not too bad.

In my Lucky Strike Extra, I picked Notre Dame over USC. Notre Dame couldn’t make it happen at QB and lost 31-17 to the Trojans. Luckily, this one doesn’t count against me in my B1G prediction score for 2011. The Irish really need a dominant QB. Tommy just isn’t athletic enough and Dane makes really bad decisions. They both can hurt themselves with turn-overs. Neither of these guys are The Guy in my opinion.

And Lane Kiffin is still a huge douche. Totally.

MSU 37, Wisconsin 31. Spartans go to 6-1, 3-0 in the B1G and 2-0 in the Legends.

That was a crazy game. Nail biter to the maximus. More to come, but HOLY CRAP! AWESOME!

Spartans drop to a 0-14 deficit in the first quarter and the Badger look dominant as hell. But Sparty takes the momentum and scores 23 unanswered points to go in to the half 23-14.

The second half was a struggle and State seemed tentative. The play calling was a little conservative and seemed more befitting a 20-point lead. Wisconsin turned it on and was looking all the #6 BCS team as they tied it up 31-31.

And on the last play with four seconds on the cl0ck and overtime looming, Captain Kirk throws it deep.

Hail Mary. Jump ball. These things barely ever work.

it bounces around and lands in Keith Nichol’s hands. But he’s on the one yard line.

He pushes forward and the Badgers push back. He goes down and the officials place it on the one yard line.

They review it and…

TOUCHDOWN MSU!

The Spartans win.

Great game all the way around. Sparty played 100% clean with not one penalty or foul. The Wisconsin Badgers played a great game. They are a great team. But Michigan State pulled it out tonight under the lights at Spartan Stadium.

Wow. I’m going to bed with a big-ass smile on my face. Awesome.

Go Green!