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Posted 11/12/2006 at 10:02 PM
I guess it goes without saying that neither Ohio State nor Michigan were looking past their opponents yesterday with "Judgment Day" on deck. Unfortunately I didn't see that scenario unfolding as Indiana (+19) and Northwestern (+23) made up two of my three losers (the other being Oregon +8) on Saturday.
I figured with the Buckeyes and Wolverines sloppy performances a week ago against weak teams (Ball State and Illinois) they would probably continue to sleep walk through a low scoring victory this weekend.
Obviously that wasn't in the plans as both Ohio State and Michigan jumped all over their opponents early and often and never let them up for air. (Ohio State won 54-10 and Michigan prevailed 34-3)
I'll say this, with all the losses this weekend to highly ranked teams (Louisville, Texas, Cal and Auburn) and the near escape by Florida against South Carolina, I'm beginning to think that unless we see a blowout next weekend in Columbus - which is highly unlikely - then the Wolverines and Buckeyes deserve to play again for the National Championship.
I know that TV execs, among others, will hate that matchup but if the ultimate goal of the BCS is to pit the best two teams against one another then I really feel that is what should happen.
Unfortunately, as it stands right now the winner of the USC/Notre Dame game or possibly Arkansas or Florida is right in the hunt. Of course, there is always those gritty gutty Scarlet Knights from Rutgers…
Fortunately I was able to counter those three losses with four winners, which brings me to my IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK.
I waited until right before kickoff to make my play on Wake Forest as they visited Florida State on a rainy night in Tallahassee. I had submitted the Demon Deacons (+8.5) earlier on VegasInsider but had a feeling the public was all over the Seminoles and so I waited and then waited some more.
I ended up getting Wake (+10) so the wait was well worth it but in the end I certainly didn't need those points. I don't think I can recall a team so thoroughly taking it to the Seminoles in Doak Campbell Stadium like Wake Forest did Saturday night. And think about that for a second - WAKE FOREST HAMMERED FLORDIA STATE.
Amazing.
The final damage was 30-0. So much for QB Xaiver Lee salvaging the season for FSU. If Coach Bobby Bowden thought the calls for son Jeff to be removed for his role as Offensive Coordinator were loud before, well he might need earplugs and blinders now.
Here is an amazing stat to consider: How far back do you have to go to find a season where Florida State and Miami combined for at least 10 losses? When is the last time that neither of those teams had a winning record in at any time in November? (they both currently stand at 5-5) I don't have the answers but it sure has to be a long time ago. If you do dig up those facts please drop me an e-mail! (Christian@vegasinsider.com)
I remember thinking after watching Florida State pull out a very close game at Miami to start the year that these two teams had incredible defenses. Wrong. Turns out that just had very mediocre offenses that made their defenses look good.
This much we know: Larry Coker is out at Miami as soon as the season is over and Bowden will be forced to shuffle his coaching roster - likely meaning his son is out.
FRAUD OF THE WEEK: Doesn't seem too long ago - October 28 in fact - that the Cowboys of Wyoming had the 3rd ranked defense in the nation. Granted, playing in the Mountain West they hadn't faced a lot of powerful offenses but they had more than held their own in limiting Boise State to 17 points and Utah to 15 points.
However, these last three weeks they have been awful and especially this past weekend when BYU absolutely destroyed them 55-7. The Cougars gained 454 yards and made the top-rated MWC defense look like a high-school squad.
TEAM I AM STARTING TO LOVE: How can you not like those Hawaii Warriors? Besides the fact that they are a CASH MACHINE with a 7-1-1 ATS record, June Jones squad is just fun to watch. This offense has scored OVER 60 points in four of their last five games.
QB Colt Brennan gets all the pub and rightly so considering his fast release and accuracy. However, my favorite player has to be RB Nate Ilaoa (pronounced "ee-LAU-ah"). The 5-9, 250 lb senior is just a beast out of the backfield and for a guy his size he has some nice speed.
FADE ALERT: Up until the past couple of weeks the Baylor Bears (4-7, 3-4 Big 12) had been a pretty tough out. However, in the 4th quarter of what turned out to be a 31-21 home loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 28, QB Shawn Bell, the nation's No. 4 passer, tore the ACL in his right knee and was lost for the season.
The last two weeks have shown just how important Bell was to Baylor as the Bears have been destroyed by Texas Tech (21-55) and Oklahoma State (24-66). Baylor freshman Blake Szymanski has tried his best to fill in for Bell but this team is clearly not the same. Expect much more ugliness this weekend as the season will come to a close against Oklahoma.
BACKDOOR OF THE WEEK: Two teams share the prize this week. The first is Cincinnati who kicked off as 19 point underdogs at West Virginia. The Bearcats held their own early and actually were up 3-0. But several big plays from RB Steve Slaton and QB Pat White - who else? - had the Mountaineers up 42-10 to start the 4th quarter.
However, Cincy didn't quit and under the direction of backup QB Nick Davila scored two touchdowns in the last quarter - completing the two-point conversion on the second TD - to just squeak in under the gun, losing 42-24.
The other half of this week's award goes to Oklahoma. The Sooners (-9.5) trailed for most of their game against Texas Tech - at one point down 24-10 in the 2nd quarter. However, Oklahoma rallied for 17 unanswered in the second half, including 14 in the 4th quarter to win 34-24. The key to the late cover was RB Chris Brown who scored both late touchdowns and has been a nice replacement for the injured Adrian Peterson.
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