It

We tried watching and enjoying the Rose Bowl, we really did.  As a precursor, while we have heard many people say that if you do not enjoy the commentary of a football game then just set the volume to mute.  But let’s be honest, taking away the crowd noise takes a little bit of the entertainment value out of it, so the broadcast team voices are often just an annoyance.

Enter Brent Musburger.  More than just annoying, when USC all but had the game wrapped up, in came his incessant drive and determination to win USC some form of a National Championship.  “We should have an ‘And One.’  USC is the best team in the Country; no one could beat them.” Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 

There is a flaw in your theory, Mr. Musburger:  Someone already beat them, Oregon State.  An Oregon State team that while finishing the season at 9 - 4 and having a respectable schedule, their lineup of competition and the final scores are not the caliber of team that should have beaten a team that is “that great” in your words.  Who’s fault is that?  Not the BCS.  Not the fans.  Not the pollsters.

We will keep this short for you, Brent, go ahead and keep badgering the AP to give USC their National Championship - other than USC fans, no one else cares who you think should win, nor do we agree with you.  We used to be fans of yours, Brent, but your recent political tones during games and your desire to use a nickname ad nauseam for at least one player each game has changed our tolerance level for you.  Come back to what made you great. 

Pete Carroll, our good man, time to let it go yourself and just use coach speak when asked about it.  You lost, you looked great against Penn State, but you lost.  You are not in the BCS National Title Game nor do you deserve to be.  Bring it in a tough conference (although we must admit that the PAC-10 is better this year) and bring it ALL season long.  Stop blaming others for your predicament and handle your business; you seem to be good at that….. except once a year.

Coach, you are one of the characters that a non-biased fan can love one minute and then do something to totally their opinion.  It is like a see-saw with you. 

We will not tell you how to coach your team, you are obviously great at that, but griping and whining about things in one game and running up the score in another do not compliment each other.  Use your loss and the football fans that do not like you as motivation for next year.  Just call this season’s disappointment unfortunate and move on.  Be the man that we know that you are.  And get rid of that one arrogant coach on your staff that likes to… nevermind, we are sure that you know who he is.

[Writer's Note:  The opinions expressed here are that of the writer (and several others) and not necessarily those of Union.Sportsblognet.com.]

Feel free to comment or to e-mail me at haydenhodges34@gmail.com.  Thanks.

Oklahoma State came within 4 points of beating the Texas Longhorns, and a team that beat conference champion runner-up Missouri.

But no, the Pac-10 is terrible, and the Big 12 is superior in every way. There’s no way a ranked team from the Big 12 could lose to a team from the Pac-10.

The Pac-10, aside from playing USC, had no tough opponents. They had a pansy schedule. Without tough regular season competition, there is no way that Oregon could beat Oklahoma state, who had to play the best of the best.

And then the Oregon Ducks running game made their statement in the Holiday Bowl.

Although Oklahoma State jumped out to an early 1st quarter lead, the second half was no contest, as Oregon scored five touchdowns to Oklahoma’s two.

Suddenly, the Pac-10 doesn’t look so weak.

Look for the Pac-10 to continue their bowl dominance today in the Brut Sun Bowl as Oregon State plays #20 Pittsburgh. Also, look for some exciting Big 12 and SEC Play. Kansas is playing Minnesota, LSU fights Georgia Tech, and Vanderbilt faces off against Boston College.

Watch out for Georgia Tech to hand the SEC another major loss after their monumental upset of the Georgia Bulldogs a few weeks ago.

Here are the bowl game results thus far:

Pac - 10 Bowl Results

#17 Oregon 42, #13 Oklahoma State 31 (Pacific Life Holiday Bowl)

Cal 24, Miami 17 (Emerald Bowl)

Arizona 31 , #16 BYU 21  (Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl)

Overall Record: 3-0

vs. Top 25: 2-0

vs. SEC: (Not Scheduled)

vs. Big 12: 1-0

SEC Bowl Results

Overall Record: 0-0

vs. Top 25: 0-0

vs. Pac-10: 0-0

vs. Big 12: 0-0

Big 12 Bowl Results

#21 Mizzouri 30, #23 Northwestern 23 OT

#13 Oklahoma State 31, #17 Oregon  42

Overall Record: 1-1

vs. Top 25: 1-1

vs. Pac-10: 0-1

vs. SEC: 0-0

This article was originally written at USC Conquest, a USC Trojans Blog

Throughout the season, I have argued that it was the Pac-10’s difficult non-conference schedule that made them seem weak. By splitting the number of games that they have won, the Pac-1o made themselves look worse than the incestuous SEC. The Big 12 I give some respect to. They played a few tough games outside of their conference. The SEC, however, continues to ride their reputation as a strong conference, and has yet to prove themselves in bowl play.

So now that you have the background to my argument, here’s what is really important: the stats. For the next two weeks, I will be logging a comparison of the Pac-10 versus the two “strongest” conferences in the NCAA. Hopefully, I will be proven correct in that conference strength means nothing when comparing an incestuous conference to one that actually plays difficult out-of-conference games. If I’m proven wrong, you may not hear from me for a while.

Pac - 10 Bowl Results

Arizona 31 , BYU (16) 21  (Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl)

Overall Record: 1-0

vs. Top 25: 1-0

vs. SEC: 0-0

vs. Big 12: 0-0

SEC Bowl Results

Overall Record: 0-0

vs. Top 25: 0-0

vs. Pac-10: 0-0

vs. Big 12: 0-0

Big 12 Bowl Results

Overall Record: 0-0

vs. Top 25: 0-0

vs. Pac-10: 0-0

vs. SEC: 0-0

This article was orginally posted at USC Conquest, a USC Trojan Sports Blog.

But, alas, before you go patting yourselves on the back, you might…

Please read the rest by Clicking Here. Thanks.

KEEP

QB Matt Ryan (best young QB in the game)
QB Jay Cutler (strongest arm in the game)
RB Matt Forte (freshest legs in the NFL)
RB Adrian Peterson (best athlete in the NFL)
RB Chris Johnson (young runner on run-first team)
WR Brandon Marshall (tall, fast, strong and great QB)
WR Roddy White (fast, plays on turf and QB is great)
WR Calvin Johnson (stats jump in every blow-out loss)
TE Tony Gonzalez (never drop him until he retires)

LET GO
QB Donovan McNabb (probably traded in the off season)
QB Kurt Warner (gets hurt every year, almost 50 years old)
RB Reggie Bush (will never be healthy in the NFL)
RB Frank Gore (has broken every bone in his body)
RB Clinton Portis (bad coach, bad system, bad QB)
WR Terrell Owens (attitude problem and legit head case)
WR Steve Smith (attitude problem and punches teammates)
WR Randy Moss (his QB (Brady) will never be the same)
TE Antonio Gates (starting to block first, catch TD’s later)

This article was originally written by Brandon Schrey of the Brandon Schrey Report.

NFC

Division Leaders

1. GIANTS 11-1
2. BUCCANEERS 9-3
3. VIKINGS 7-5
4. CARDINALS 7-5

Wildcard

5. PANTHERS 9-3
6. FALCONS8-4

Still In it

7. COWBOYS 8-4
8. REDSKINS 7-5
9. EAGLES 6-5-1
10. BEARS 6-6

AFC

Division Leaders

1. TITANS 11-1
2. STEELERS 9-3
3. JETS 8-4
4. BRONCOS 7-5

Wild-card teams

5. COLTS 8-4
6. RAVENS 8-4

Still Alive

7. PATRIOTS 7-5
8. DOLPHINS 7-5
9. BILLS6-6

Predictions:

NFC Playoff Teams: Giants, Bucs, Vikings (Probably will tie the Bears but will have better conf record for tiebraker), Cardinals, Cowboys, Panthers

AFC Playoff Teams: Titans, Steelers, Jets (Will probably win because of tiebreaker for conference record), Broncos, Colts, Ravens

NFC Champ: Giants

AFC Champ: Colts

Superbowl: Giants over Colts by 10

Looks like we have the Manning Superbowl this year.  I think the Titans are a bit overrated and believe the Colts and/or Steelers can beat them on the road.  Kerry Collins just isn’t enough.  The Colts already proved they could beat the Steelers at home and I believe they could do it again.  As long as Bob Sanders is healthy during the playoffs they should be able to win on the road as all they have done lately is win games.  I don’t really have to say anything about the Giants.  Their one loss was a complete fluke and it probably did a great job of humbling them.  Dominating Washington on the road without Plaxico proved they don’t need him.