Thursday, January 05, 2006

Final Standings

Brett 53-22
Corey 53-22
Kyle 53-22

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Amazingly enough, we all tied. What a geeat season of college and Big Ten football.

It all came to an end last night in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. Texas defeated USC 41-38 in what might be the greatest game of all time.

See you next year.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

FedEx Orange Bowl
(3)Penn State vs. (22)Florida State


Kyle says:

Penn State

Brett says:

Break out the catheters and medication for this one. Joe Pa and Bobby come in with about a combined age of 4563. Pretty fitting they're playing this one in Miami. Florida State manages to sneak into this one with a win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship where the Seminoles actually looked half decent. Problem is, they aren't very good. When you're playing that many freshmen and are going into the Orange Bowl it's usually not going to mean good things. Granted Penn State also has had some impact freshmen but their experienced defense is what makes them good. Expect Tamba and Posluzny to be all over Weatherford all day. I don't think this one will be too good so maybe Bobby and Joe Pa could have a fight to death at midfield during
halftime. Who wouldn't pay big bucks to see that?

Penn State - 26
Florida State - 13

Corey says:

Penn State

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
(4)Ohio State vs. (5)Notre Dame


Kyle says:

A perfect game in a perfect place. Ohio State-Notre Dame in Tempe. I've been hoping the Bucks and ND would hook up again soon. I got my wish. The games in '95 and '96 are still talked about all the time in Columbus. If the Bucks can win the Fiesta Bowl, beating Michigan and Notre Dame to end the season is about as good as winning a national title. Troy Smith has a chance to get another great win. I think OSU has an advantage in almost every category. Brady is a little better than Troy, but Troy is so good too that it doesn't matter. The one thing that concerns me is the WR-DB height differential. ND has a huge advantage. I think the Bucks will come out on top, though. Brady will meet AJ on the turf a few times, and Bobby Carpenter is going to play.

Ohio State - 30
Notre Dame - 23

Brett says:

We thought there couldn't be a more hyped game than OSU-Texas but this one might top that in only a little over a month. Message boards have been going crazy after it was announced these two would meet up for the 5th time ever. This one should definitely not disappoint. Both teams fell just a few points short of being right in the national championship hunt and should be right near the top again next year. There's an outside chance they might even be numbers 1 and 2. The Notre Dame offense has been a juggernaut this year as Brady Quinn has passed on whoever he wants, even USC. Problem with Notre Dame is, the defense has not always been there, such as their fuck up against Michigan State at home. As for the Bucks, the defense has been on a mission since Minnesota had a half decent game against them in October. The difference in this game I think is the Buckeye offense. An offense that has gotten a lot of shit over the last few years has turned into one of the best in the country, scoring over 30 in 5 of their last 6 games. Notre Dame hasn't faced a quarterback as mobile as Troy Smith all year and I think that makes the difference. Notre Dame's offense is good enough to have a decent day like Minnesota, maybe even better, but the Buckeye offense pushes OSU over the top.

Ohio State - 37
Notre Dame - 30


Corey says:


Ohio State

Capital One Bowl
(21)Wisconsin vs. (7)Auburn

Kyle says:

Barry Alvarez says goodbye. Unfortuntely for him, Auburn is one of the hottest teams in the nation right now, and Wisconsin is not playing to well as of late. I think the Tiger defense will pretty much shut Brian Calhoun down. It looks like Auburn is going to go into next season with hopes to finally win the national title.

Fuck Auburn - 33
Bye Bye Barry - 24

Brett says:


The great Spaniard goes out for one last fiesta in Orlando against Auburn. Like every fuckin year, Wisconsin surpassed anybody's expectations to get to this game. It's like clockwork, hopefully the tradition ends as Alvarez goes off into the sunset. The running game will be big for both teams in this one as both have very good players getting the ball. The Badgers have Brian Calhoun who started the year on absolute fire but fizzled towards the end of the year, including an 18-yard performance in Alvarez's final home game. The Tigers have Kenny Irons who is looking to continue the tradition of great Auburn running backs. He did the opposite of Calhoun as at the beginning of the year he wasn't really getting the ball but was a force for the Tigers in the second half of the season, including a 218-yard performance in a loss against LSU, a very good defensive team. The biggest thing that will hurt the Badgers in this one is their defense. It was pretty bad this year, giving up 51, 35, and 34 in their 3 losses. That will be the difference in the Tiger victory.

Auburn - 33
Spaniards one last time - 27

Corey says:

Auburn

Outback Bowl
(25)Iowa vs. (16)Florida


Kyle says:


This has the makings for a great game. I don't know if it will pan out that way or not. Iowa started sucking ass at the end of the year with a huge choke in Evanston to top it off. I saw Florida in person once, when Alabama kicked the shit out of them, but I think the Gators are pretty good. I really feel that this game's results will be the opposite of the last time these two teams hooked up in the Outback Bowl. 2 years ago the Hawkeyes drilled Florida.

Florida - 31
Iowa - 20

Brett says:

I'm pretty torn on this game. Iowa has been coming on as of late and have done pretty good in bowls as of late if you take out that ass raping from USC in the Orange Bowl. On the other hand, you have Florida who killed FSU at the end of the year, but also lost to South Carolina and almost were taken out by the Commodores. Also, the Hawkeye defense does have talent, and the Gators proved how good they are against good defense when they went into Bryant-Denny Stadium. These are definitely two of the smartest coaches in the country right now with Ferentz and Meyer. Definitely won't be a surprise if these two ever matched up against each other again in the NFL. This is really a toss up for me but it comes down to two things. Number one, I just can't see the Gators losing 4 bowls in a row, if they do lose, the Spurrier curse is alive. Number two, Herkey is still a pussy. A big one.

Chomp Chomp - 28
Herkey will always suck - 24

Corey says:

Florida

Friday, December 30, 2005

Vitalis Sun Bowl
Northwestern vs. (17)UCLA


Kyle says:

This is always one of my favorite bowls. I love El Paso, I love the stadium, and I love Verne Lundquist. Makes out for a great sight. This game is full of offense and no defense. The last time UCLA was competing, they gave up 66 points. It was to USC, but the game was hyped that they might win. That lasted about 5 minutes into the game. Northwestern is a joke. They have been overrated all season long. Finally, Michigan and Ohio State disposed of them and shut people up. I think the Bruins will win this one handily. The score might not indicate it, but I think it will be Westwood domination.

U...C...LLLLL...A UCLA FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT- 38
Mildcats - 31

Brett says:

This has been touted by many experts as being one of the most exciting bowl games on the slate of games and it shouldn't disappoint. If you're looking for some badass defenses, stay as far away from this one as possible. The matchup to look at in this one is the quarterback match up. As good of a year as Brett Basanez had, Drew Olson outshines him big time. Olson could almost make a case to say that he was the one that was snubbed by not being invited to New York over Brady Quinn. 31 TD's and only 3 INT is pretty amazing, even by Pac-10 standards. Many people think this game will be close but I just don't see it happening. As bad of a 9-2 team UCLA is, Northwestern is a worse 7-4 team. They got lucky they had this offense in a year when most of the Big Ten defenses were god awful so they managed to squeak out the wins. Granted they're also playing a bad defense in UCLA, but it won't matter.

UCLA - 50
Mildcats - 37

Corey says:

UCLA

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Virginia vs. Minnesota

Kyle says:

Glen Mason always wins his bowl games, probably because they are non-conference, but I don't think they'll beat the Cavs. Virginia is only 6-5 but it is a pretty good 6-5. I figure they'll be able to contain Maroney.

Virginia - 31
Minnesota - 27

Brett says:

Another year, another Music City Bowl for the Gophers. I heard Glen Mason is considering buying a home in Nashville so he can just go there when he makes his annual December trip there. I mean who didn't see this coming. Damn I still can't believe the Bucks didn't hire Glen. What a loss. Even with all the ripping on the Gophers, I still like them in this game. I mean obviously they're experienced in the intense Nashville atmosphere with 2 previous wins, so they have that going for them. Virginia has had a pretty disappointing season, it always seems whenever people think they are going to breakthrough they always come up short. Hey sounds like a team in the Big Ten, I wonder who? Virginia has had a decent defense throughout the year while Marques Hagans has pretty much been in a struggle on offense all year, while Wali Lundy has never been able to get in a groove on the running attack. The thing with the Virginia defense is that they've had a couple terrible games against the run. That's not a good thing when going up against Maroney and Russell. That will be the difference in the game as the Gophers come out with another HUGE bowl win.

Nashville Gophers - 27
Thomas Jefferson - 21

Corey says:

Minnesota

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

MasterCard Alamo Bowl
(21)Michigan vs. Nebraska

Kyle says:

This is one of the biggest bowls in terms of history among the opponents. Michigan is the winningest team in college football's history and Nebraska is close behind. Unfortunately for Nebraska they gave up 40 points to Kansas. I really don't see how Nebraska could win this game, but I don't think it will be a blowout like most people are saying. Michigan is not that good this year and the Alamo Dome will be a sea of red. The Huskers are hungry after missing the post season last year. If Michigan was not playing a big name opponent, I would probably pick against them. But the name Nebraska will get them up for this game.

Michigan - 35
Nebraska - 24

Brett says:

The Michigan faithful are very disappointed to be going to San Antonio. A year they were expected to compete for the national title turns out to be a season where they kick-off the Big Ten bowl season. Has to be a downer. Being in San Antonio last year, I can see it's a pretty sweet city so at least the assholes have that going for them. On the other side, the Huskers are actually happy to be in the Alamo Bowl. After missing a bowl last year, they're just happy to get out of Lincoln for a few days. Who the hell wouldn't? Unfortunately, for them, I don't see how they can take out the assholes. Sure, they ended the season on a high note, but that was against Colorado, who I think Mount Union could have taken out at the time. Also, although the assholes lost yet another game to the Bucks this year, they were still pretty hot towards the end of the season. The Huskers will have problems with the Michigan offense all night long and as bad as the asshole defense is, the Nebraska offense is definitely no juggernaut. Michigan in this one.

Assholes - 37
Middle of Nowhere - 23

Corey says:

Michigan

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Seven Big Ten Teams Go Bowling

Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Northwestern will all be representing the Big Ten Conference in post season bowls.

Dec. 28 8 P.M. ESPN - MasterCard Alamo - Michigan (7-4) VS. Nebraska (7-4)
Dec. 30 High Noon ESPN - Gaylord Motels Music City - Minnesota (7-4) VS. Virginia (6-5)
Dec. 30 2 P.M. CBS - Vitalis Sun - Northwestern (7-4) VS. UCLA (9-2)
Jan. 2 11 A.M. ESPN - Outback - Iowa (7-4) VS. Florida (8-3)
Jan. 2 1 PM. ABC - Capital One - Wisconsin (9-3) VS. Auburn (9-2)
Jan. 2 4:30 P.M. ABC - Tostitos Fiesta - Ohio State (9-2) VS. Notre Dame (9-2)
Jan. 3 8 P.M. ABC - FedEx Orange - Penn State (10-1) VS. Florida State (8-4)

*All times Eastern.

Friday, December 02, 2005

A Message From Kyle

Make sure you check out our basketball picks, too.

The site is www.bigtenbasketball.blogspot.com