[NU Sports] What a wild day!

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

THIS is why no other sport comes close to matching
college football in excitement and unpredictability
year-in and year-out. What a day! Too bad we couldn't
add to the excitement.

First the bad - yes, we got our butts kicked by the #1
team. No surprise there. But there were a lot of
positives for NU to take out of the game -- we moved
the ball well on the Bucks and outgained them in the
first half. 

Yes, we made it too easy with turnovers, but that
first turnover (which SHOULD have been overturned had
the replay operater not been asleep at the wheel)
really killed our opening momentum and set the tone
for the day. And yeah, we gave up a few big plays, but
it was nice to see the D aggressive at the end of the
half and get burned instead of waiting for Smith to
pick us apart. 

And I'll echo those comments on McManis. This kid's
gonna be a star. I'm not sure he reminds me of Ismaeli
because I don't see him as a blitzer as much ... he's
something I can't recall NU ever having, a true cover
corner who can shut down a top receiver. With McManis,
Bacher, Sutton and company back next year, the future
looks bright.

Now for the day of college football ...

Auburn? Gone. Cal? Oops. Now Texas?!?! Sure McCoy was
injured, but he didn't play defense. What a phenomenal
game in Manhattan and a gutsy call on 3rd down there
at the end by KSU!

And Florida, Boise State and others just escaped the
upset bug, as did #1 and #2 last week.

You gotta love college football!

Who benefits? I'm not sure - it's gonna be real
interesting to see where everyone is in the BCS
rankings tomorrow. Initial instincts say that, sadly,
this helps West Virginia and Notre Dame leap right
back up there. But they still need help.

I think the SEC teams control their destiny - if
Arkansas or Florida run the table, it's going to be
real hard to deny them a shot (the Razorbacks looked
awfully impressive tonight) ... the only one who
really could overtake a 1-loss SEC team is USC because
of their win at Arkansas and their final stretch of
Cal and Notre Dame (though those two aren't looking as
impressive these days).

And the possibility of a rematch in Arizona looks more
and more likely as well. A close game in Columbus will
make it tough to drop Michigan or OSU far -- Oklahoma
and Nebraska lost by huge margins in their final games
in recent years of the BCS and still only dropped to
#2, so that's a big possibility now. And hey, why not
Rutgers?:)

But if I had to make a guess after today ...

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP: Ohio State vs. Florida
- The Gators top FSU and Arkansas to go 12-1 and they
pass up USC in a controversial BCS rankings finale to
meet the Big Ten champs in a battle for #1. And if
this works out, to be honest, the system probably
would have gotten it right as the OSU/UM winner will
clearly be #1 and the winner of the nation's best
conference is probably a worthy #2 out of the 1-loss
team mess.

ROSE: Michigan vs. Southern Cal
- Pasadena is one heck of a consolation prize, and it
could be a whopper of a game with a possible 2-3 poll
matchup here if SC wins out. Rose gets first pick if
they lose OSU to the title game, so they'll take the
Wolverines for a true Rose Bowl game.

SUGAR: Notre Dame vs. West Virginia
- The Sugar gets the #2 pick if they lose the SEC
champ to the title game and there might be a lot of
pressure to pick Arkansas, but they go with the Irish
to fill seats against the Big East champ.

ORANGE: Wake Forest vs. Arkansas
- Wild matchup here as Wake is going strong, but it
could be GaTech or Maryland as well. But none of 'em
will bring as many fans as an SEC school (or Wisconsin
- but could they take THREE Big Ten teams?:) ) - with
Auburn, Tennessee and LSU dropping the ball, the Hogs
wind up in Miami.

FIESTA: Texas vs. Boise State
- Stuck with the last pick, the Fiesta may have to
take the Broncos by default if they're in the top 12,
otherwise we could get the Big XII champ Horns against
a Pac 10 school perhaps? Or maybe work out a deal with
the Orange for a Big XII school (Oklahoma) to go to
Miami and send the Razorbacks here for a rekindling of
the UT-Arkansas rivalry? Now that'd sell tickets!

Aside for a few hours in Evanston, what a great day
for the pigskin!

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


 
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