The Rearview 12-8

No basketball.  No more coaching rumors, well, head coaching rumors that is.  Heck, there were only a handful of games on this weekend.

It’s that time of year……. It’s all but over.  We’re now to the time of year where the teams left out of the BCS whine.  And the teams that haven’t been bowling in a while rejoice.  And unfortunately for teams like Tennessee, Auburn and Michigan…….well, we’re spectators, hoping this doesn’t last too terribly long.

SEC Championship

Now, as most of you orange clad fans would agree, it was just a shame that both teams couldn’t lose.  But past the hate……….there was a very good football game played in Atlanta Saturday afternoon.  Alabama was every bit as good as advertised and though the Gators covered the ridiculous double digit spread, I don’t think anyone felt like that was an 11 point game.

Florida’s defense proved it was tough enough and Bama proved it could force just about any team to play their game.  In fact, had it not been for one play on special teams, Alabama would be heading to Miami.  The play that Arenas caught that ball inside the 10 and then stepped out of bounds was the play of the game.  Bama had to punt on that possession and Florida got the ball with great field position, and went on to score on the very next possession.  They got clean up points after John Parker Wilson was forced to throw on their last possession and got picked.

Which I guess proved what a good many people believed about Wilson……that he couldn’t put the team on his back and win.  Unlike Tebow, he couldn’t will his team to win.  But give credit where credit’s due.  Coffee and Ingram and Jones are excellent players.  And for almost a full 4 quarters they matched all the intensity Florida put on the field.  But it was a special teams play that turned the Tide (pun intended), and I’m sure that made Urban Meyer’s night.

Congrats to the Gators, and really, congrats to Bama, a Sugar Bowl berth isn’t exactly a bad door prize.

Big 12 Championship

Just be glad Oklahoma won. Missouri winning that game would have been awful for all involved.  In the end, Oklahoma just decided they were going to be better than everyone else they played.  They left no doubt.  60+ points a game in the last 5 or 6……whatever it is……it’s astonishing.

Anybody wanna take a guess at what the over/under will be for the title game?  Think it might be close to 100?  Could be.

But Bob Stoops gets another shot.  This is his 4^th Title Game appearance and I believe 5^th or 6^th straight BCS bowl.  People have already brought up the losing streak, but really, they’ve lost BCS bowl games and National Title games.  Is that really a sin?

It might be when they get beat by Florida.  I’m just kidding……it’s not a sin.

A shout out to Texas and Texas Tech.  Texas definitely got the better deal.  The Fiesta Bowl should be a good match up really.  I have no idea what to think about Tech and Ole Miss.  My gut says Ole Miss won’t be able to keep up, but Jevan Sneed has been on fire.  That could be a great back and forth game.  We’ll see, but I know this much for sure……Ole Miss will be excited as all get out to be in Dallas.  Tech might still be a bit disappointed they didn’t get a BCS bowl………

NFL over the weekend……

Sorry Dallas.  You gave it your best shot and still lost. I love the Steelers’ defense.  Really, I do.  I don’t know what’s wrong with Ben or the offensive line, but the Steelers’ offense right now is just not very good.  Can that defense carry the Steelers thru the playoffs?  It has so far…….As for Dallas, they likely impressed more people in that loss than the Steelers did in winning.  And as a Steeler fan, that’s hard to admit.  I’m still going to take the W though………

The Giants might be done.  One has to wonder how big of a deal this distraction might be as they close the season with some pretty tough games.  Of course, the worst that can happen is they get the 2 seed, so it’s not all bad.  But one and done in the playoffs?  I doubt it too.  But they weren’t right yesterday.  No getting around that.

Matt Ryan is the real deal.  The Falcons have done themselves a great service by getting this kid.  As a fan of a division foe, he represents the future of this division I’m afraid.  It’s paying off already in year one.  Is it possible that the Falcons have the best quarterback in the division?  Maybe not, Brees still gets that nod, but Ryan has to be behind him.

Panthers/Bucs tonight.  Now, I’m going to this game, so I’m really looking forward to having a good time, but more importantly, I’m wondering which of these teams will step forward and take control of this division and perhaps this conference.  I think more pressure is on Carolina to play well, as most think Garcia and company (by virtue of their previous blow out win over the cats this season) are more apt to “win” the game, where Jake Delhomme (by virtue of his extremely pedestrian efforts the past 3 weeks) is more apt to “lose” this game.

Carolina is undefeated at home this season.  The winner of this game likely wins the division……don’t know there’s ever been a bigger regular season game played in any sport in the city of Charlotte.  Hope we look good on TV for all of you tonight!

I’ll let you know what I think about this tomorrow.  Should be fun.

Oh, scariest team in the NFL right now…….Indianapolis Colts.  Don’t look now, but they’re making a pretty good run at it right now.  They’ll be a tough out in the playoffs.

The rest of the bowl picture………

Who cares really?  Many of the bowls I still don’t even know who is playing……..a few match ups that sound intriguing though:

South Carolina/Iowa…….I can’t believe these two teams got a NYD bowl.  Oh yeah, NYD bowls don’t mean anything anymore.  And here’s proof.

Georgia/Mich St……disappointing year considering how it started for GA, but 9-3, 2^nd in the East and another bowl game.  I look for MSU though to really test a GA defense that has been exposed in the three losses.  Ringer is no joke and can take over a game.  Plus you wonder how “excited” GA is.

Alabama/Utah……I think this has potential to be a great game.  I don’t think there will be a let down for Bama, both teams should be sky high.  I expect a good ball game here.

Penn St/USC sounds good.  Two good defenses though, should be fairly low scoring.  Has the potential I think to be a good game……or a USC rout.  I’m leaning towards rout.  HD offense, meet HD defense…..

Clemson/Nebraska……..again, sounds great.  Will probably be terrible.  Though I do expect Dabo and Co. to be very excited about their trip.   Not sure about Nebraska……don’t trust the defense yet.    But I don’t trust anything about Clemson.

Peach…….(yes, I know it’s not called that anymore, but it is in my house)….LSU/GT……a defacto home game for GT, and you might see the LSU fan base start to resemble the TN fan base……..after going to BCS games……..how excited can they be about a 2^nd tier game held in Atlanta?  Plus, do you think that LSU defense can stop Paul Johnson’s triple option?  I don’t either.

Music City……Vandy vs. Boston College.  I mean, good for Vandy and all…but wake me when this one is over.  There is some irony though in that for the first time in 20 something years Vandy is finally bowl eligible and they don’t even get to leave their area code.  Bummer.

Meineke Car Care…….WVU vs. UNC…..now I live in Charlotte, but besides that, this is a great match up actually.  This one got it right.  This is a game that both teams really will want to win.  This game will matter to both these teams.  I would go to this game except I’ll be out of town.  Bummer.  But I would expect B of A stadium to be sold out for this one.

FSU/Wisconsin and Miami/Cal both of these sound good as well, but again, I just can’t see these teams that generally expect to be playing post Jan 1 excited about games played on Dec 27.    In both match ups, the coach that can get his team excited about being where they are will probably win.  The teams are probably not that far off from each other talent wise, though I definitely expect FSU/Wisconsin to be a defensive low scoring game.

That’s about it.  Get your bowl pools going and put your $10 or $10 or whatever spot down.  Cause until Jan 1, that’s the only way you will care about the outcomes of most of these games…..In all seriousness, enjoy the bowl season and even though our team isn’t participating, it’s still the best time of the year.  Go Vols.

Happy Holidays to all!