College Football 2006 - Week 3 (9/10 - 9/16): 1st Team All-American

[JohnBM01]

This thread is for Week 3 action and adventure. Last week saw all kinds of games against all kinds of teams. Saturday alone featured

No games took place on Sunday. Texas went from #2 to #8 after their Ohio State loss. A number of key matchups are on tap this week including a BIG showdown in Iowa City. Iowa is 2-0 as they welcome the Big XII's Iowa State. It's Ames at Iowa City. Last year, the Cyclones shocked Iowa and landed the upset. Can they win this time around? Nebraska's looking for an upset as they go into Southern California to meet the Trojans. Michigan State is on the road. Can the green and white beat a resurgent Pittsburgh? Can Texas get their swagger back by beating Rice at Reliant Stadium? Week 3 is here, and it's the first and only time you will not see Sunday or Monday college football games.

Saying that it is Monday here in Houston, get ready for my college football special in dedication of the proud men and women who represent some of America's finest. I'll present you with info on how Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the Patriot League. If you know your teams and your conferences, you'll know what I'm talking about in terms of football's Patriot League. I say "football's Patriot League" because two teams in the Patriot League in other sports are not present- Army and Navy. Among these two, I really like Navy. It's my favorite service academy in football since they are the winningest service academy in America.

I just wanted to release this thread. My 9/11 salute (college football style) is forthcoming.

 

[JohnBM01]

It's been five years since one of America's darkest days has impacted America. I personally heard the news from my brother that the World Trade Center was attacked. He went into the bathroom that morning as I saw the devastation on my TV. I informed the sad news of the World Trade Center going down. I was obviously saddened and even upset this happened. I am proud of all the men and women who helped to serve our nation after these vicious and vile attacks. Keep defending this nation with all of your hearts and don't give up until you get the job done.

A creative way to support this nation (at least for me) with this college football thread is to look in on service academies and the Patriot League. Here is a college football tribute. This post is basically a look at how certain military academies and the Patriot League have done this year so far.


John's College Football Salute to America
We begin with the service academies.


--- The Army Black Knights ---
This team is nothing like the National Championship teams from around the end of World War 2. The Black Knights of West Point, New York aren't one of the finest service academies in football. But you could say that graduates from the United States Military Academy make PLENTY of plays anywhere, anytime. The Army footballers are currently 1-1 this season in losing 14-6 at Arkansas State. They did pick up an Overtime win against the Golden Flashes of Kent State 17-14. Their next game may not end up in short-margin finishes because they have Texas A&M. Here are Army's next five games. The "@" represents road games:

9/16: @ Texas
9/23: @ Baylor
9/30: Rice
10/7: Virginia Military (1-AA)
11/14: @ Connecticut

I think Army may win no less than one game with these upcoming opponents.



--- The Navy Midshipmen ---

The Navy Midshipmen of Annapolis, MD are out patrolling the seas. Their hated rivals from West Point are at 0.500 while Navy is undefeated. The Midshipmen are called by CSTV as "America's Team." They succeed in the field of battle as well as in sports. They succeeded against East Carolina and Massachusetts at home. Navy actually came from behind in stopping ECU as they won 28-23. They then took on the Minutemen of Massachusetts and won by one. They won 21-20 against Massachusetts as they prevented a Massachusetts upset. Here are their next five games:

9/16: @ Stanford
9/23: Tulsa
9/30: @ Connecticut
10/7: @ Air Force (RIVALRY)
10/14: Rutgers

Navy is a great team as I don't see them losing any more than two of these games. Their Big East opponents may give them some complications. But they are a solid team, so I don't feel too worried about Navy here.



--- The Air Force Falcons ---

I personally rank Air Force as the second-best service academy in football. The Colorado Springs, CO outfit is where you can learn to serve your nation via the skies. You can help patrol our skies and take down any aerial threats that dare threaten our skies. The Falcons have played only one game so far. They lost to #11 Tennessee down the stretch by a score of 31-30. Their next five games are ("@" indicates an Away game):

9/23: @ Wyoming
9/30: New Mexico
10/7: Navy (RIVALRY)
10/12: Colorado State (RIVALRY)
10/21: @ San Diego State

I think Air Force will win their road games against Wyoming and San Diego State. New Mexico and Colorado State are sort of trap games for the Air Force Academy.



--- The Coast Guard Bears (Division 3) ---

The Coast Guard had to be more than busy last year when they helped save people from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Coast Guard was one of the many military services which contacted me after I got great results from my ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Amptitude Battery) test. The Bears of the United States Coast Guard have played only one game as they played at Kings Point. The Bears play in the NEFC (New England Football Conference) in NCAA Division 3 and lost 21-7 to non-conference oppoent, Kings Point. Here are their next five games:

9/16: Plymouth State
9/23: @ Westfield State
9/30: Massachusetts Maritime (Parent's Weekend for them)
10/7: @ Fitchburg State
10/14: @ Bridgewater State

I know nothing of their football team, so I'll go no further and hope they win as many games as they can.





Now let's look at some other military academies in America. We go to Division 1-AA for this one.

---The Virginia Military Institute Keydets ---

Virginia Military Institute is based in Lexington, VA. VMI is America's oldest military academy and have been in existance since November 11, 1839. VMI is often known as "the West Point of the South." It is a public university but stresses miltiary discipline. Studetnts are usually cadets looking to serve their nation after graduation. The Keydets (I heard the origin for this name is a Southern way of saying "cadet." This team of Keydets (if you will) are 1-1 with a game coming up at Richmond. They beat Davidson College 20-19, but lost 32-19 at Norfolk State. Their next five games are as follows:

9/16: @ Richmond
9/23: @ William and Mary
9/30: James Madison
10/7: @ Army
10/14: Coastal Carolina

VMI has a tough road ahead. All five of these teams are good. They'll need to do their absolute best in each game to stand a chance.



---The Citadel Bulldogs ---

Charleston, South Carolina is where you'll find The Citadel. It is also where you will find another one of America's military academies. The Bulldogs are 0-2 and not having a great season. They lost at Texas A&M (tough to swallow, I know. Texas A&M is a b:censored: to play at) 35-3 and at home against Charleston Southern 38-35. Their next five games are below:

9/23: @ Pittsburgh
9/30: Chattanooga
10/7: @ Wofford
10/14: @ Furman
10/21: Western Carolina

The Citadel's woes are only going to get worse starting next week in Pittsburgh. They may catch Western Carolina looking or even upset Chattanooga. They have a LONG road ahead.





And now to end this All-American salute, a look at how the Patriot League is shaping up.

John's Patriot League Progress Report

-LAFAYETTE COLLEGE- After two weeks, only Lafayette is undefeated at 2-0 and 1-0 in conference. The Leopards of Lafayette College shut down Bucknell University by a 31-0 shutout. Bucknell's football team isn't looking like their men's basketball team. Lafayette will look to go 3-0 overall when they host Pensylvania of the Ivy League this week in Bethlehem, PA. -THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS- The 1947 National Champions in men's basketball is 1-1, but undefeated in the Patriot League at 1-0. Like Lafayette, the Holy Cross Crusaders will take on an Ivy League team... only that their opponent is Harvard. They play this weekend if you love either Harvard or Holy Cross. -GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY- Let's look in on a team that's in the Big East in most other sports, but the Patriot League in football. They have about two championships in men's hoops, but none in football. They are only one of two teams defeated in conference play. They lost to Holy Cross 26-13 on September 2nd. The Washington D.C. unit will play at Brown University this week in Providence, RI. -BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY- I mentioned Bucknell earlier. Now I mention them again. They were blanked by conference foe, Lafayette. The Bison will stay home and host Cornell University at night. -LEHIGH UNIVERSITY- Lehigh University of Easton, PA hasn't played a conference game yet and are 1-1. They lost to Albany 17-16, but recovered by beating Villanova 31-28. They will host Princeton this Saturday afternoon. -FORDHAM UNIVERSITY- Now let's visit New York City, NY's Fordham. One must imagine how this school must have felt after the horror of 9/11 five years ago. The Rams lost to Monmouth 23-9, yet beat Albany on the road with a 9-7 win. Their next game is in New York City, but at Columbia University of the... you guessed it- Ivy League! -COLGATE UNIVERSITY- And finally, we look to Colgate. Not the toothpaste, but the Colgate Raiders. They played only one game as the Hamilton, NY outfit lost at Massachusetts on September 2nd 28-7. Their next game is against Dartmouth College of the Ivy League.

So just about all the Patriot League teams will play against Ivy League teams. Good luck to all these teams.



And this has been my little report on some of America's different service academies as well as the Patriot League. I'm glad you had a chance to check this out. Our colors never run. This patriotic salute to America's collegiate units ends with this wonderful salute to America's service academies and the Patriot League's teams.

 

[JohnBM01]

JOHN'S EXTRAS
I just wanted to share some stuff. I decided to read more about the Universities of Kentucky and Louisville. They are two big rivals and just want to share some stuff on these two.

--- THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY ---
Motto: "Dream - Challenge - Succeed"
Songs: http://www.fightmusic.com/sec.html (scroll down to Kentucky's section)

Did You Know...
(most info from: http://www.uky.edu/Home/AboutUK/traditions.html )

(1.) ...that Kentucky's old color choice was blue and light yellow?

(2.) ...that UK's fight song is called "On, On U of K?" They also have another song called "My Old Kentucky Home."

(3.) ...that UK was known as the University of Kentucky since 1916? It was the work of John Bowman. He helped found was was then the "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky." It is now Transylvania University since disbanding from UK. in 1878.


CERTAIN ALUMNI OF KENTUCKY (some, but not all):
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Kentucky )

Albert P. "Happy" Chandler - Kentucky governor, senator of Kentucky, MLB commissioner, and baseball Hall of Fame
Ashley Judd - actress. Wife of race car driver Dario Franchitti
Kelenna Azubuike - Houston Rockets player
Rex Chapman - former player and first-ever draft pick for the Hornets (Charlotte or New Orelans?)
Travis Ford - University of Massachusetts men's basketball coach
Chuck Hayes - Houston Rockets player
Nazr Mohammed - Detroit Pistons player. Won championship with them
John Pelphrey - University of South Alabama (USA) men's basketball coach.
Tayshaun Prince - Detroit Pistons player.
Tim Couch - quarterback and first pick of 1999 NFL Draft.

Basketball IS religion at Kentucky... they have a lot of basketball alums.



Now for their rivals.

--- THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ---
Motto: "Dare to be great."
Songs: http://www.fightmusic.com/bigeast.html (scroll down to Louisville's section)

Did you know...

(1.) ...that Louisville was to be founded as the Jefferson Seminary back in 1878?

(2.) ...that Louisville's two National Championships in basketball were under Hall of Famer Denny Crum?

(3.) ...that Louisville has a student body of 21,760 last year, 100,000 alums in America and abroad, and an average ACT of 23.9?

(4.) ...that they are the first university to (a) make a successful artificial heart, (b) make the first successful hand transplant, and (c) develop the first human papilloma virus vaccine?



CERTAIN ALUMNI OF LOUISVILLE (some, but not all):
Diane Sawyer - host of "Good Morning America. Attended, but did not graduate from law school
Mitch McConnell - Kentucky Senator. Republican.
William Akers - creator of the SPF sun protection rating system
Mark Wadsworth - made the "eyeballs" for NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers, president and found of Tangent Technologies
Deion Branch - New England Patriots WR and MVP of Super Bowl 39 (XXXIX).
Stefan LeFors - Carolina Panthers QB. (Still sounds like a hockey player's name)
Dave Ragone - Cincinatti Bengals QB, also tried out for the Houston Texans
Mark Clayton - Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers WR. Made 5 Pro Bowls between 1984-1991.
Tom Jackson - Denver Broncos LB and 3-time Pro Bowl selection. Analyst of ESPN's "NFL Gameday"
Johnny Unitas - Baltimore Colts QB, Pro Football Hall of Famer, 3-time NFL MVP, and one of the best ever QB's.
Wes Unseld - member of NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and 1998 Basketball Hall of Famer.



No question are they two of America's finest public universities. In non-football material, both teams have a variety of different programs and such they both participate in. A non-sports deal where both schools participate in is Formula SAE. I'll admit one thing about Kentucky- that's a beautiful shade of blue Kentucky has. This was just an added Bluegrass Special.


--- BEHIND THE SCENES AND DIRECTOR'S CUT ---
I'm usually concerned with certain teams when they lose a lot or not at their past level. I guess I get a bit overprotective at times over teams. I'll tell you what I mean. A few years ago, teams like Washington and Kansas State were ranked and ranked well. Kansas State was ranked about 5th or 6th in the nation some time back. Washington was a team that was making Bowl Games as well as sharing the 1990 or 1991 National Championship. But look at teams like Utah. Utah went UNDEFEATED and was about #5 in the nation under the magical talent of Urban Meyer. Pittsburgh was also a very solid team then. Now the Panthers are rebuilding themselves in football. It's sort of the constant that remains in college football (or in any sport for that matter)- the pendulum swings. And as a result, good teams will stumble in future seasons. The bad teams will gain some life back. Michigan is just about the prototypical example of a team that doesn't lose very many times. They have been to so many consecutive Bowl Games. Hardly ever will you see Michigan being rated as an underdog in certain games. They are just simply one of the finest units in all of college football.

So I get a little worried when I say that a team is good especially since they haven't been impressive. There's a difference between good and impressive. I still offer respect to teams even if they are winless. Two teams that went from good to worse are Washington and Kansas State. Washington is trying as best as possible to keep playing hard and not give up so easily. I've given Kansas State a lot of credit since they used to be #5th in the nation a few years ago. I tend to believe that teams can still be as good now as they were then. Always remember that teams will have good seasons and bad seasons. Only area of concern is that you don't have as many consecutive bad seasons as possible. Take my hometown Houston Cougars. The Coogs used to be a ranked unit some time back. We had that classic 1970s Bowl game against Notre Dame with Joe Namath (or Joe Montana?) under center for Notre Dame. I think Houston was ranked pretty high in the past. Question is, can a team that was good in the past rise back to form? It's the sort of question you'd like to ask for every team you know and love. It's a slow process for Art Briles in coaching Houston. His resumé for Houston is a good one- two bowl games in three seasons. They hope to make it 3-0 with their next game against Grambling State. They need a win against 1-AA's Grambling State in order to have some momentum on their side when they go to Miami to face the Hurricanes.

So if I get protective of a team because of past glory, then I'm sorry. I can be too kind sometimes.

 

[FoolKiller]

JOHN'S EXTRAS
I just wanted to share some stuff. I decided to read more about the Universities of Kentucky and Louisville. They are two big rivals and just want to share some stuff on these two.

This should be interesting.

--- THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY ---
Motto: "Dream - Challenge - Succeed"

Definitely better than the old "The next great university." We're great now dag nabbit!!!

Did You Know...
(most info from: http://www.uky.edu/Home/AboutUK/traditions.html )

(1.) ...that Kentucky's old color choice was blue and light yellow?

Shhhh! It's a secret.

(2.) ...that UK's fight song is called "On, On U of K?" They also have another song called "My Old Kentucky Home."

"My Old Kentucky Home should be known by everyone as it is a Stephen Foster song. It was written about this house.

(3.) ...that UK was known as the University of Kentucky since 1916? It was the work of John Bowman. He helped found was was then the "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky." It is now Transylvania University since disbanding from UK. in 1878.

No, they don't have vampires.

Ashley Judd - actress. Wife of race car driver Dario Franchitti

She, along with a few other hottie, semi-famous alumni do posters for the hockey team every year. It is amazing how hot just a hockey jersey can look. http://www.ukhockey.com/posters.html

Oh, and Dario hates being called Mr. Judd. Dude, that's what happens when you marry a hot actress that everyone knows.

Kelenna Azubuike - Houston Rockets player
Rex Chapman - former player and first-ever draft pick for the Hornets (Charlotte or New Orelans?)
Travis Ford - University of Massachusetts men's basketball coach
Chuck Hayes - Houston Rockets player
Nazr Mohammed - Detroit Pistons player. Won championship with them
John Pelphrey - University of South Alabama (USA) men's basketball coach.
Tayshaun Prince - Detroit Pistons player.

WOOHOO!!! Let's here it for the Cats. You forgot to mention that Prince has both a NCAA championship and NBA championship under his belt.

Tim Couch - quarterback and first pick of 1999 NFL Draft.

And overrated, or just short-lived? I don't knwo which he was but he is nothing now.

Basketball IS religion at Kentucky... they have a lot of basketball alums.

Well, when all there is to do is farm in 90% of the state we have to do something.

Now for their rivals.

--- THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ---
Motto: "Dare to be great."

But they aren't.

(2.) ...that Louisville's two National Championships in basketball were under Hall of Famer Denny Crum?

Ah, the 80's.

(4.) ...that they are the first university to (a) make a successful artificial heart, (b) make the first successful hand transplant, and (c) develop the first human papilloma virus vaccine?

Louisville has some good doctors. It probably helps when they are connected to a healthcare system that owns 8 hospitals in the city.

I'll admit one thing about Kentucky- that's a beautiful shade of blue Kentucky has.

It looks really nice on a car with some UK magnets.

 

[JohnBM01]

Let's talk about some upcoming games. I'll offer my comments. And if you have a game you want to introduce to this conversation, talk about the matchup you want to see. It can be ANY division of NCAA action. I'll probably be surprised if I get something discussing a game with Division 2 champs, Grand Valley State, or something! In my "John's Extras" segment, I'll profile the defending 1-AA Champions (Appalachian State), defending Division 2 champs (Grand Valley State), and the defending Division 3 champs (Mount Union).

--- UPCOMING GAMES THIS WEEKEND ---
* LSU at Auburn
Fans of SEC football will be treated lovingly to a match like this. Louisiana State University and Auburn University are two of the toughest, hard-nosed, take no s:censored: football teams. I think this game will be a defensive showcase as I don't think either team will put up anything more than 21 points. They may not even get to 21 as far as I know. A key factor for this game is that the game will be played AT Auburn. Had it been played at LSU, home field advantage would favor LSU more than at Auburn. That's the only redeeming quality for LSU at Auburn. But only a slim margin. I'm looking for predictions like these:

PREDICTED SCORES:
17-10; AUBURN (game-winning touchdown)
14-13; Louisiana State (game-winning touchdown)
21-20; Louisiana State

I slightly favor LSU in this match. I got nothing against Auburn, just that I think LSU will do well even if all the screaming fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium scream until they lose their voices.




* Michigan at Notre Dame (RIVALRY GAME)
Michigan had a less-than-stellar year last season. They get a 7-4 and go to the Alamo Bowl in wonderful San Antonio, TX. They lose to Nebraska with a poorly-officiated game with a memorable last chance to win. Then they'd lose to Nebraska in an upset. One of Michigan's other losses was to Notre Dame. With Lloyd Carr potentially in the hot seat, the Wolverines need to win this game in order to have a signature win for the year. All the hype is on Notre Dame with Brady Quinn under center. Him and the rest of the Fighting Irish are going to say, "we beat 'em in Ann Arbor last year... and we'll beat 'em again in South Bend this year." Should be a hell of a fight (no pun intended).

PREDICTED SCORES:
28-21; Michigan
38-35, 2OT; Michigan
35-21; NOTRE DAME

I'm sorry. I'm not sold on Notre Dame. I'm pretty sure even BlazinXtreme would go for the blue and maize.



* Florida at Tennessee (RIVALRY GAME)
Florida and Tennessee are two of America's... I guess you can say, most popular universities. Most everyone knows that Florida plays at The Swamp. Most everyone else knows that Tennessee plays at Neyland Stadium. I personally think "Rocky Top" is one of the best fight songs I've ever heard other than "Hey Alabama." The defending men's basketball champs is Florida, while Tennessee has had a legendary women's basketball team with future (or is she already?) Hall of Fame coach, Pat Summitt. The men will be scrambling each other's brains in Knoxville. This will be a huge match. Tennessee outclassed (then) #9 California on opening weekend. Now the Volunteers will need to send the Gators into extinction. Florida has one of the toughest jobs- silence the crowd at Neyland Stadium. I want to know if anyone actually stood in the stands at Neyland Stadium when the Away Team was driving. Is it REALLY as loud as it is on TV? Prediction time.

PREDICTED SCORES:
21-0; TENNESSEE
31-10; TENNESSEE
17-14; Florida

I got Tennessee in this one. The Vols should be able to throw their weight around to beat Florida. I'm not severely confident of a blowout, though.



* Iowa State at Iowa (RIVALRY GAME)
People would say that the Big XII is a weak conference especially when Texas was beating everybody else down. Same could be said in basketball when Gonzaga was smashing all the jive turkeys in the WCC. The Big Ten has always been a quality conference in just about every sport they sponsor. Last year, the Cyclones of Iowa State upset Iowa in Ames. This year, The Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy will take place in Iowa City, IO. I'm sure my buddy JNasty4G63 wants his Hawkeyes to get their cut of revenge. Whether or not they will get it relies on if Iowa can stay fresh on offense and defense. Their special teams will also have to be on point if they want to win. Like JNasty said, "if you're a college sports fan in Iowa, you either like Iowa or Iowa State."

PREDICTED SCORES:
45-14; IOWA
24-3; Iowa State
28-27, OT; IOWA (game-winning field goal)



* #17 Miami at #12 Louisville

Let's meet the team FoolKiller absolutely HATES. It's a battle of a former Big East school against a Big East sophomore. Certainly Miami is no true freshman to hard-hitting football. Remember that Louisville had a hell of a game against Miami, and almost upset them. Louisville's facing a team that has over five National Championships in football including one in 1983 (when I was born). Some say that the 2001 Hurricanes was perhaps one of the best Miami units of all time. The Cardinals will have their work cut out for them. Now while Miami may not be the team who would win about 32 or 36 straight games, they are still a solid bunch. The thing nonwithstanding is that Michael Bush is done for the season. I think Miami will win the game. I think there is a 65% chance they beat Louisville. My only fear is if Louisville can put up a basketball score against Miami. Louisville needs a game like this to see if they can actually put these kinds of numbers against serious teams. It seems like Louisville seems to have great confidence in that they can smash almost any team only as long as they don't let Miami kindly beat them down on the field. I'm predicting that we'll see some high numbers by both teams combined. Perhaps the winner will have sort of a basketball score than a football score (of course, speak for Louisville's male basketball team when they trailed Cincinatti 38-9 heading into the second half!)


PREDICTED SCORES:
57-21; LOUISVILLE
49-3; Miami
45-42; Miami

I favor Miami by a better margin than I did with the LSU/Auburn game. Miami is just clearly a better team. Louisville is a good team, but not great compared to powerhouses like Miami. Even Fresno State stood up against Southern California last season. And guess what? Despite the fact Fresno State lost, they didn't lose a single position in the rankings.





JOHN'S EXTRAS
Let's meet the defending champions in the other three divisions of NCAA football. You may not know or care about some of these schools, but I'll put them into perspective.



--- PROFILE OF DEFENDING 1-AA CHAMP, APPALACHIAN STATE ---
Official School Name: Appalachian State University
Nickname/Mascot: Mountaineers
Location: Boone, North Carolina
Motto: Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem)
Website: http://www.appstate.edu/
Athletics Website: http://www.web.appstate.edu/athletics/

Conference: Southern Conference (SOCON)
Also in Conference: The Citadel, Elon, Furman, Georgia Southern, Chattanooga, Western Carolina, and Wofford

Famous Alumni:
Dexter Coakley - NFL Player for the St. Louis Rams; LB
Shannon Devine - Mrs. United States 2006
Mary Ellen Snodgrass - author
Daniel Wilcox - NFL Player for the Baltimore Ravens; TE

That's Appalachian State for you.





--- PROFILE OF DIVISION 2 CHAMP, GRAND VALLEY STATE ---
For all my Gran Turismo fans, Grand Valley State has nothing to do with Grand Valley Speedway. Now on to the school's profile.

Official School Name: Grand Valley State University
Nickname/Mascot: Lakers
Location: Allendale, MI
Motto: "Educating students to shape their lives, their professions, and their societies."
Website: http://www.gvsu.edu/
Athletics Website: http://gvsulakers.ocsn.com/ , which leads to: http://gvsulakers.cstv.com/

Conference: Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)
Also in Conference: Michigan Tech, Ashland, Findlay, Saginaw Valley, Northern Michigan, Gannon, Indianapolis, Northwood, Wayne State, Mercyhurst, Hillsdale, and Ferris State

Famous Alumni:
Greg Colton - "Family Guy"
Mike Sheldon - former offensive tackle for the Chicago Bears
Matt Thornton - Chicago White Sox pitcher

Since 2002, the Lakers have won the National Title every year except 2004. Their 2002 title was their very first title. Grand Valley State is pretty young for a university. It was established in the 1960s.





--- PROFILE OF DIVISION 3 CHAMPS, MOUNT UNION ---

Official School Name: Mount Union College
Nickname/Mascot: Purple Raiders
Location: Alliance, Ohio
Motto: "Colleges of Distinction"
Website: http://www.muc.edu/
Athletics Website: http://www.muc.edu/athletics ; or visit http://www.muc.edu/athletics/men_s_teams/football for football.

Conference: Ohio Athletic Conference
Also in Conference: Baldwin-Wallace, Capital, Heidelberg, John Caroll, Marietta College, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Otterbein, and Wilmington

Famous Alumni:
Dom Capers - former NFL coach for the Carolina Panthers (1995-1998) and Houston Texans (2002-2005). He won a Super Bowl with the Panthers in 1996.

Last year, the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern shocked Mount Union by snapping Mount Union's regular season winning streak. Mount Union is still one of the best teams in Division 3 alongside schools like Linfield and Mary-Hardin Baylor. They had a regular season record of over 110 games. They probably had to be the De La Salle of NCAA Football on ANY level.

Those are your profiles. And there's your report from me.

 

[JNasty4G63]

I'm sure my buddy JNasty4G63 wants his Hawkeyes to get their cut of revenge. Whether or not they will get it relies on if Iowa can stay fresh on offense and defense.

As long as we have Tate back under center, I predict good things. We're real good, but when playing at home, we are VERY good. I can't wait for this one.

Like JNasty said, "if you're a college sports fan in Iowa, you either like Iowa or Iowa State."

Well, if you want the honest truth, it goes more like... "You either like Iowa, or you're an idiot." HA HA HA

PREDICTED SCORES:
45-14; IOWA
24-3; Iowa State
28-27, OT; IOWA (game-winning field goal)

I hesitate to predict things, because this game is always close, no matter the rankings. But, I think option #1 could be close to reality.

Hilg

 

[FoolKiller]

* #17 Miami at #12 Louisville

Let's meet the team FoolKiller absolutely HATES. It's a battle of a former Big East school against a Big East sophomore. Certainly Miami is no true freshman to hard-hitting football. Remember that Louisville had a hell of a game against Miami, and almost upset them. Louisville's facing a team that has over five National Championships in football including one in 1983 (when I was born). Some say that the 2001 Hurricanes was perhaps one of the best Miami units of all time. The Cardinals will have their work cut out for them. Now while Miami may not be the team who would win about 32 or 36 straight games, they are still a solid bunch. The thing nonwithstanding is that Michael Bush is done for the season. I think Miami will win the game. I think there is a 65% chance they beat Louisville. My only fear is if Louisville can put up a basketball score against Miami. Louisville needs a game like this to see if they can actually put these kinds of numbers against serious teams. It seems like Louisville seems to have great confidence in that they can smash almost any team only as long as they don't let Miami kindly beat them down on the field. I'm predicting that we'll see some high numbers by both teams combined. Perhaps the winner will have sort of a basketball score than a football score (of course, speak for Louisville's male basketball team when they trailed Cincinatti 38-9 heading into the second half!)


PREDICTED SCORES:
57-21; LOUISVILLE
49-3; Miami
45-42; Miami

I favor Miami by a better margin than I did with the LSU/Auburn game. Miami is just clearly a better team. Louisville is a good team, but not great compared to powerhouses like Miami. Even Fresno State stood up against Southern California last season. And guess what? Despite the fact Fresno State lost, they didn't lose a single position in the rankings.

I like you more and more every day. GO CANES!!!!

I think it will be close and I think Louisville has a good chance. One thing to remember is that Miami is coming to Louisville and the Big Papa (Papa John's Cardinal Stadium) is a hard place to play. Louisville started doing good and all the fair weather fans came out of the woodwork. They could barely fill a AAA baseball stadium a few years ago and now they can fill their new 40,000 seat stadium and are looking to enlarge it to try and hold even more. It gets loud in there. Give them a few years when they struggle a bit again and they will be struggling to pay the place off.

Anyway, Miami is one of the schools that I am always waiting to watch beat Louisville. Attendance drops immediately after the first loss and one of my best friends (despite being a Cardinals fan - TURNCOAT) decides the season is over and there is no point after that point. I just laugh and go at his lack true fandom as I go to watch UK get beat by the likes of Florida and Tennessee.

So, I can't wait to watch Miami ciome in. This weekend a hurricane will sweep through Louisville, Kentucky, and when the dust settles there will be little wind left beneath the wings of these birds. Know what happens when a bird gets caught in a hurricane? One of two things: It either gets blown to areas not natural to it where it struggles to find food and may starve to death or it flies in the winds, fighting to stay airborne, until it becomes exhausted, falls, and drowns. The ones that survive tend to be the ones that seek shelter in advance.

So will these cardinals take shelter at home and hold off the effects of this hurricane or will they get blown about until they either fall or find themselves lost? It should be interesting to watch.

As I said before: GO CANES!!!

And before I forget: GO CATS!!! Ole Miss is going down!!! I hope.

 

[JohnBM01]

Tell me something... Monday Night Football is a nice package for the NFL. Is Thursday Night college football sort of the Monday Night of college? Is the tandem of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit the Al Michaels and John Madden of college football commentating? While you think about the answer to this question, let me give you some more scores. I want to be a kind friend. So I want to show you these scores.


WEEK 3 - THURSDAY SYNOPSIS
The only Division 1-A games were decided in very high scores. Two other blowouts were in Division 2 and 3 as just about every home team won their Thursday night games. This was a bad day to be a road team.





DIVISION 1-A GAMES
"I Ain't No Hollenbach Girl!" Maryland at West Virginia (GAME OF THE DAY)
I don't know too much about West Virginia, honestly. I'm probably there's a GTP member that loves college football that knows West Virginia better than I do. Just like California and Kentucky, West Virginia University has a beautiful blue color. West Virginia's blue and yellow (or gold?) is more like the University of California's beautiful blue color. I think West Virginia's blue is a little deeper than California's. It is a beautiful color combination, but I kind of like California's combo better. Slightly. Anyhow, the Mountnaineers won't be looking at blue skies. They will be seeing (hopefully) stars in the sky and the moon. Pictures confirm that it's a beautiful night in Morgantown, WV. East of West Virginia and Virginia is Maryland. I'm going to read more about this, but I heard that one of Speed Channel's NASCAR commentators, Steve Byrnes, used to be a quarterback for Maryland. The University of Maryland is not very far from the greater Washington D.C. area. Maryland has seen recent basketball glory as the men won the 2002 Championship, and the women recently won the 2006 National Championship. Comcast Arena has seen lots of love in hoops. The footballin' Terrapins (or Terps) are going to bring the flag adorned in gold, black, and red accents. Can the Terrapins upset the #5 Mountaineers? Read on!

West Virginia is #5 in the nation and lead by a familiar number. West Virginia has as many points as they put up Georgia in last season's Sugar Bowl. I still can't believe West Virginia beats... Georgia. They beat one of the finest SEC teams in all of the land. They were the former 1980 National Champions. And WVU is spanking Maryland after the First Quarter. They led 28-0.

Frustration ensued as Maryland was getting ready to fight Maryland. Are we going to see a fight like with Clemson and South Carolina or Hawaii and Houston? Maryland was stopped behind the line on 3rd and Inches. They went for a 4th Down play and cashed in at the 10:31 mark. At 9:26 and 3rd and Goal, Maryland prevents the shutout with an easy touchdown pitch and catch. EASY Money. The 6+1 makes it 28-7. Maryland now needs 21 unanswered points to make something happen. The WVU QB played some defense in trying to advance the ball past the First Down line after two Personal Fouls on Maryland. He clocked one of the Terrapin defenders. The Morgantown side saw a short field goal from the left hash mark. WVU banged it in to make it 31-7. Maryland was very sloppy when really, they didn't have to be. Maryland probably should have downed the ball for a touchback, but then end up fumbling the ball. Mountaineers get it back. They are making Maryland look like Savannah State or Temple (well, not THAT bad). Milan Pusker Stadium has little reason for its fans to sit down. WVU can go 3-0. More penalties were in the bag, especially for WVU. They now have 2nd and 34. I bet Maryland will have to go with Cover 4 or Prevent. More mental mistakes and penalties meant that Maryland was kicking for three and got it. 31-10 now. But West Virginia scrambled hard and muffed the kickoff. But they ran it ALL THE WAY BACK. They ran from Detroit, MI to Spokane, WA. It's a 96-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown. An extra point makes it 38-10. Still, Rich Rodriguez (I accidentally named him Rich Brooks, Kentucky's head coach) will need to calm his boys down for the second half. The half ended with a wicked Maryland fumble. There were four turnovers on Maryland to end the half.

In the second half, West Virginia put on a beautiful, yet controversial pick. Reviews shown that the West Virginia defender snatched the ball out of the air before the Terrapin wide-out EVER had a chance to catch the Maryland long ball. Upon further review, Maryland lost a a timeout and their challenge. They also got picked twice. West Virginia's next drive seen only one play as Maryland forced a fumble and gave Maryland a present. WVU now has one turnover. Maryland NEEDS to cash in if West Virginia is going to fall apart at this point. And they were cash money as Maryland reduced the gap in the score. The 6+1 made it 38-17 in favor of West Virginia. Maryland has never lead the game. West Virginia went for it on 4th and Goal on the 2 with 4:03 in the 3rd Quarter. The QB Option plus the point after makes this a 45-17 b:censored:slapping of Maryland. That would be the score after three quarters of play. One last chance for Maryland to rally and upset West Virginia.

Drizzle began to fall sometime into the Fourth Quarter. It may be drizzle from the skies, but there was a hurricane sweeping away Maryland's chances of climbing back into the game. With 7:33 left in regulation, West Virginia tried to one-hand an interception, but ends up in the arms of a Maryland WR. The 6+1 makes it 45-24. You all may have heard of the "Cougar Comeback" with BYU. Is there a Terrapin Comeback on the way? On 4th and 4 with Maryland driving, a sure 1st and Goal was dropped. And so were Maryland's chances of winning. West Virginia was just that much better. (45-24; WEST VIRGINIA)



"Volunteers of a Different Feather" Tennessee Tech at Middle Tennessee State
In Division 1 college basketball, I always say that the Mid-Continent is sort of like the lowest Division 1 conference. I say that the Sun Belt is like the lowest 1-A football conference. The Sun Belt is sort of like elementary school for 1-A schools. The Sun Belt is more like Division 1-AA for 1-A. They still have quality teams regardless. One of them is Middle Tennessee State University as it welcomes the HBCU (Historically-Black Colleges and Universities) of Tennessee Tech University. And let's look to our 1-AA opponent to start. Tennessee Tech University can be found in the Ohio Valley Conference in football and basketball. Is the Ohio Valley different from Missouri Valley? I think you hear more about the Missouri Valley than the Ohio Valley. The OVC is a nice football conference. They have a wonderful basketball school in Murray State in Kentucky, home to the Murray State Racers. But the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles will land onto the fields of MTSU - Middle Tennessee State University. Middle Tennessee State has a pretty good team in the Sun Belt. The sun shines brightly on this team. There's no way the Blue Raiders will not be considered a bad team because they are sort of a nice team. So let's see what Middle Tennessee State can work up in beating this 1-AA team. The score was about 9-0 for MTSU past 7:30 in the 3rd Quarter. They blanked Tennessee Tech by a whole lot. Tennessee Tech drops to 0-3 while MTSU improves to 2-1. Middle Tennessee State saw a person get onto the football field and with a rope, bring down the left side of one of the goal posts. MTSU still won the game, but the people tell you not to jump onto the football field after the game. You will be arrested in most games if indeed it comes true. You are not allowed to do this because of a safety issue. People do get killed by being trampled on by excited sports fans. So celebrate responsibly and don't get yourself into trouble. (44-0; MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE)





DIVISION 1-AA GAMES
* Austin Peay at Samford
This is the battle of two Ohio Valley Conference schools ready to throw down in Alabama. It's the Samford crew looking to beat Austin Peay. The game ended as the Samford Bulldogs took down Clarksville(?), TN's Austin Peay State. The Governors lost by a touchdown. (17-10; SAMFORD)





DIVISION 2 GAMES
* Stillman at Albany State
It's Black College Football time, folks! We got Stillman of Tuscaloosa, AL taking on Albany State. A word of warning- Albany State has nothing to do with Albany, New York. This game is in the city of Albany, Georgia. CSTV televised the game with the call given to former Florida State QB Chris Rix and former WWE announcer Johnathan Coachman (boo!). Tuscaloosa is Crimson Tide country even though Alabama doesn't play until this Saturday. The Tigers of Stillman College are part of the SIAC and looking to get something started against Albany State. The Golden Rams of Albany State are looking to be 24 karats over Stillman's starting lineup. Let's make like Marvin Gaye and get it on!

At the 10:41 mark of the 3rd Quarter, Albany State led the Stillman College Tigers 14-0. Later in the 3rd with 5:46 left, Stillman makes a game out of this with a late touchdown strike. The Stillman KR ran the ball from Denver, CO to Burlington, VT for a kickoff for touchdown. The 6+1 makes it 14-7. And that's how it ended. Much closer than that game in Morgantown. A HELL of a lot closer than that game at Middle Tennessee State. The Golden Rams were sparkling in 24 karats in this nighttime battle. They picked up the win as Stillman loses another game. (14-7; ALBANY STATE)


* Harding at North Alabama
Thought the 1-A games weren't close? Here's a Division 2 version as North Alabama smashed Harding. Hard loss for Harding. I guess the North Alabama crew are the Lions. North Alabama has football, but not 1-AAA (usually designated for schools that don't sponsor football currently) school, South Alabama. Speaking of which, I need to update my college basketball preview. (41-14; NORTH ALABAMA)





DIVISION 3 GAMES
* Manchester at Olivet
(33-14; OLIVET)





JOHN'S EXTRAS

--- "HE RAN FROM xxxxxxxx, YY all the way to aaaaaaaa, BB..." ---
Do you know how I come up with making an American map layout of kickoffs returned for touchdowns? Here's what I do. I sort of think of where in America the ball would be if someone were to lay out a big American map. It all depends on where the ball is received on kickoffs. For example, if a kickoff returner catches a ball in the southeastern end of the field and in the end zone, I say the guy would have caught the ball starting in Miami, FL. But let's say that the KR gets some blockers and runs up the middle. If he lands into the other end zone midway between the left sideline and the middle, I say he'd land in San Francisco, CA. I'm just having some fun in making kickoffs for touchdowns a little more interesting. Now here's another example. Let's say another kickoff returner caught the ball on the 1 yard line on the KR's right hash mark. I'd say he caught the ball from Phoenix, AZ. If he ran the ball all the way going northeast from the press box, I say he landed in New York City, NY. So it all depends on the press box broadcast view of the field. I only do it for kickoffs returned for touchdowns and not punts or interceptions for touchdowns. I just try to make "he could go ALL... THE... WAY..." more fun.



--- MARKETING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ---
Do some of you watch college football on TV and notice the commercials for the two schools competiting? Maybe even see commercials of the conference(s) involved? Some of them can be pretty cool and pretty interesting. I usually like learning more about certain colleges and universities. I am currently not part of a bigtime college or university. I'm in the Houston Community College System, but I love seeing stuff on these different universities and such. They give me a chance to see what the schools are all about if I was actually wanted to apply for the certain university or college. Maryland's commercial was pretty comical with the turtles crawling on the ground as they led to the University of Maryland logo. I've even seen the Big East commercial at times. I don't really have a favorite commercial for a college, a university, or a conference. I can recall looking at Big East and SEC commercials when the Battle of the Bluegrass was underway. There were even commercials for both Louisville and Kentucky. The interesting thing is how much college sports has really become a multi-million dollar business over the years. Sort of the marketing giant is the NFL, but colleges and universities still get their fair share of publicity over the air. I think it's a good thing because it gives people a chance to check out what student life is like as well as kind of education and sports you can enjoy. The same can be said when non-football schools get some publicity. I guess two of them I like are commercials for St. John's University (of the Big East; basketball) and of Saint Joseph's (Atlantic 10). In fact, Phil Marteli (Saint Joseph's men's head coach) has a very interesting Coaches' Show called "Hawk Talk with Phil Marteli." College Sports Television usually takes it to another level. The "Coast2Coach" shows usually shows commercials from the specific college and its region. So for example, the coaches' show on the University of Florida will present you with commercials from Florida as well as certain Florida-only commercials. So you'll see UF commercials as well as Simply Orange orange juice with the UF basketball coach (I forgot his name. Was it Billy Donovan?). Sometimes, CSTV will show some commercials from certain other schools even if one specific coaches' show is featured. Just today, I seen the coaches' show for the Georgia Bulldogs when I see a commercial for Cornell University. I've even seen commercials of Georgetown, THE Ohio State University, Iona College, Southern California, Central Florida... College sports are really some bigtime marketing deals nowadays. I think it's a great fit for colleges/universities and students alike. So check out some of the commercials for the schools and conferences to see what they are all about.



--- SEPERATION SATURDAY PICKS BY LOU HOLTZ AND MARK MAY ---
The Pontiac Performance Halftime Show seen analysts Lou Holtz and Mark May make their picks as to who will win on Seperation Saturday. I will call this Saturday as "Seperation Saturday." There will be about seven key matches in 1-A. I will come up with a "Seperation Saturday Pack" showcasing these seven different games. Four are listed below.

* LSU at Auburn
Lou - Auburn; Mark - LSU

* Florida at Tennessee
Lou - Florida; Mark - Florida

* Michigan at Notre Dame
Lou - Notre Dame; Mark - Michigan

* Miami at Louisville
Lou - Miami; Mark - Louisville



--- PONTIAC GAME CHANGING PERFORMANCE ---
The performance announced by ESPN was the Iowa Goal Line stand vs. Syracuse in 2OT. I'm personally sick of Pontiac, but they somehow sponsored this deal. Maybe they should call it the BMW Game Changing Performance, or maybe even the Toyota or Honda Game Changing Performance. It was a nice call by America who voted on the big plays of the week.



--- SEEN THE LATEST AFLAC COMMERCIAL? ---
The latest AFLAC commercial is VERY FUNNY! It was one of those old school silent movie themes. The Aflac duck saved this lady tied up to a railroad track. The hero could be a tragic hero as the passing train whacked the Aflac duck and sent him for a ride. It was funny! I sort of like the Aflac commercials more than the Geico gecko. Aflac!



--- TOMORROW AND SATURDAY... ---
There will be a few more Friday Night games in almost all four divisions. Any games that take place on Friday will be brought up before the fun on Saturday begins. You WILL get some sweet games, and even some not-so-sweet games. Remember that I want to focus on as much college football as possible. I want all the people who look at my game reports to perhaps find a game they like, a college or university they like, and be able to discuss those games in threads like this. It's why I say that I'd love for you to get involved in my reports. I'd like to get some community going. This is my third season covering college football. So want to keep a great thing going for you all. * If you have the CSTV network, then a new show will air on Saturday night devoted to the SEC. The show will be hosted by Greg Amsinger, Brian Curtis, and former Kentucky QB- Tim Couch. So a little Wildcat love will be on CSTV.

The Friday Night game will be Kansas University going to Ohio to face Toledo. It's Jayhawks at the Rockets.

 

[JohnBM01]

Here is a small note about the Miami @ Louisville game: Louisville has NEVER beaten the Hurricanes. Their record against Miami is 0-9-2 (or is it 0-9-1?). It is sometimes an unhealthy habit to say that "we beat them ### times, so we can do it again." If that was true, then this game shouldn't be close at all... even if the cheerleaders were playing the other team. That should be a key note for anyone thinking this year's game isn't going to be close. My predicted scores must have at least one score for the other team. I make sure my predictions is a prime number so that I don't have a close call brewing. It would be interesting if my predicted scores are exactly what happens in each game I try to preview. Louisville has made eight bowl games since 1998.

The biggest story in college football now is that Reggie Bush may lose the Heisman, and USoCal may be stripped of their 2004 National Championship. This is HUGE for the Trojan boys in Los Angeles. Vince Young would pick up the Heisman since he was second in voting (and should have won the damn thing in the first place). I think Oklahoma played against USC in the 2005 title game. So Oklahoma would get the title. This is HUGE if USoCal and Bush are guilty of the charges.

Let's do some Friday Night action, shall we? Remember that the game will be classified by Division judging on whose home field it is on. So if Michigan plays at Minnesota State, it's a Division 2 game since Minnesota State is a Division 2 school.





WEEK 3 - FRIDAY SYNOPSIS
The Mid-American Conference is looking to take down another BCS conference in Ohio as a 1-AA school heads into Division 2 territory. The dominated headline is on Reggie Bush and the suspicion that he may have picked up loads of money in gifts from an agent. If convicted, Reggie Bush may lose his Heisman trophy and USoCal may be under probation and may have to pay dearly. Otherwise, few games took place this Friday.





DIVISION 1-A GAMES
"Holy Toledo!" Kansas at Toledo
The Big XII meets the MAC. A dream Big XII/MAC matchup would be Texas at Bowling Green. Maybe even Texas Tech at Bowling Green. We have Kansas flying into Toledo. The game will be at the Glass Bowl in Toledo, OH. Let's meet Kansas. Not many people care about Kansas football since Kansas is heralded for their basketball dominance. Kansas hasn't won a basketball championship since 1952. The football team hasn't won one since... wait. They NEVER DID! They are on nobody's radar, so they just play to get into Bowl Games. The Jayhawks are looking for two straight Bowl Games

Toledo led 17-14 at the half over Kansas. Toledo is doing to Kansas at the half that Houston couldn't do in the Fort Worth Bowl (no disrespect to the Cougars (who play Grambling State tomorrow)). Kansas picks up a Safety with 8:15 left in the 3rd Quarter. Toledo had a Safety earlier. The new score was 17-16 with Toledo still leading. Then Kansas pulled in a wild 33-yard touchdown... or would it be reversed? The call stands! The touchdown and PAT makes it 23-17 as Kansas takes the lead. It would be the score after three quarters of play. On of the Fourth Quarter. Toledo picked off Kansas after the Toledo punt with GREAT field position. It's 1st and Goal on the 10. Can Toledo tie or lead the game? You bet! The PAT made it a 24-23 Toledo lead. No challenge was called on the 4th and Goal scamper by Toledo. Kansas had a BEAUTIFUL fake... which ended up coming back on a penalty. Kansas drove the ball down the field just to see Toledo get an 84-yard, uncontested interception. Easy money. Ha! Take that, Wall Streeet! Toledo has a fine investment as their stock is rising. The 6+1 makes it 31-23 in favor of Toledo. Kansas will need a touchdown and the 2-point conversion to tie the game. Kansas scores a touchdown with 3:54 left on the clock. Remember that they need two points to tie the game. Superman must have graduated from Kansas because the Kansas QB made a QB keeper to fly his way into the endzone. Jayhawks tied the Rockets at 31. Game on. This is a Friday Night fistfight to the finish. Who'll connect that right hook to make the other team kiss the canvas? Rock... chalk... Jay... Hawk... KU! Some bad possessions by Toledo and Kansas meant the score remained at 31-31. Thank goodness there are no ties in college football anymore! We're going to Overtime!

Toledo went first and tried to get a 4th Down touchdown, but failed. Then when Kansas had their drive, they had an option play where the Kansas runner never carried the ball! Second Overtime we go. Typical lackluster Jayhawk football. That lackluster play would continue into the Second Overtime after Toledo was called for a Personal Foul (Facemask). Now it's Toledo's turn. Kansas has five turnovers with two in Overtime. Toledo wins on a touchdown scamper from the very first play. GAME OVER! (37-31, 2OT; TOLEDO)





DIVISION 1-AA GAMES
(no games reported)
NOTE: I designate division games based on who the home team is and what division they are in. That's why I put Central Connecticut State in the Divison 2 slot because CCSU is a 1-AA team playing at a Division 2 school. The Division 2 unit is the home team, so I designated it by whoever the home team is and in what division. Any games at NAIA school or NJCAA school will be notified by whomever is the school. I have NO NAIA or NJCAA scores since I mostly stay with the NCAA. You are welcome at ANY time to talk about your favorite college or the one you go to. This is my thread, but it's also your's too. See the Division 2 scores to see the 1-AA opponent, Central Connecticut State.





DIVISION 2 GAMES
* Central Connecticut State at Southern Connecticut State
Central Connecticut State is a 1-AA school as they take on Division 2 school Southern Connecticut State. Both teams are in conferences which has "Northeast" in them. CCSU plays in the Northeastern Conference while SCSU plays in the Northeast 10. The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils hope to be devilish at Southern Connecticut State. Not even the home team could woo CCSU to go back to New Britain, CT. (1?-1?; Central Connecticut State)

"Assume I Know Everything" Saint Anselm at Assumption
A field goal was the difference as Assumption College knocked off the Saint Anselm boys. (26-23; ASSUMPTION)





DIVISION 3 GAMES
NOTE: A game was scheduled to play between Nichols and Worcester State. The website I looked up for Division 3 scores, { http://www.d3football.com }, did not make a report of the game's results. So no score will be posted since I don't know who indeed won.





JOHN'S EXTRAS
I'm going to present you with a LOT of extras.




--- A LOOK AT OLD DOMINION AND CAMPBELL ---
GTPlanet, Old Dominion and Campbell will return to football. Somewhere later this decade, these two universities will go at it and enjoy Saturday football yet again.

- Old Dominion Profile
Official Name: Old Dominion University
Motto: "Changing Lives"
Nickname/Mascot: Monarchs
Location: Norfolk, VA
Established: 1930
Website: http://www.odu.edu ; atlethics at: http://odusports.collegesports.com/

Basketball Conference: Colonial Athletic Association (will sponsor football from A-10 next year)
Basketball Arena: Ted Constant Convocation Center
NCAA Division: 1
Colors: Blue and Gray

Debut Season: 2009

Famous Alumni:
Robert "Bootie" Barker - NASCAR Crew Chief and hosts "Bootie Call" segment on Speed Report
Tracy Claxton - played for 1985 Women's Championship team
Nancy Liberman - 1996 Hall of Famer for the Womens' Basketball Hall of Fame
Justin Verlander - right-handed pitcher for the Detroit Tigers

-end ODU



- Campbell Profile
Official Name: Campbell University
Motto: "Ad astra per aspera" ("To the stars through difficulties")
Nickname/Mascot: (Fighting) Camels, mascot is Gaylord the Camel
Location: Buies Creek, NC
Established: 1887
Website: http://www.campbell.edu ; atletics at: http://www.gocamels.com/

Basketball Conference: Atlantic Sun
Basketball Arena: Carter Gymnasium (can seat only 947 people!)
NCAA Division: 1
Colors: Orange and Black

Debut Season: 2008





--- NON-FOOTBALL STUFF ---
Let's talk about the sport we call soccer while most others call it football. College Sports TV featured a game on Friday night between the #9 Indiana Hoosiers playing at the unranked St. Louis Billikens. Saint Louis has hosted football in its past. The former C-USA unit in basketball plays in the Atlantic 10 for most of their sports. Anyhow, some panoramic shots of where St. Louis plays soccer shows a BEAUTIFUL view of St. Louis. I hope that it's okay to use "St. Louis" to talk about Saint Louis University. Let me know if it isn't.

Anyhow, the field is pretty nice. Sweet to imagine seeing the pigskin being tossed around in the city where you can see the St. Louis Rams play on Sundays and Monday nights. Their field looks very much like it hosted football in the past. Robert R. Hermann Stadium is the name of the soccer field for Saint Louis University. Indiana and Saint Louis have 17 total National Championships among them. Indiana has seven while Saint Louis has the other 10. Saint Louis also got a BIG win as they beat the #9 Hoosiers 1 - nil. (1-0; SAINT LOUIS) *upset!*

Here are some other soccer scores for me to bring across:

Men's Soccer
* #? Notre Dame at Louisville (2-0; Notre Dame)
* Hartford at #22 Massachusetts (?-?; MASSACHUSETTS)

Womens' Soccer
* #1 Notre Dame at DePaul (5-0; #1 Notre Dame)






--- WHY I SORT OF FOCUS IN ON PAST FOOTBALL TEAMS ---
I say that I would like to know the history of football teams. While some teams may not exist anymore or in the works, the plan is just to sort of look back on the glory days and imagine if there were more teams in football than there is now. Let it be known that I love college football. I just like to share a love of the game. When I first got into cars (to use a analogy), I thought tuner cars were race cars for the road. I was sort of curious as to what kinds of bigtime racing the tuner car drivers competed in. As time went on, I realized that people made up those tuner car deals for mostly show. With college football, I like the action and want to know how action was like back then. Some schools have soccer teams, lacross teams, and women's field hockey teams across places where football teams once played on. Here's a fact for you- the University of Houston used to play their home football games where Rice now plays football. Now Houston plays at the much smaller (35,000 seating capacity) Robertson Stadium while the big stadium is where Rice plays.





--- WOULD COLLEGE FOOTBALL BE MORE INTERESTING WITH A TOURNAMENT AND WITHOUT 1-A AND 1-AA? ---
I've made a thread long ago about tournament play. The financial issues with football is that fielding a football team can be a costly investment. The benefits of the deal can be immeasurable. With all due respect to college basketball, nothing can be more enjoyable than a good old football game. Think of people baring cold temperatures and drinking hot cocoa to bear the cold. It's also amazing to listen to the school bands go to work in the stands and at midfield during halftime. College football (at least to me) exudes incredible emotion that college basketball sometimes doesn't provide. It doesn't mean that I'm not real big on college basketball (hell, I covered my first season of hoops last season!), just that I am more of a football guy. But back on topic.

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is usually responsible for teams that play in for the title and who doesn't win the title. Some say that there should be perhaps an 8-team or 16-team tournament. I had a wild idea of a 32-team tournament. Or if there was no such thing as 1-A and 1-AA, imagine if New Hampshire or Georgia Southern upsets someone like Michigan or Texas?





--- WORDS I COMMONLY MISSPELL IN REPORTS ---
football - "fotoball"
the - "teh"
just - "jsut"
league - "leauge"
opportunity - "oppurtunity"

I am told to have a pretty high words per minute (WPM). So I usually screw up text in my reports.






--- TOMORROW... ---
Here are some of the games in my "Sepration Saturday Pack":

#19 Nebraska at #4 USoCal
#17 Miami at #12 Louisville
#15 Oklahoma at #18 Oregon
Clemson at #9 Florida State (Bowden Bowl)
#8 Texas vs. Rice (Reliant Stadium; Houston, TX)
#?? Michigan at #? Notre Dame
#?? Michigan State at Pittsburgh





See you then. But first, let me give you some Top 25 polls heading into this week.


DIVISION 1-A TOP 25 (AP POLL):
(* = undefeated)

01 - Ohio State*
02 - Notre Dame*
03 - Auburn*
04 - USoCal*
05 - West Virginia*
06 - Louisiana State*
07 - Florida*
08 - Texas
09 - Florida State*
10 - Georgia*
11 - Michigan*
12 - Louisville*
13 - Tennessee*
14 - Virginia Tech*
15 - Oklahoma*
16 - Iowa*
17 - Miami
18 - Oregon*
19 - Nebraska*
20 - Texas Christian
21 - California
22 - Arizona State
23 - Boston College*
24 - Texas Tech*
25 - Penn State





DIVISION 1-AA TOP 25:
(* = undefeated)

01 - New Hampshire*
02 - Appalachian State
03 - California Polytechnical*
04 - Furman*
05 - Montana
06 - Youngstown State*
07 - Illinois State
08 - Richmond*
09 - Masschusetts
10 - Hampton*
11 - Delaware*
12 - Northern Iowa
13 - Portland State*
14 - McNeese State
15 - James Madison
16 - Southern Illinois*
17 - North Dakota State*
18 - Eastern Illinois
19 - Eastern Kentucky
20 - Montana State
21 - California-Davis
22 - Lafayette*
23 - Texas State
24 - Georgia Southern
25 - Alabama A&M*





DIVISION 2 TOP 25:
(* = undefeated)

01 - Grand Valley State*
02 - Northwest Missouri*
03 - Saginaw Valley*
04 - North Dakota*
05 - North Alabama*
06 - Pittsburg State*
07 - Valdosta State*
08 - South Dakota*
09 - North Carolina Central*
10 - Bloomsburg
11 - West Texas A&M*
12 - Delta State*
13 - Carson-Newman*
14 - Shepherd*
15 - Presbyterian
16 - Northwood*
17 - C.W. Post*
18 - East Stroudsburg
19 - Nebraska-Omaha
20 - Edinboro*
21 - Washburn*
22 - Missouri Western*
23 - Winona State*
24 - Chadron State*
25 -





DIVISION 3 TOP 25:
(* = undefeated)

01 - Mount Union*
02 - Wisconsin-Whitewater*
03 - Rowan*
04 - St. John's*
05 - Capital*
06 - Wesley*
07 - Hardin-Simmons*
08 - Occidental*
09 - Wisconsin-La Crosse*
10 - Bridgewater (VA)*
11 - Linfield
12 - Delaware Valley
13 - Ohio Northern*
14 - Mary Hardin-Baylor
15 - Ithaca*
16 - Central*
17 - Coe*
18 - Hobart*
19 - Wilkes*
20 - Whitworth*
21 - Texas Lutheran*
22 - Union
23 - Concordia-Moorhead
24 - RPI (Rennsaeler Polytechnic Institute)*
25 - Wheaton*

 

[JNasty4G63]

27-17 HAWKS!!!!!

FINALLY!!!! Things clicked pretty well that game. Tate was a little rough here and there, but still threw for almost 300yds with 3 TDs. Very glad he is back, and looking very strong. OH MAN, this is great. Still have some tough games left, but this was one of the biggest of the year, so I'm very pumped. We are 3-0 now, and past ISU. YES!!!

GO HAWKS!!!!!

Hilg


vvv THIS IS OURS BABY vvv

 

[JNasty4G63]

28 - 10 TROJANS!!!

Oh, and it was a double great day for me here. There was nothing but MASSIVE ammounts of crap being talked around here about how Nebraska was going to totally hang with USC. Some people even saying it was going to be a Husker win. Um, yea, that didn't happen. Even though the score doesn't show it, it was all USC all the time in a total BLOWOUT.

The news right after the game was great. All the sports guys, most of whom were in LA, were all somber and down. It was just a real funny 4hrs or so. Before the game, everyone was all upbeat and ready to rock. It was classic. Everyone all happy, cheerful and pumped up. Then, 4hrs later, after the beatdown, it was wrist slitting time for most. But, when thats all you have, as Husker fans do, when it goes wrong, you have nothing else. Kinda sad really.

One nunce from the NU team even popped off earlier this week about "when" they beat USC, people will see how much the program has improved and blah blah blah. Uh, yea, win first, then talk crap. Talking trash and making predictions never works, unless your name is Rasheed Wallace. He can make predictions, because they back them up. Andre Jones should just stop talking, period.

Anyhoo, sorry to ramble. I just had to vent a little mockery and laughter at the Huskers and their fans.

Hilg

 

[JohnBM01]

It's Seperation Saturday, GTPlanet! Welcome to the latest college football report presented by "JohnBM01," or just simply John. You ready for some action? You'll get PLENTY of love from me, players.





WEEK 3 - SATURDAY SYNPOSIS
There were some games played whereas ranked teams in 1-A had a chance to walk away winners, or get shocked right before their eyes. Some of the many matchups include Nebraska at Southern California, Miami at Louisville, Oklahoma at Oregon (2005 Holiday Bowl Rematch), and even Michigan at Notre Dame. The different matchups at hand saw some big winners and some big losers. Some of the fallout of last week occured this week as well including some upsets and big wins. Just about all of the Patriot League teams played against the Ivy League in Division 1-AA action. The last weekend of Summer is going to end with some hot games and cold defeats. Division 2 saw a lot of Minnesota teams play.





DIVISON 1-A GAMES
GTPlanet, I promised to give you a "Seperation Saturday Pack." All of these games will be in blue. I hope my scores are to your liking.


SEPERATION SATURDAY PACK
"The Tiger Bowl" #6 LSU at #3 Auburn (GAME OF THE WEEK)
Cat lovers, revel in the glory that is the Tiger Bowl. It isn't official Bowl or Rivalry Game, but at least you know what the two teams share as mascots. Louisiana State University can be found in Baton Rouge, LA. They are the Away Team here. They'll play in Jordan-Hare Stadium where the Auburn Tigers play. This game was a defensive stranglehold. My predicted scores had an emphasis on low-scoring and solid defense. Love offense? This game is NOT for you. This was a defensive showcase in (arguably) the best college football conference in America. (7-3; AUBURN)

"Ov-er Ra-ted!" #11 Michigan at #2 Notre Dame (RIVALRY GAME)
I know only one thing about South Bend, IN- it's the home of the University of Notre Dame. I sometimes just want to say "Notre Dame" in French just to show that I'm cultured and don't want to try to butcher pronounding certain things. Notre Dame is going to welcome Michigan. Don't expect a friendly welcome, however. Last year, Notre Dame upset Michigan AT the Big House. The boys from the Big House are ready to incarcerate Notre Dame for picking the wrong team to mess with. That team would be the Michigan Wolverines, thank you very much. It's time for Notre Dame's Fighting Irish to be patrolled by the Michigan 5-0. This 53-man unit doesn't need fancy badges, Miranda Rights, or whatever. They do it by the book. At day's end, Michigan let Notre Dame know what time it is. You dig, players? So all that talk about Notre Dame going all the way to perhaps an undefeated season and Brady Quinn getting a Heisman is in brief jeaprody. Michigan shocks the #2 nation in the land. Some guy in blue and maize would chant, "OVER RATED!" right about now. Maybe for good reason. (47-21; Michigan) *upset!*

"Storm Surge" Miami at Louisville
My buddy, FoolKiller said that he liked me more and more each day after I picked Miami to smash Louisville. Let's see if his predictions and mine are correct. For each time Louisville played Miami, they never won. They've lost nine times to them and got a couple of ties. This time around, Louisville is looking to withstand Monther Nature and prove FoolKiller and I wrong. The Louisville Cardinals know that birds can't survive against Mother Nature. Louisville can. Miami is still a good team, just not the Miami of old. It would be a sad proposition to lose two games in the early going. They lost to Florida State on Labor Day, and hope the Hurricanes don't lose in northwestern Kentucky. There's some or relation to Hurricanes and red. Hurricane flags are red with a black box in the center- same as Louisville's colors. So this could be a meeting of two natural disasters. Miami was stomping on Louisville's logo. And usually, the teams that stomp on another team's logo usually lose and lose BAD. The biggest natural disaster took place today as the lower-ranked Hurricanes not only lose to Louisville, but they lose BADLY. Louisville basically punked me and FoolKiller out on this. Keep in mind, I never said that Louisville was going to handily lose to Miami, nor did I give them virtually no chance of winning. This was just a BIG win for Louisville. How did the Kentucky Wildcats do? Find out later in this report. Congratulations to Louisville. You FINALLY beat Miami. (31-7; LOUISVILLE)

"The Ugly Ducklings That Could" Oklahoma at Oregon
ESPN College Gameday had a segment on Oregon's many uniform opportunities. They mix green, black, yellow, and such. They even have some newer designs to go with them. The Ducks were out of fashion in the 2005 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. The game is still on the West Coast, but in Eugene, OR at Autzen Stadium. The boys from Norman, OK were proud to give Oregon a rematch. Oklahoma won the 2005 Holiday Bowl, but Oregon won themselves some sweet revenge. (34-33; OREGON)

"All Good Things..." #24 Texas Tech at #20 TCU
Let's go to Fort Worth, Texas and meet the 1937 co-National Champions. It's a Northern Texas battle as Texas Tech meets Texas Christian. TCU holds the longest win streak in Division 1. TCU has that winning streak, and Texas Tech wants to break it. I've never been to northern Texas. I can probably imagine that these boys will lovingly smash any team in the land. The Horned Frogs need not hear of the Prince deal whereas a frog becomes a handsome prince when kissed by a princess. REAL princesses, not the ladies bearing "Princess" on their shirts and Myspace home pages. This ain't no fairy tale. Texas Tech is certainly not a ficticious team. Texas Tech University can be found in the Texas city of Lubbock. It's maybe an hour south of Abeline. The Red Raiders came from a deceptively close would-be upset by Texas-El Paso in Overtime. UTEP couldn't stop Texas Tech. Can TCU? The score looks like it was a field goal kicker's holiday... and it was. TCU wins by nine with a BIG win. Maybe TCU should join a BCS conference where they can REALLY strut their stuff. (12-3; TEXAS CHRSTIAN)

* Florida at Tennessee (RIVALRY GAME)
The Tennessee Volunteers had Florida on the ropes, but Florida's Gators came right back to win it all. (21-20; Florida)

"Bowden Down to Your Master!" Clemson at #9 Florida State ("Bowden Bowl VIII")
A wild finish to this game meant that Clemson led 27-20 with 8 seconds left! It was easy money for James Davis of the Clemson Tigers. The 6+1 means that the Sunshine State will see plenty of dark clouds and heavy rain. The 1981 National Champs defeated the Florida State Seminoles. (27-20; Clemson) *upset!*

"Booty Call" Nebraska at USoCal
I'm having too much fun with this guy's last name for Southern Cal. The Los Angeles, CA unit isn't having too much fun especially with some of the controversy leaked by Yahoo! Sports. The Trojans whipped the Nebraska Cornhuskers real good. (28-10; SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA)

-end of Seperation Saturday Pack


Let us advance to ther games played.


"Birds of a Different Feather" Iowa State at Iowa (RIVALRY GAME: Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy)
Not to sound like this is a battle between two sexy girls, but Iowa State has what Iowa wants. Last year, Iowa State beat Iowa bad in Ames, Iowa. It was a saddening loss for the Big Ten's most up-and-coming team. For something of about 365 days, Iowa fans have been saddended that they don't have the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Remember one thing in college football- you get only ONE chance each year to beat your rival. If you don't win, you have to wait until next season. So both teams are playing to win. Iowa State is actually an underrated Big XII team. The Cyclones had maximum security in hoping that anyone from Iowa City doesn't come in Metal Gear Solid style to try to commit tactical espionage to retrieve the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Iowa's long-awaited revenge need not wait any longer. Iowa's p*ssed. They want the Cy-Hawk Trophy as badly as Mitsubishi wants people to buy their cars. The Hawkeyes will initimidate you with their stare. Hawkeyes are omniscient and supreme creatures. Last year, Iowa State caressed the Cy-Hawk Trophy like it was one of their children. Now it's good news in Iowa City as the cloudy skies welcomed the sunshine as Iowa takes back what's rightfully theirs. The curse is over... at least for this season. (27-17; IOWA)

"Lexington's Legends" Mississippi at Kentucky
Commonwealth Stadium is where this game will be held. We're talking about Lexington, KY and the University of Kentucky. It is where wearing Royal Blue makes you special. Looking to be special is Kentucky as they look to take on Mississippi (or Ole Miss). The Kentucky Wildcats were likely shocked to see the Miami Huricanes lose BIG in Louisville by those Louisville Sluggers. Kentucky has one winner, now the other must win to have a great weekend. Mississippi hasn't hasn't been the same since Eli Manning was under center for them. The Rebels stink badly in basketball (though not as bad as Georgia or Auburn), and have a barely acceptable football team. Ever heard of that rock group "Taking Back Sunday?" Well, Kentucky took back Saturday football as the Kentucky Wildcats sent Ole Miss packing. I don't know if Commonwealth Stadium sold out, but the Wildcat fans in the stands got EVERYTHING they wanted and more. We are Wildcats, hear us roar! Be afraid. Because we're coming to get you! Blowout win as Kentucky now wins two straight. (31-14; KENTUCKY)

"Making Big Bucks" Cincinatti at #1 Ohio State
Biology class is up next. It's time to be furnished with microscopes. We will be looking at slides of Cincinatti and Ohio State. Cincinatti is first. You enter Cincinatti from a city in Kentucky if flying by air. Cincinatti is one of three popular Ohio cities that begin with the letter "C." The Bearcats are heading into Columbus, OH to meet Ohio State. Beating Ohio State takes talent, dedication, and [sometimes] luck. Ohio State came off of beating Texas in Austin. Now the Buckeyes are looking to give a good-old fashioned smash job to every other team they'll play all year- starting with Cincinatti. This was no doubt a record in the Win column. And last I checked, Ohio State's still undefeated. (37-7; OHIO STATE)

"Bully Dogs" UAB at Georgia
Alabama-Birmingham has risen from nobody to somebody in some time. They played in Division 3 and worked all the way up to 1-A. They are pretty much veterans. UAB, however, are going to meet a team that's been around MUCH longer than them in Georgia. The University of Georgia is SEC football to the bone. Speaking of bones, the Bulldogs are going to bury plenty of UAB Blazer bones once Georgia is done disposing of UAB. Or will they take eviscerate(?) UAB? No sweat! Georgia's undefeated as their winning streak continues. (34-0; GEORGIA)

* Arizona State at Colorado
The Valley of the Sun meets some boys to the north northeast. Colorado is a Rocky Mountain state, but their season has been rocky thus far. Colorado is on the base of a mountain rather than being on top of a mountain. Who'll win? That's for me to report and for you to read. Arizona State won the Insight Bowl last year against a resurgent Rutgers team. They are still the best team in the state of Arizona. And until they get a competitive men's basketball team, the Sun Devils will burn up ANY competitor. Now back to Colorado. Folsom Field is such a beautiful place to see football played. You have the mountains and the lovely stadium itself. Too bad their football team isn't as lovely as their stadium. The Buffaloes have gotten their asses pounded by Montana State and Colorado State. Colorado State may be the new best team in Colorado if this keeps up. Colorado can pick up a big win here by taking down Arizona State. AriSU has been to the BCS Bowls before and are still a great team. Times change, but not Arizona State's dominant brand of football. What's worse- Mississippi State or Colorado? If they are going to be playing like this, I hope they NEVER win the Big XII North this year. You CAN'T expect to play like this and have s:censored:ty results. They need to get it together, or people are going to be fired by the athletics administration. (21-3; Arizona State)

"Best of the Worst" Syracuse at Illinois
Two of the worst teams from two BCS. Call it the Loser Bowl. The winner isn't so much a loser while the other... is still a loser. The Orange of Syracuse sucked less in beating the Illinois Fighting Illini. (31-21; Syracuse)

* Ohio at Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers took down and took out the Ohio Bobcats. (24-7; RUTGERS)

* Duke at Virginia Tech
It's time to give some love to JFM92_GTRacer and his Virginia Tech school. The Hokies didn't show much love to the Duke Blue Devils as this blow/shut out is complete. And so is Duke's misery. (36-0; VIRGINIA TECH)

* BYU at Boston College
A double overtime thriller in Chestnut Hill, MA meant plenty of hard-fought action. The Eagles of Boston College pulled it out in the end over the Brigham Young Cougars. (30-23, 2OT; BOSTON COLLEGE)

Tulane at Mississippi State
Last year's best story in college football played in Starksville, MS. Can Ole Miss' rivals do what Mississippi couldn't do against Kentucky (win the game)? The Mississippi State Bulldogs FINALLY scored some points for freaking once. Unfortunately, not enough to supress the Green Wave. This now makes it two straight seasons in which Mississippi State lost to a C-USA team. Last year, they lost to the Houston Cougars. Not to mention, two straight home losses against C-USA at home. But congratulations, Mississippi State! You finally scored some points for damned once! (32-29; Tulane)




--- Bayou City Love ---
I am proud to virtually welcome you to my hometown of Houston, Texas. We have two schools in 1-A with Rice University and the University of Houston. Texas Southern played at a 1-A school, so this will be a 1-A game. We begin with a big matchup at Reliant Stadium. This pack will be in red.

"Stone Cold Longhorns" Texas vs. Rice (Reliant Stadium; Houston, Texas)
It was a VERY hot day here in Houston today. It probably feels much cooler inside Reliant Stadium. The Texans will play against the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday. Thankfully, the Texan boys let Texas and Rice beat each others' brains out. Texas came off of a saddening loss to Ohio State at home. The Longhorns are ready to get their act back together. They'll have to do it against a revived Rice offense. Rice has played pretty well, but never put a team away. They didn't get Houston. They didn't get UCLA. But the Owls are going to get BIG trouble from the boys from Austin. At one point, I had thoughts of being a part of Rice University. Rice is a private university northwest of the Texas Medical Center. Their biggest accomplishment as of late has been their dominating Texas stunned Rice like it was nothing. And that's the bottom line, 'cause Texas said so! (52-7; Texas)

"Cougar Comeback" Grambling State at Houston
Here's a chance for Grambling State to take away some of Houston's momentum. It's also a chance for Houston to remain undefeated. They need to win here so that they can test Miami next week. You all read my Miami/Louisville report and saw what happened. So could Houston go 3-0 to start the year? Grambling State is first. Grambling State University can be found in Grambling, Louisiana. Their logo is similar to the Green Bay Packers and Georgia's logo. The Tigers are BIG rivals against Southern University. Houston is next. I've actually been on the Universisty of Houston campus before. I used to go a lot when my brother took me up there when I was younger. I played in the libary getting onto the Internet there (NCSA Mosaic was popular then as a browser). I'm probably looking into the University of Houston-Downtown when I get my Associate in Arts degree from the Houston Community College system. I can then work on my Communications major. Anyhow, back to the team. Houston football may be back in business under Art Briles. He's led Houston to two Bowl Games in three seasons. Their worst season was two seasons ago when they went 3-8. Now the Cougars are 2-0 looking to go 3-0 before their date at Miami. The Scarlet and Albino White are going into Miami with a win streak after this game. Time will tell if it will be 4-0. If they can beat Miami next week, Houston will be for real, no questions asked. (42-22; HOUSTON)

* Texas Southern at New Mexico State
Texas Southern is unbeaten this year. That may change when TexSoU goes on the road to Las Cruces, NM. Texas Southern will be going to the Land of Enchantment to meet New Mexico State. Texas Southern University is down the street from the University of Houston's main campus. Color Texas Southern in Maroon and call them the Tigers because they're ready for NMSU. But are the lackluster Aggies ready for Texas Southern? You damn right! The score proves it. (48-14; NEW MEXICO STATE)

-end Bayou City Love



* Southern Illinois at Indiana
How about this? We have a basketball matchup here between two good teams. Actually, two good basketball schools trying football on for size. Indiana University is heralded for its basketball history. That history will likely continue since they have such an easy opponent to be up against. The Hoosiers have to represent the Big Ten in all its glory even with Michigan getting a BIG win in another Indiana city (Indiana U. is in Bloomington, IN). A team from Carbondale, IL is ready to hit the road for action and adventure. Southern Illinois University will see their beloved Salukis go on the road. The Missouri Valley Conference is better known in basketball. It was predicted that as many as 6 teams could be in this past season's NCAA Tournament. What's different about the Missouri Valley Conference in football than in basketball? I think Missouri State (shown later) is the only MVC team to play in basketball and football in the same conference. Missouri Valley Conference teams in basketball without football include Wichita State, Creighton, Bradley, and Evansville. All four of them once fielded football before. Many of the MVC teams with football teams are in the football-exclusive conference called the Gateway Football Conference. The Salukis were looking to stink up Indiana's record. And guess what? Indiana took a SAD loss. (35-28; Southern Illinois)

* Idaho State at Idaho
A field goal gave the Vandals the win over Pocatello, ID's Idaho State Bengals. (27-24; IDAHO)

* Louisiana-Monroe at Alabama
The Indians of Louisiana-Monroe stood no chance at upsetting the Crimson Tide. (41-7; ALABAMA)

* Army at Texas A&M
The score was deadlocked at 14. The Texas A&M Aggies put up two touchdowns in the third quarter. It was enough to take down Army as they scored 10 points in the second half. The Black Knights lose again. (28-24; TEXAS A&M)

* Western Michigan at Virginia
Virginia Tech beat Duke earlier. Now let's see how the other Virginia school did. Not very good, let's put it at that. The Western Michigan Broncos had their way by seven over the Virginia Cavaliers. (17-10; Western Michigan)

* Utah at Utah State (RIVALRY GAME: Battle for the Beehive Boot(?))
The one who got the boot was Utah. Actually, the Utes booted away the Utah State Aggies. Utah State's scoreboard wasn't working or something. (48-0; Utah)

North Texas at Tulsa
The Miami Hurricanes weren't golden against Louisville. However, the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa blew away a steam-losing Mean Green of North Texas. (28-3; TULSA)



---RAPID FIRE---
Rememhber that RAPID FIRE scores may have scores I've found, or just simply tell you who won.

* Furman at North Carolina (45-42; NORTH CAROLINA)
* Wofford at South Carolina (27-20; SOUTH CAROLINA)
* Memphis at East Carolina (35-20; EAST CAROLINA)
* Fresno State at Washington (21-20; WASHINGTON)
* Baylor at Washington State (17-15; WASHINGTON STATE)
* Bowling Green at Florida International (33-28; Bowling Green)
* Florida Atlantic at Oklahoma State (48-8; OKLAHOMA STATE)
* Portland State at California (42-16; CALIFORNIA)
* Boise State at Wyoming (17-10; Boise State)
* Temple at Minnesota (62-0; MINNESOTA) *ownage nominee*








DIVISION 1-AA GAMES
We begin with an apparent and (unofficial) Ivy League vs. Patriot League challenge.

--- Ivy League vs. Patriot League Challenge ---
"Burn in 'Nell" Cornell at Bucknell
The Bucknell Bison stampeded the Big Red of Cornell University. (20-5; BUCKNELL)

* Pennsylvania at Lafayette
Pennsylvania has perhaps one of the finest basketball arenas with the Palestra. The Quakers were CERTAINLY fine in beating the Leopards of Lafayette College. (21-11; Pennsylvania)

* Fordham at Columbia
This may as well be a Rivalry Game as two New York City schools went at it. The Fordham Rams didnd't get anything more than one touchdown as the Columbia Lions had Fordham for lunch. (37-7; COLUMBIA)

* Georgetown at Brown
Providence, Rhode Island is where you can find Brown University. It is also a place where you can find Providence College (non-football school) as part of the Big East. The Brown Bears gave Big East basketball member, Georgetown University, some hurting. (34-21; BROWN)

* Dartmouth at Colgate
Dartmouth is a basketball lame duck. One of the more popular alums (at least in terms of racing fans) of Dartmouth College is Bob Varsha, Speed Channel senior anchor. The Big Green want to beat Colgate big, but the Raiders denied them ANY chance of victory. Bench the field goal kickers because it's an all-touchdown game. (28-7; COLGATE)

* Holy Cross at Harvard
The College of the Holy Cross made Harvard pay dearly. Harvard's Crimson were no match for the Crusaders. (31-14; HARVARD)

* Princeton at Lehigh
One of the first-ever college football teams was Princeton University. The Tigers met up against the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh University. Princeton was high above Lehigh in this game. (14-10; Princeton)


-end "Ivy League vs. Patriot League Challenge"



* Missouri State at Central Arkansas
I learned that Central Arkansas is a Division 1-AA independent. They are prospective of playing in the Southland Conference. The basketball side of the Southland Conference seen a Division 1 independent join their conference as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will play hoops in the Southland Conference starting this year (I believe). Meanwhile, the Central Arkansas Bearcats hope to play in the Southland. They need a nice win to make it happen. Maybe Missouri State will be a wonderful oppurtunity. The Missouri State Bears (formerly Southwest Missouri State) call Springfield, MO home. They were also helped to a shocking road loss. This Missouri Valley Conference team took a saddening loss on the road. (16-14; CENTRAL ARKANSAS)



--- Bluegrass Special (1-AA Edition) ---
This is about rivals Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky. We begin with WKU.

* Chattanooga at Western Kentucky
Chattanooga's Mocs went into Bowling Green, KY to meet WKU. I'm sure the Hilltoppers brought along their furry mascot to do some major damage. The 'Toppers topped the Mocs. (-; WESTERN KENTUCKY)

* Eastern Kentucky at Western Carolina
EKU's rivals won, but can Eastern Kentucky win? The EKU Governors met the (-; WESTERN CAROLINA)

* Murray State at Indiana State
While Indiana's football team can't even beat a 1-AA team, let's see what a 1-AA power can do against a 1-AA Kentucky school. The Indiana State Sycamores (pronounced like "sik-a-mores") were ready to thrash their counterparts from Kentucky. Murray State University has the appreciative nickname of Racers. As I learned from FoolKiller, it's fighting words if you knock on horse racing in Kentucky. Murray State is also known as the Throughbreds in some other sports. Murray State has pole position, so can they win this race over Indiana State? Murray State motored their way through this game. The Racers won by a holeshot. (50-?9; Murray State)

I have another game later in this report involving Kentucky Wesleyan. That report is coming up next.

-end of "Bluegreass Special (1-AA Edition)"



* Kentucky Wesleyan at Western Illinois
The Western Illinois Leathernecks roughed up and destroyed the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers of Division 2. (58-0; WESTERN ILLINOIS) *ownage nominee*

* Delaware State at Northwestern State
There's Nacodoches in Texas. There's Natchitoches in Louisiana. That's where we are for this game shown on College Sports Television. The Delaware State Hornets of the MEAC are sort of an okay team. They are also one of the different historically-black colleges and universities in America. The other team had a basketball team that shocked Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Demons are just that- demons. It's scary to face this northwestern Louisiana unit. (23-3; NORTHWESTERN STATE)

* Southern at Prairie View A&M
Southern University's Jaguars are a GREAT football team. However, the Panthers were better than the Jaguars, especially in Overtime. (26-23, OT; PRAIRIE VIEW A&M)

* Central Washington at Eastern Washington
I believe EWU lost this past weekend. This is a good team hoping to return to winning. The Eagles will need to soar high and above all of their opposition. They face Division 2's Central Washington. Central Washington is part of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), which has only three other teams with football units. Those include the Humboldt State Lumberjacks, the Western Washington Vikings, and the Western Oregon Wolves. It is also the only conference in America where you can see Alaskan teams compete (but only in basketball). The Central Washington Wildcats are going to give it their all in taking down Eastern Washington. Wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... they did. Central Washington upsets a pretty good 1-AA team. (21-14; Central Washington)

* Florida A&M at Howard
MEAC action is coming up next as Tallahassee meets Washington D.C. Florida A&M University is the only HBCU to win the National Championship. The Rattlers are still every bit as good then as they are now. They now have to face the Howard Bison. Howard University is also an HBCU, just not as talented. (31-23; Florida A&M)

* Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State
Bethune-Cookman College of Daytona Beach, FL is one of a few MEAC schools in Florida. The Wildcats are going to meet some dogs. Bulldogs, that is. South Carolina State, that is. BCC got it done. (45-21; Bethune-Cookman)

* Stony Brook at New Hampshire
This wasn't even close. The Wildcats won BIGTIME. Just look at the score to see how the Seawolves fared against the New Hampshire offense. (62-7; NEW HAMPSHIRE)

--- RAPID FIRE ---
* Valparaiso at Morehead State (42-35; Valparaiso)
* Robert Morris at Butler (35-14; Robert Morris)
* Presbyterian at Elon (28-0; ELON)
* Wingate at Charleston Southern (20-17; CHARLESTON SOUTHERN)
* Gardner-Webb at Tennessee-Martin (35-9; TENNESSEE-MARTIN)
* Northern Colorado at Texas State (14-13; Northern Colorado)
* Maine at William and Mary (20-17; Maine)
* Albany at Delaware (17-10; Albany)
* Dixie State at Northern Arizona (66-14; NORTHERN ARIZONA)




DIVISION 2 GAMES
Here are some quick rundowns of action

---RAPID FIRE---
* Abeline Christian at Southeastern Oklahoma (51-14; Abeliene Christian)
* Adams State at Colorado School of Mines (-; Adams State)
* Angelo State at Central Oklahoma (30-24; CENTRAL OKLAHAOMA)
* Benedict at Tuskegee (41-14; TUSKEGEE)
* Bentley at American International (21-18; AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL)
* Cheyney at California University of Pennsylvania (43-8; CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA)
* East Stroudsburg at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (35-20; INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA)
* Charleston at Glenvile State (35-0; GLENVILE STATE)
* Davidson at Lenoir-Rhyne (24-14; Davidson)
* Eastern New Mexico at East Central (24-15; Eastern New Mexico)
* Fayetteville at Elizabeth City (43-31; ELIZABETH CITY)
* Mansfield at Slippery Rock (46-0; SLIPPERY ROCK)
* Livingstone at Virginia Union (14-12; VIRGINIA UNION)
* Kentucky State at Morehouse (34-31; Kentucky State) (<- most popular alum of Morehouse: Martin Luther King Jr. I was born on Martin Luther King Day (1/15).)

--- MINNESOTA PACK ---
* Bemidji State at Minnesota-Moorhead (21-9; Bemidji State)
* Minnesota-Crookston at Southwest Minnesota (28-7; SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA)
* Minnesota-Duluth at South Dakota (27-14; SOUTH DAKOTA)
* Minnesota State at Augustana (21-16; AUGUSTANA)

-end "Minnesota Pack"

* Northwood at Michigan Tech (13-7; Northwood)
* Nebraska-Omaha at Western Washington (38-10; Nebraksa-Omaha)
* Ouachita Baptist at Arkansas-Monticello (27-6; ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO)
* Texas A&M-Kingsville at Western Oregon (36-10; WESTERN OREGON)





DIVISION 3 GAMES
* Wisconsin-Eau Claire at Alma (-; )
* Hope at DePauw (23-14; DePAUW)
* Fitchburg State at Massachusetts-Dartmouth (33-26, OT; Fitchburg State)
* Morrisville State at Western Connecticut (34-13; WESTERN CONNECTICUT)
* McDaniel at Catholic (14-13; McDaniel)
* Hartwick at Ithaca (44-14; ITHACA)
* Huntingdon at Millsaps (35-34; Huntingdon)
* North Carolina Wesleyan at Emory and Henry (24-21; EMORY AND HENRY)
* Mississippi College at Texas Lutheran (28-21; Mississippi College) *upset!*
* East Texas Baptist at Howard Payne (24-17; HOWARD PAYNE)
* Sewanee at Washington and Lee (21-7; WASHINGTON AND LEE)
* Maine Maritime at Western New England (28-26; Western New England)
* Thomas More at Grove City (21-20; Thomas More)
* Muskingum at Ohio Northern (36-7; OHIO NORTHERN)
* Heidelberg at John Caroll (42-7; JOHN CAROLL)





JOHN'S WEEK IN REVIEW HONORS
Time to reward good teams and punish bad ones. Court is in session. There can be so many choices. If I don't get to the one you think should be the recipient of the different titles, then get in here and make your own nominations.

BIGGEST WIN(S) OF THE WEEK
#12 Louisville Knocks Off #17 Miami for the First Time - I hate to say it, but it's true. Louisville spanked Miami's asses when I clearly thought Louisville were going to be walked on by Miami. Louisville may beat Miami in basketball, but I wasn't expecting this when I came home from being on the road with my parents. They lost the game and lost badly. They came so close last season to beating Miami. Now they beat them by a not-even-close deal. What's wrong with Miami? Better hope it's not the South Beach Diet.

MOST DISAPPOINTING LOSS(ES) OF THE WEEK
Southern Illinois Beats Indiana (We're Talking about Football Here, People!) - It's still an upset no matter how you put it. It's a saddening loss for the Big Ten here. I know it's Indiana we're talking about, but they should be VERY ashamed that they couldn't put away a team like Southern Illinois.

UPSET(S) OF THE WEEK (if any)
(1) #11 Michigan Shocks and Outclasses #2 Notre Dame in South Bend - I heard about this win when I was at a Wal-Mart store here in Houston and listened to the XM Sattelite Radio deal. I was right on this call because I'm not sold on Notre Dame just getting big win after big win all the way to the National Championship. Michigan got revenge from last year.
(2) Unranked Clemson Downs #9 Florida State in "Bowden Bowl VIII" - Nobody beats Florida State AT Florida State and gets away with it... unless you're Clemson. The 1981 National Champions did a great job.

OWNAGE OF THE WEEK
Anything Louisville Can Do, Minnesota Can Do Too- 62-0 Blanking of Temple
I'm about to make history. For the first time EVER, I give "OWNAGE OF THE WEEK" to the same school in successive weeks. Temple gets the nod again as Minnesota slapped around Temple all game long to a HUGE blowout. I'll combine the Ownage:

Temple = OWNED (by Louisville and Minnesota in two successive weeks)!





--- JOHN'S EXTRAS ---
(no extras to report)

 

[FoolKiller]

"Storm Surge" Miami at Louisville
My buddy, FoolKiller said that he liked me more and more each day after I picked Miami to smash Louisville. Let's see if his predictions and mine are correct. For each time Louisville played Miami, they never won. They've lost nine times to them and got a couple of ties. This time around, Louisville is looking to withstand Monther Nature and prove FoolKiller and I wrong. The Louisville Cardinals know that birds can't survive against Mother Nature. Louisville can. Miami is still a good team, just not the Miami of old. It would be a sad proposition to lose two games in the early going. They lost to Florida State on Labor Day, and hope the Hurricanes don't lose in northwestern Kentucky. There's some or relation to Hurricanes and red. Hurricane flags are red with a black box in the center- same as Louisville's colors. So this could be a meeting of two natural disasters. Miami was stomping on Louisville's logo. And usually, the teams that stomp on another team's logo usually lose and lose BAD. The biggest natural disaster took place today as the lower-ranked Hurricanes not only lose to Louisville, but they lose BADLY. Louisville basically punked me and FoolKiller out on this. Keep in mind, I never said that Louisville was going to handily lose to Miami, nor did I give them virtually no chance of winning. This was just a BIG win for Louisville. How did the Kentucky Wildcats do? Find out later in this report. Congratulations to Louisville. You FINALLY beat Miami. (31-7; LOUISVILLE)

OK, so we were wrong. Louisville made the hurricanes look like a breeze. The question is: Now that Louisville is missing Bush and Brohm, how will they do? These guys were supposed to be the championship duo and now neither one is in the game. Bush is gone for the season and Brohm is out for at least 5 weeks. Thsi might not go so good when West Virginia comes around.

"Lexington's Legends" Mississippi at Kentucky
Commonwealth Stadium is where this game will be held. We're talking about Lexington, KY and the University of Kentucky. It is where wearing Royal Blue makes you special. Looking to be special is Kentucky as they look to take on Mississippi (or Ole Miss). The Kentucky Wildcats were likely shocked to see the Miami Huricanes lose BIG in Louisville by those Louisville Sluggers. Kentucky has one winner, now the other must win to have a great weekend. Mississippi hasn't hasn't been the same since Eli Manning was under center for them. The Rebels stink badly in basketball (though not as bad as Georgia or Auburn), and have a barely acceptable football team. Ever heard of that rock group "Taking Back Sunday?" Well, Kentucky took back Saturday football as the Kentucky Wildcats sent Ole Miss packing. I don't know if Commonwealth Stadium sold out, but the Wildcat fans in the stands got EVERYTHING they wanted and more. We are Wildcats, hear us roar! Be afraid. Because we're coming to get you! Blowout win as Kentucky now wins two straight. (31-14; KENTUCKY)

Wow! Minor league (A ball) baseball reference. I didn't know you paid attention. $1 beer night Thursdays!!!!

And back to the game. Even on the delayed televised feed (Yes, I stayed up to 3:00 AM to watch this game, it's what fans do) they didn't say if Memorial was sold out but they did talk about how there were lots of people there. So, it was probably close enough, but then Cat Fans fill the stadium every week, at least until half time. If we are losing at that point most decide the beer in our cars looks more appealing, especially since the SEC has rules against selling alcohol at games. They must have something against making money. My wife is always determined that we should leave during the third quarter, because that is what her dad does. Her dad is the hating kind of fan and very impatient to boot. My dad and I have a belief that if I pay to watch a game I am going to stay and watch a whole game. Sometimes I even hang around to watch the post game interviews. True fan, right here. Lose or win, I will support the team.

Well, congrats to the cats, but we play Florida this coming Sunday. I will be happy if they just hold their own and put some points up.

* Kentucky Wesleyan at Western Illinois
The Western Illinois Leathernecks roughed up and destroyed the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers of Division 2. (58-0; WESTERN ILLINOIS) *ownage nominee*

This is funny just because when my brother was looking at colleges I was 13 and had to tag along. When he visited Kentucky Wesleyan the university representative spent more time trying to talk me into going. What's up with that? I don't know why, but it gave me a bad taste that sticks with me so I always hope to see them lose.