The Lucky Punter

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So now it seems as if the whole college football world is in agreement that Southern Cal - fresh off their impressive 44-24 shellacking of Notre Dame - should be the team to play Ohio State for the National Championship?

As if beating the Irish by 20 points was impressive.

Has everyone forgotten what happened on September 16 when Michigan bombed Charlie Weis’ crew by 26?

To me it’s pretty clear: Since a one-loss team has to face the undefeated Buckeyes, it comes down to the circumstances surrounding that one loss.

Southern Cal slipped up and lost to a very average Oregon State team. How average? Well, the Beavers lost to undefeated Boise State by a count of 42-14.

Maybe the Broncos should be playing Ohio State?
 
As everyone knows, the lone Michigan loss was the 42-39 thriller at Ohio State. It just seems to me as if the Wolverines are getting penalized for being in the Big Ten and having already played the Buckeyes.

When comparing Michigan to USC you have to agree that the Wolverines have played a schedule every bit as tough as the Trojans, have won their games just as convincingly as Southern Cal and, as mentioned, have a much more attractive one loss than Pete Carroll’s team.

I’m sure the Trojans will get past UCLA next week and then the stage will be all set. Don’t think FOX isn’t breathing a sigh of relief. Having the Trojans - and the Los Angeles/California media market involved in the big game will be much better for ratings than a simple rematch of the Big 10 powers.

It should come as no surprise how things usually work out for the networks - which are paying millions to televise these games.

Not that it really matters in the end. After all, can anyone beat Troy Smith and the Buckeyes? I doubt it.

Week 13 thoughts…

I was shocked that Boston College went down to South Florida and lost to Miami. Not only did I think that the Hurricanes had completely quit but I thought the Eagles would really seize the opportunity to face Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship. Wrong on both counts.

Speaking of the ACC Championship, hats off to Coach Jim Grobe and Wake Forest on making the big game. I’m not sure if future bets were sold in Vegas on which teams would make it to the ACC Championship but you can be sure the Demon Deacons were pretty long odds to make it to Jacksonville.

You can be sure that Rutgers had one eye on the action from Morgantown, WVa this weekend and were thrilled to see the Mountaineers lose a shocker to South Florida. The door is now wide open for the Scarlet Knights to land the Big East BCS ticket. Only one problem. They have to travel to West Virginia this weekend and win. I don’t see it happening.

I had a number of frustrating games go against me late this weekend. The first one was on Friday afternoon when I backed Oregon State (-3) against Oregon.

The Beavers took the lead early and were up 20-7 at the half and 27-14 to start the 4th quarter. But the Ducks wouldn’t go away and rallied to actually take the lead 28-27 before Alexis Serna kicked the game winner to win the Civil War for the Beavers, 30-28. Unfortunately, that late defensive collapse by Oregon State was just a sign of things to come.

Saturday got off to a good start with South Carolina (+5.5) finally getting a win in a close game as they took down Clemson 31-28 in Death Valley. That win had my hopes up for a big day but that vibe didn’t last long.

Ole Miss (-3) was up by 10 on Mississippi State with under five minutes to go but allowed the Bulldogs to march down the field and score with just 2:20 on the clock. The Rebels ended up hanging on for the victory (20-17) but that coulda/shoulda/woulda win ended up being push #1.

I quickly followed that up with push #2 as Georgia Tech (+3) couldn’t make a stand in the 4th against Georgia.

The Yellow Jackets had completely blanked the Bulldogs all day long but inexplicably folded in the end and allowed freshman QB Matthew Stafford to lead Georgia to the winning score with just 1:45 on the clock. I was actually fine with the touchdown - but the two-point conversion is what killed me as the Bulldogs won 15-12.

All I can say about that game is that for all the talent he has, Tech QB Reggie Ball really makes some horrible decisions for his team. The Yellow Jackets honestly had no business losing that game.

So three potential wins had only netted me one ticket I could cash and when you’re in the middle of one of those days you just know how it’s going to end.

Sure enough, Arizona (-3) was my final play of the day and when I saw the Wildcats were down 21-0 after one quarter to Arizona State I knew I was sunk. Arizona actually twisted the knife a little deeper by rallying for just a 21-14 deficit at the half but when I heard that Zona QB Willie Tuitama had been knocked out of the game I knew it wasn’t going to be a happy ending. Predictably, the Sun Devils cruised to a 28-14 win.

The disappointing weekend leaves me at 46-32-6 (59%) for the year.

Games I am kicking myself for not playing: LSU (-2) and New Mexico State (-6.5)

Games I am thankful I avoided: Florida (-9) and North Carolina (-7)