Arizona vs. UCLA: Can the Wildcats Exorcise Their Demons?

44-41 2OT

In this life, or the next, they will all pay for their sins.

Current students at the University of Arizona may not recall the score that still haunts the football program to this day, but those of us who were at the last Wildcat game to host ESPN's Game Day crew will never forget it. Arizona had Oregon on the ropes when many in the Zona Zoo prematurely jumped onto the sidelines in preparation of rushing the field, angering the football gods with their hubris*, & bringing the team's Rose Bowl hopes crashing down. More rational people may argue that the students didn't really cause the team to lose that day, & that the existence of football gods is a ridiculous attempt to bring order to an inherently chaotic sport. The Ducks quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli would agree with, at least, the first half of that sentiment, saying in regards to the students crowding the field, "I saw it and I actually smirked. It was kind of funny. I wasn't really worried about it." But football, with its Hail Mary's, Immaculate Receptions, & touchdown celebrating deities, is clearly a place of the spiritual, if not the downright supernatural, & Masoli was an asshole. Thus there is no doubt in my mind that the loss belongs squarely on those students who attempted to celebrate early, & the rest of my feelings regarding those kids can best be summed up by the great Samuel L. Jackson:

The players, coaches, & students at today's game are not the least bit responsible for that tragedy, but it is a legacy that they are tasked with putting to rest for the sake of the Arizona fan base, less that anguish follow us the rest of our lives.

*Less anyone accuse me of only chastising the students' actions because of the end result I want to be clear that I was at that game, I refused to leave the stands, & I warned my friend not to jump onto the sideline. I would never claim to fully understand the will of the football gods, but I knew that claiming victory before it was bestowed upon us could only have calamitous consequences. 

The Fiesta Bowl & Other, Less Important, New Year's Eve Picks

8 years after the Fiesta Bowl ended in a cheerleader
accepting a marriage proposal will history repeat itself?

I'm going up to Glendale for the Fiesta Bowl, & after that I imagine I'll be drinking* a fair bit, so who knows if I'll have time to write up anything on the New Year's day games, but here's today's picks.

*For the holiday, not the game, & that's especially true if Arizona loses. As Reese Witherspoon once told Paul Rudd in a mediocre romantic comedy, "Never drink to feel better; only drink to feel even better."

Fiesta Bowl: #10 Arizona vs. #20 Boise State

Any Arizona fan feeling confident the team will easily handle the Mountain West champs should remember that the last time the Wildcats played they were left severely humbled. That's not to say the Broncos are going to come out & demolish the Cats like Oregon did, but a reminder that Arizona's #10 ranking still feels a little inflated to this Arizona alum.

Over half of Arizona's games came down to one score, three of them to the final play, & Arizona finished 6-1 in those games. Now it's fun to claim that they accomplished that through grit, toughness, & clutch play, but those cliches aren't just lazy, but untrue. Now the Wildcats pace may have warn some teams out but ultimately one score games come down to luck as much as anything, and while Arizona has been skating by on magic Boise has played only a single one possession game all year (51-46 over Nevada). Part of that is, obviously, playing in a less difficult conference but Boise has handled their business & should not been overlooked.

Arizona vs. Oregon: Can the Cats Slow Down the Ducks? Is Zendejas the Answer? Will the Pain Finally End?

Juron Criner's scored 5 TDs against Oregon.

Ok… So that wasn’t a great start to the PAC-12 (& thank God, for a number of reasons, we’re not about to be the PAC-16). Yet another beat down against a ranked opponent. In fact in our current 7 game losing streak to D-1 opponents we lost to 2 unranked opponents by a combined 4 points, & to 5 ranked opponents by 120 points. On the plus side we hung with Stanford for most of 3 quarters & if we’d switched back to Zendejas like I’ve been calling for or if Juron Criner’s appendectomy hadn’t also removed his ability to catch touchdowns who knows what might’ve happened. Also after last year’s disappointing finish to my predictions (I correctly called every game in Arizona’s 7-1 start, & then missed 3 of 5 in their 0-5 finish) I’m 3-0 so far this year (I know only one of those is posted on here but I think you can trust I called the NAU & Ok St. games correctly). Now it’s on to #10 Oregon, the third straight top 10 team Arizona has faced, the first team to do so in 3 years. A game that absolutely no one outside of the Wildcat organization thinks they’re going to win.

Arizona vs. Stanford-Why the Stoops Haters are Wrong, What the Cats Must Do To Win, & Who Will Win

Mike Stoops is the right man to lead Arizona.

Here we go! Today the Arizona Wildcats will play their first PAC-12 game, & boy is it a big one for these Wildcats. Following a 7-1 start that saw them ranked as high as 9^th in the nation Arizona has now lost 6 straight games to D-1 opponents & the Wildcat faithful have begun to lose faith. Following last week’s blowout loss to Oklahoma State it’s not uncommon to hear even die hard Arizona fans talk about how the Cats are going to lose by at least 20 points to Stanford. Many claim Stoops is a hothead who loses control of the team in games & has shown an inability to win big games. I expect these pessimists to be wrong about this week’s game & they are clearly ignorant in regards to Stoops.

Alamo Bowl Preview

“Leaving the game plan is a sign of panic, and panic is not in our game plan.”-Chuck Noll (four time Super Bowl winning coach)

Some sage advise from the coach with more Super Bowls than any other, however there’s one problem for the Wildcats-their game plans (especially on offense) tend to be pretty crap.

Now this isn’t to say that I think Stoops is a bad coach or that a loss today means we should start scouting for his replacement. In fact, as I stated here, Stoops has ushered in the most successful period in Arizona Football history. & for an example of the results of overreacting to a disappointing season one need only look to Dick Tomey being fired in 2000 after two six loss seasons (a mere two years after leading Arizona to a 12-1 record & a #4 ranking) in favor of John Mackovic who would be fired after going 10-18 over two and a half seasons. Fact is, Stoops is good but he’s not great.

Alex Zendejas & the State of Wildcat Football

Last night we all had the privilege to watch a classic episode of the Duel in the Desert, though I understand most Wildcat fans wouldn’t quite put it that way. Fact is, however, that last night was the first overtime game in the history of the rivalry (the pre-OT 1987 game ended in a 24-24 tie) and for all the heartbreak there were an equal number of thrills. Of course all anyone is talking about is Alex Zedejas & his blocked extra points, & it’s understandable why (even if I don’t think that’s entirely fair). So let’s go ahead & break down each of Zendejas’s last three kicks, both the quality of the kicks & the decisions that went into them, & what it all means for Arizona Football.

ARIZONA vs. ASU

It's once again time for the Wildcats & Sun Devils to battle it out for the oldest of all the rivalry trophies in college football, the Territorial Cup. Now this year feels a bit like last, as we have two decent teams that have disappointed their fan bases.

Arizona once again blew away hopes of a Rose Bowl, though with the quality of Oregon & Stanford this year (& playing both on the road) such hopes were never quite reasonable. However it is hardly unreasonable to be upset about the two home losses to mediocre Oregon State & USC teams (each of which has lost to a Washington school). In both games the vaunted Arizona defense looked, well… defenseless for much of the game & the offense seemed to forget they were even in a game until late in the fourth quarter.

Today In College Football!

Normally I do my entire look at the week’s major college football games on Friday night & thus I’m forced to ignore any games played on Thursday or Friday, obviously that wouldn’t do this week (Though I’m only previewing Friday’s games here, the rest I will preview at my normal time). This year not only is the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday, but it is quite possibly the defining day in deciding who will play for the BCS National Championship (It’s important to always try & remember to include the BCS part of that because to do otherwise would suggest D-1A college football has a legitimate championship game).

#1 Oregon faces its last ranked opponent in a 21^st ranked Arizona team that’s fought it tooth & nail nearly every year regardless of the final outcome. #2 Auburn face its greatest challenge yet in the defending “National Champions” #11 Alabama (Remember, Boise State finished last year undefeated too). While #4 Boise State goes up against a one loss Nevada team ranked 19^th, giving them a chance to prove the remaining doubters that they truly do deserve a chance at college football’s mythical title.

That’s the three biggest contenders for this year’s title (So long as Boise wins their last two I fully expect them to jump TCU in the rankings) going up against three ranked teams, & two of them must do so on the road (Oregon’s the lone home team). College football just doesn’t get any better than this. At least until they have a playoff…

This Week In College Football

Last Week: 10-4 (Damn me for switching my Arizona pick)

Season Total: 29-6 (What’s up “experts” on ESPN?)

The first set of games is about to start so I’ll try and make this quick.

Top 10

· Georgia at #2 Auburn-Let’s get this out of the way, Cam Newton is ineligible. No, he hasn’t been ruled ineligible yet but any reasonable person knows that he is. However that doesn’t mean he won’t play. Interestingly Georgia’s best player, wide receiver A.J. Green, missed the first 4 games of the season due to problems with the NCAA. In those games Georgia went 1-3 while averaging 24.3 points-per-game. Since his return they’ve averaged 40.3 points-per-game & gone 4-2. While Auburn has the 55^th ranked scoring defense & has won 3 home games this year by 8 points or less. Make no mistake; even with Newton Auburn could lose this game. Could…

Auburn 41, Georgia 34 (If Auburn does the right thing & benches Newton: Georgia 37, Auburn 27)

· San Diego State at #3 TCU-San Diego State’s actually pretty good, they’re a solid 7-2 & one of those losses was by only 3 points to Missouri. Problem is TCU is awesome.

TCU 34, SD St. 10

· Louisiana-Monroe at #5 LSU-Expect LSU to comfortably win this bye week.

LSU 41, LM 3

This Week In College Football

Last Week: 8-1 (Ok Oregon you’re legit)

Season Total: 19-2 (If only I had any faith I could keep that up)

My guys have state tomorrow (Come on State Championship!), & I’m enjoying my Season 1 “Community” DVDs ("Community">"The Office", now, not all-time), so I’m a little preoccupied so the analysis will be kept to a minimum this week.

Also Jan Brewer? Really Arizona? Apparently none of you watched the governor's debate, know what the GOP legislature is doing with the budget, or understands the reality of our immigration problems. But I digress...

Top 10

· Chattanooga at #2 Auburn-seriously?

Auburn 83, Chattanooga 6 (or something like that)

· #3 TCU at #5 Utah-As good as Arizona/Stanford & Bama/LSU are going to be this is the game of the week. Whoever wins this game has a good shot at going to the title game & at the very least will be in a BCS bowl. TCU hasn’t won at Utah in 4,000 years but they’ve also only given up 16 points in their last 5 games (that’s not a typo).

TCU 27, Utah 17

· Hawaii at #4 Boise State-this will be one of Boise’s last true hurdles to a perfect season, the other being Nevada. If there’s one thing you can expect, besides a Boise State win, it’s a whole lot of points.

Boise St 48, Hawaii 24

· #6 Alabama at #10 LSU-like the TCU/Utah game there are title/BCS game complications here (even LSU still has an outside shot at the title). LSU has the advantage of a bye week before this game; Bama has the advantage of having an offense that can score. LSU’s only shot at winning this game is by winning the turnover margin by at least 2, I don’t think they will.

Bama 27, LSU 20

This Week in College Football

Last Week: 11-1 (perfection thwarted by Ricky Stanzi’s complete ineptness at running a 2-minute drill)

It’s pretty late & I’ve got to be up in the morning so I’ll make these picks brief (apparently that didn't happen, gonna be a long Saturday...).

Top 10:

· #1 Auburn at Ole Miss-Jeremiah Masoli must hate himself for blowing a chance at national stardom leading the Oregon Ducks on a quest for a title. Instead he’s stuck on a mediocre Ole Miss team & facing off against the most dynamic QB in the nation, Auburn’s Cam Newton. Ole Miss has the potential to be dangerous but, Auburn’s offense should be too much & the streak of #1’s going down should end.

Auburn 37, Ole Miss 24

· #5 Michigan State at # 18 Iowa-Both these teams played tough games that went down to the final minutes last week. MSU fell way down against Northwestern only to climb back up & hold onto the win. Iowa, on the other hand, blew a late lead & saw their quarterback self-destruct in the last 2 minutes. Despite the different showings I still believe in this Iowa team & they’re at home so they’re the pick.

Iowa 27, Michigan State 17

· #6 Missouri at #14 Nebraska-Mizzou is coming off a huge victory over #1 Oklahoma (called it!) & my pre-season #1 Nebraska came back strong from their loss to Texas to hang 51 on Oklahoma State. These two offer differing styles as Mizzou likes to air it out while Nebraska likes to keep it on the ground with QB Taylor Martinez. This game should be a thriller & I like Braska to edge it out on their home turf.

This Week in College Football

Due to my now very lax schedule I’m free to provide more coverage to the things that really matter-sports (especially football), television, movies & a little bit of politics. Hence I will now begin a few weekly columns with my college football weekly predictions being the first. In this column I will preview each PAC-10 game, all games involving top 10 teams, & any between two ranked teams (going by the BCS standing since those are the rankings that matter). Now here we go!

Top 10:

· #1 Oklahoma at #11 Missouri-Yes, Oregon ended the streak of AP #1s losing, but the AP rankings mean about as much as an MTV award now, so Oklahoma is now on the clock as #1 w/ thanks to the BCS computers & they’ve got a tough one ahead of them. Oklahoma is an impressive 6-0 with wins over 2 currently ranked teams as well as a solid Air Force squad. What’s not so impressive is their 71^st ranked defense, and the fact they’ve only played one true road game in which they barely edged out a mediocre Cincinnati team. So yea, I’m taking the less talked about undefeated Big 12 team in this matchup.

Mizzou 31, Oklahoma 27

· #6 LSU at #4 Auburn-In what has to be the game of the week we get two undefeated SEC schools one with a fantastic defense (LSU) & the other with an incredible offense (Auburn). Conventional wisdom says defense wins championships but, LSU has been the least impressive of the undefeated teams & I’d rather not bet against Heisman frontrunner Cam Newton.

Auburn 34, LSU 24

PAC-10 Football Preview

We're about to begin the last season of PAC-10 football, (Stanford & UCLA open the PAC-10 season on Saturday) before expansion begins, & the league is as wide open as ever. Realistically 5 teams have a shot at winning the PAC, though only 4 of those can reach the Rose Bowl thanks to USC's restriction from post-season play (maybe that will cut down some of their arrogance), & all 5 have serious questions to answer. Can USC stay motivated without a light at the end of the tunnel? Will Oregon be the same without former QB Jeremiah Masoli? Can Oregon State & their new QB play well throughout the entire PAC-10 season? Will Jim Harbaugh be able to replace Toby Gerhart & complete his transformation of Stanford into a PAC-10 power? & of course the biggest question of all: Can Arizona do what every other PAC-10 team has done & make it to the Rose Bowl? Well let me answer those questions for you.

2010 PAC-10 Final Standings

1. Stanford 7-2 (10-2 overall) (Rose Bowl)

Coach Jim Harbaugh & QB Andrew Luck lead Stanford to its first Rose Bowl since its Jan 1, 2000 loss to Wisconsin thanks to wins over both Oregon State & Arizona.

2. OSU 7-2 (8-4) (Holiday Bowl)

OSU’s tough non-conference schedule pays off, as most of the PAC-1o proves much easier than TCU & Boise State.

3. Arizona 7-2 (10-2) (Alamo Bowl)

Arizona fails to make it to the Rose Bowl yet again, but Stoops & the Wildcats can take solace in their first 10-win season since 1998.

4. Oregon 6-3 (9-3) (Sun Bowl)

The loss of Masoli proves too much for the talented Ducks who fail to live up to pre-season expectations.

5. USC 5-4 (9-4) (None, ahahahaha!)

For the second year in a row USC proves overrated as they fade down the stretch.