Exile on Waveland

and being "done" is bad news for a guy who has no future in broadcasting, analysis, endorsements or coaching. Not sure what he's going to do for the rest of his life. Pretty sure it won't involve practicing. Too obvious?

The Titans are starting to look rather salty.

On the call: I can tell you, en masse, Colts fans wanted the Pats to punt. I cheered when the Colts got the third down stop. Then, with the time out, I started to get extremely nervous that the Pats were going to go for it. I was really hoping they were just trying to draw the Colts offsides. If Colts' fans' reactions are any indication, going for it was the right call. You've got freaking Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker; wouldn't you rather win (or lose) with those guys than your depleted defense? I always wanted Coach Dungy to play by those rules. On the game, I was exceedingly frustrated with the gameplan/playcalling. I know the conventional wisdom says the Colts can't run. I know they've struggled some -- and I know they did end up scoring 35 points and winning -- but last night was a game to run. The Patriots defensive line was rather decimated, they were missing both Jarvis Green and Ty Warren (not to mention the traded Richard Seymour). Further, these Patriots deserve some Colt-treatment: limit their possessions as much as possible. The Colts ran the ball at a 5.1 yards per rush clip, over a yard better than the Pats (4.0). However, the Pats ran it 10 times more. This is something that must be rectified if the teams meet again (I hope they don't). While the Colts' run-blocking is mediocre at best, they are averaging a decent 3.9 yards per carry and have a total of nine rushing touchdowns on the year. The Colts will always be pass-first with Manning -- as they absolutely should be. The Colts use athletic offensive linemen to reduce/prevent sacks, and therefore lack maulers or road-graders for the run. However, the running problem this year (last year it was truly abysmal) has been more lack of persistence, rather than outright inability.

Penn State's overrated. Unless one is impressed by their big win over . . . Michigan? Northwestern? Minnesota?

and he has 6 TD's this season. I'm hardly a Reggie homer and he's not what we all wished he would have been, but it's not like he's a bust. 26 TD's in 3 and a half seasons isn't bad. Bush certainly presents a conundrum. What is his value, exactly? He was the second pick in the draft but is clearly not a lead back. However, he is incredibly dangerous in multiple facts (receiving, returning, running) and scores touchdowns. How do you value him? I have no idea; he's certainly a major weapon (and I don't think the Saints have even used him enough this year, from when I've seen them -- not watching today though).

Yeah, without this thread I might not have really expected it. I'll just shrug now when it happens.

I don't envision .500 either. If this was the Big Ten of a few years ago, certainly/possibly. As expected, the influx of coaching talent has greatly enhanced the conference though. Ole Miss is better and should defeat IU. The Puerto Rico Tip-Off will likely add another likely win, if not a gimme, to your six (considering IU will be relegated to the loser's bracket). Specifically, I think IU beats Boston U. in the second game. While they have an outstanding program and coach, and are sure to be better than IU this year, Pitt lost a ton and has two key players injured currently. They are going to have a near brand new team. I think IU has at least a prayer of winning that game -- though a loss is expected. (Regardless, if 8-4 is absolutely best-case, IU would still have to go 7-11 in the Big Ten and win a tournament game. I envision no realistic scenario where IU wins eight league games.)

Dubious on Selby, more optimistic on Kendrick. As CCP said, IU has a nice foundation, but an elite player could be a revelation (true for most programs, obviously). Kendrick to Memphis. :( Pretty odd timing for a kid that everyone assumed was waiting until the spring to sign. I don't see IU having a realistic shot at Selby. I like this year's class quite a bit. It would a miracle for Crean to bring in a 5 star kid like that coming off a 6-25 year. I think if IU could have a .500 season that would be a huge step forward. I didn't expect Kendrick or Selby (I agree, don't think Selby is realistic at all). I did think Kendrick was a realistic -- if not a very probable -- potential recruit. I am not stunned he didn't pick IU; I am stunned that he announced now instead of the late signing period. This year's class is outstanding, in my opinion, especially considering the program being at a nadir. It may not have immediate superstars, but it's an outstanding foundation to build from. I've always considered it similar -- though a step behind, especially with no comparable player to Johnson -- to Purdue's 2007 class (which I had a hard time convincing most IU fans that their class was better than IU's that year . . . I'd much prefer three or four long-term players than one elite one-year player). It isn't necessary to add 5-star players for this group to be rather good, though an elite player would certainly expedite the process and obviously increase the potential ceiling. An out-of-state 5-star is probably even less likely; I'd expect the first 5-star to come from Indiana (I do expect one to come, at some point unknown).

Dubious on Selby, more optimistic on Kendrick. As CCP said, IU has a nice foundation, but an elite player could be a revelation (true for most programs, obviously). Kendrick to Memphis. :(

Yeah, the best shot now is that FIFA decides to pair Africa and North America in the same pool, just because they didn't do that last time. I still think it's likelier that Africa and South America get paired because of competitive balance, but it's all up to FIFA. South Africa's group will be: South Africa Slovakia North Korea Chile or something like that. Book it. FIFA will keep the pot balance with CAF and CONMEMBOL together. We are going to get Ivory Coast, Netherlands and Argie. And I'm lunatic enough to think that we can find 4 points out of that group. Man I wish people would stop saying those words together in this thread. It's going to happen, I know it, you know it, we all know it. But, damn, it doesn't help to lighten my mood. Ugh. Netherlands, Argentina, and Cote d'Ivoire (and, yeah, I went all pretentious with the name).

Dubious on Selby, more optimistic on Kendrick. As CCP said, IU has a nice foundation, but an elite player could be a revelation (true for most programs, obviously).

Different for me. I expected a steady/solid/average offensive player -- not many points, nor too many assists, but not much negative -- and a very strong defensive player. At least that's what I remember from his Georgetown days. However, and with the huge caveat that real competition hasn't started, his speed up the court with the ball has been most impressive. Early play indicates he will be quite effective at pushing the ball up the court for fast break opportunities, and, subsequently, penetrating in the halfcourt. I never really expected him to be able to create much offense at all. I'm not sure his defense has met my expectations, from what I've seen though. I think IU's backcourt will end up being a strength. I'm more bullish* on Hulls than CCP, I think. He will obviously have an adjustment period with the athleticism/size he'll see in the Big Ten; hopefully that successful transition will come sooner (i.e., this year) rather than later (I have utmost confidence that it will come). I'm concerned about the frontcourt. The way I see it, Crean will have to choose between being (i) small and completely inexperienced; or (ii) incredibly slow, unathletic and poor defensively. The best look may be two 6-foot-8 freshman (Watford and Elston) who are really combo forwards, or 3.5's if you will. Both are going to be real nice players, and Watford has a chance at Newcomer of the Year (based extensive on-the-ball opportunities and the most heralded conference newcomer, Royce White, evidently being a dunce). Pritchard looks worse than last year and Capobianco looks even slower and less athletic than Pritchard. Muniru had a promising showing the other night, and it would help immensely if he is capable of giving minutes. I'm still dubious, at least for the present. I will be very surprised if Indiana finishes in last place in the Big Ten. You said three wins, I'm not much more aggressive (e.g., 4-5 wins?). Anomalous system or no, I just don't see Iowa winning more than that. *Edit because I evidently don't know the difference between bullish/bearish. Duh.

Not that I lend much credence to the preceding rumor/possibility, but the Cubs should be looking to sell high on Marmol now as it is. I'm speculating, but I have a feeling his value is inflated across the league. I can't imagine turning down Granderson -- poor splits or not -- because of not wanting to part with Marmol.

USC ahead of Oregon one week after the Ducks pasted them 47-20. It's unbelievable to me how inept the voters are. (Not that I didn't totally see it coming.)

What's the beef against Boise? Just rooting for the underdog and don't think Boise deserves to be ranked in the top 10. They had one good win against Oregon to start the season and haven't played a good team since. While you're not wrong, that one good win came against what may be the best team in the nation right now (yeah, I said it). Ignoring where they are now, Oregon by no means was the best team in the country in September. Oh, definitely not. I am just reluctant to add that level of subjectivity to an already subjective system.

What's the beef against Boise? Just rooting for the underdog and don't think Boise deserves to be ranked in the top 10. They had one good win against Oregon to start the season and haven't played a good team since. While you're not wrong, that one good win came against what may be the best team in the nation right now (yeah, I said it).

Boise, TCU, BYU, Fresno, Houston, Southern Miss would be a decent starting point for a new BCS conference. Utah says hi.

It really has been a nightmare week. The positives are that two of those players hopefully will be back (Gonzalez, Hayden) and four have basically been nonentities this season (Gonzalez, Sanders, Jackson, Hayden). The Colts have some really nice replacements on hand for a couple of those players -- and hopefully Wheeler can fulfill his potential replacing Hagler -- but the overall depth is now seriously diminished. If the Colts can get back Gonzalez and Hayden, and not suffer further injuries at those spots, they should be OK. The defensive depth, of which I thought was much improved, will be severely tested. Hopefully they don't have to go any deeper.

It's going to take a lot more than four games for me to believe the Rockets are going to make the playoffs in the west.

Don't understand why you think at Atlanta won't be competitive.

Was thinking the same thing earlier while perusing the poll. They're vastly overrated.

I also think Pitt will beat Cincinnati.

i had phio st losing to both penn st and iowa. i decided to stop picking against iowa after the wisconsin game, so i'm picking them to win out. but, i'm also picking texas and either bama or florida to win out, so that would put those teams in the "championship game" and iowa in the rose. i think the bcs shakes out with: 2 sec teams (this is basically a lock) 1 big east team (this is a lock) 1 acc team (also a lock) 1 big xii team (only way this gets messed up is if texas wins out during the regular season but loses to a big xii north team in the conference title game; texas could get selected at large) 1 pac 10 team (kind of a shame that the best conference gets only 1 bcs bid) boise st tcu 2 big ten teams (for this to happen, i think penn st or ohio st probably have to win out) -if texas loses in the big xii title game then it's either them or one of the big ten runners-up who gets left out. -if psu and osu each lose at least once more then i think there's a pretty good chance that the big ten only gets one bcs bid and a team like usc could still go. I think you're pretty much spot-on here. I do have to wonder, however, if we're sure a 10-2 top-10 USC team gets left out of the BCS (which I do think they'll finish that way). I understand there is likely to be two undefeated non-BCS squads (Boise State, TCU) and potentially two one-loss Big Ten teams (Iowa, Penn State). Still, I'd be a little surprised to see that USC team playing in the Holiday Bowl.

I totally forgot they even had a team. Just for the record: they have one 5-star (Nayal Koshwal), one 4-star, and six 3-star players. It's an embarrassment they've been so bad recently.

I'm happy you guys are ranked. 6 of 11 teams are ranked. Sweet. Damn it, you just reminded me how annoying it is that this whole thread is going to be Big Ten slurping. (They'll likely deserve it, granted, but it'll still be annoying.) The Big Ten has a good argument for being the best conference in basketball. 9/11 of the teams have tourney hopes to start the season, they have top end teams in MSU and Purdue, the only argument against them is Iowa and Indiana, but I'm not really sure there's a conference that doesn't have an IU and Iowa. Actually, I'm not sure another conference does have an IU. I haven't researched this, but I think you'd struggle to find a next-to-worst team in any league with as much talent as IU has. They do have three 4-star players and eight 3-star players.