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Of course they do. Teams that win impressively are often moved ahead of teams that don't win impressively. This in turn effects the BCS. The same goes for losses. If someone beleives that Michigan didn't play as well as the score indicated, then sure, it does matter. When and where? Before you go looking don't waste your time. It is impossible. There are too many variables in play to make such an argument. Did Michigan lose spots when they barely beat Ball State or OSU when they barely beat Illinois? A ND fan could probably tell you the exact occasion(s) but I believe ND dropped in the polls one week after winning that weekend. ND dropped in the polls (2 spots) after beating GT in week 1 because it was determined that they didn't win in an impressive enough fashion. They then dropped again after they beat UCLA because they didn't win in an impressive enough fashion-it was 2 spots again-one team they dropped behind had beaten Alabama by 3 the other week, and the other team they dropped behind was off that week. After Army, they dropped again for the same reason (although this one has a possible other explanation depending on how the pollsters put Rutgers the week previous, who lost to Cincy that same week). A team can most certainly drop after winning unimpressively-ND has shown it can happen multiple times this year.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-061128bearsbits,1,6348055.story?coll=cs-home-headlines The Manning thing doesn't surprise me - in his first year, Marvin Harrison was still developing, the other receivers were lousy, and the offensive line practically consisted of five turnstiles. Plus, he was thrown right into the fire - didn't get to sit and learn the offense and watch from the sidelines for a while. People forget how bad the Colts back then because they've been really good for a number of years. Yup-Manning actually now holds the record for most consecutive QB starts to begin a career-139, and he is still going on that. That 1998 Colts team? They were certainly better than the 1997 team, who lost their first 10 games and went on to be 3-13. They were really young, and they struggled a great deal, especially early in the season. The 98 team was also 3-13, but they started to be in ballgames by midseason because of Manning. His first 5 games were awful, and then he started to get a little better: 1st 5 games: 4 TD, 13 INT Last 11: 22 TD, 15 INT He had no receivers at the time (Harrison was pretty good in 98 until he separated his shoulder and missed the last 4 games-then Manning was throwing to a rookie Jerome Pathon and Torrence Small, I know those names strike fear into your heart:D) Now, saying all this and defending Manning:D, I think you have to continue to go with Grossman and hope this year. I know there is a legitimate argument that you might be better with Griese this year, although there is certainly a legitimate argument the other way as well. Grossman is your QB of the future though-if you pull him this year because you're in a playoff race, then what do you do next year when you're right back in the same playoff race? He has to be developed sometime-it might as well be this year. Besides, he's been good in most of his games. I only worry about him because the playoffs requires you to be good in all of your games, and he might have 2 great games and then a horrible one. At the same time though, the lumps have to be taken if you want him to be the next great QB in this league, and there's no sense in delaying it further.

No way is that certain. They would have been 24-5, RPI would've been above 50, and they had only two wins over teams in the top 90 of the RPI (Syracuse and St. Joe's). A lot of little-conference teams have been left out with similar profiles - including Holy Cross the year before, when they were 24-6 after losing to Bucknell in the PL final. Every bracketologist I saw had them as a lock for the field, and not one of the bubble teams. I've never seen a lock lose one game and be gone, and they all said that Bucknell was in no matter what. I know teams like that have been left out before, but Bucknell's 9 seed in the tournament when they won that game kind of proved the brackatolegists right that they were in for sure, as they certainly wouldn't have dropped past the 13 seeds who got in as an at-large.

Reasons? Far better for non-gaming purposes, better visually, already established compared to the wii, and I personally don't think the wii is going to age well as a console. What does the 360 have that the Wii won't have for non-gaming purposes (besides DVD playback, which there are rumors that the Wii will have an update that will allow that next year)?

He's a really good coach - HC is lucky to have him. If he were younger and not set at his alma mater, I'm sure he'd have major-conference teams looking at him. That team was completely in the tank when he arrived, and he took them to a PL title in just two years. He also did something similar with Western Kentucky, his first job. His only failure was at Pitt - he did have five years - but Howland took them to a 29-6 record a couple of years later using players that Willard recruited. Not going to happen. HC just isn't athletic enough, and they'll probably get smoked. The Patriot League will never get two teams in, unless HC or Bucknell turns into the Gonzaga of the East someday. I suppose it'd be possible if HC lost to Syracuse, Duke and then Bucknell in the Patriot League final, leaving them w/three losses - but that's a lot to expect, given road games against Providence and Dayton (who beat Louisville), and two games earlier in the year against Bucknell. It'll probably come down to HC and Bucknell, just like the last two years. Bucknell has a really good big guy who's a senior - until he graduates, I'd have to say Bucknell is the favorite. Bucknell was going to be in as an at-large last year if they had won the Patriot League or not.

Reasons? the games you like definitely side with the 360 That's my opinion as well. I prefer the Wii, but from your description of the games you would want the 360. The only other 2 big questions: which controller do you like better-the standard one of the 360 or the new one of the Wii? Last thing-which online play do you think you'll like better-Microsoft's which you have to pay for, or the Wii's which is free online play for the new games plus you can pay for any of Nintendo's extensive library of games, including NES, SNES, 64, Sega, and one other type of games? The answers to those two questions will probably be the biggest differences along with the game differences.

Specific Big East teams? That can't be decided yet-it will depend on which one and how many Big East teams make the BCS and if ND makes the BCS. Both of those decisions will affect the order of the Big East bowl games all the way down.

i swear these people slept through 2006. Well, apparently it looks like Murton liked Pierre :D

This is old news everybody. See the date? September 1st. Simon played off the bench for the Phillies all of September, but I have no idea if they plan to keep him next year.

Terrible. Terrible. I definitely agree on this-as good as Bassett played, when I saw him drive it inside the 3 point line I'm just screaming "NOOOOO". It was just a classic freshman late game mistake.

Well, a very good game by IU tonight. They made a ton of mistakes, and that hurt them a great deal. Stemler's absence hurt a lot, the Duke home court officiating didn't help, but the biggest reason this was a loss is that this team doesn't quite have that swagger or ability to play together yet. I see the pieces though, so this game encouraged me more than some of the wins against the inferior opponents did. They just made some key mistakes, but that can be corrected.

on the other hand, if winning is his first priority, he probably wouldn't sign with a team that hasn't won a World Series in 100 years. Well, it's not like the Mariners 0 championships in their history is going to suggest to him a winning team either.

Without Lance Stemler, one of Indiana's only shots to stay in it is gone. He provided a constant 3 point threat that they need to have D.J. White be effective most of the time. Now it may be a measure of avoiding the blowout, and it's 6-0 Duke already.

How badly will IU lose tonight? Me thinks the line is at 13 or 14. The real question is how much PSU will lose to GT. My guess is 32. I do think the Big 10 can win three games tonight--Illinois, Wisconsin, and even NU have good chances of winning tonight. Hopefully IU doesn't put up that much of an embarassing performance. I'm worried that IU will be embarrassed. If it was February, I'd give them a much better shot-but right now, they are still trying to find their identity. It will be a very tough game, and D.J. will have to have a big night along with a nice 3 point shooting percentage to be able to have a chance to win.

It's Bruce Miles, and all the other sites got their information from the San Fransisco Chronicle. They probably got their info from Schmidt's agent, which Bruce said was probably a false rumor that the agent thought up.

and then this... I would love it if LSU were selected for the Rose Bowl! That would be a very exciting game. In any other year I'd be ecstatic for ND to go to the Rose Bowl, but this year there is obviously just no way that it makes any sense. But a rematch of the "Cheerios Bowl" in 1992 with Florida in the Sugar Bowl would be fine by me. That's the matchup I want to see. I don't want to play Michigan or USC again, but I would love to see an ND/Florida matchup in the Sugar Bowl.

The only thing I'm worried about in that deal was that a couple of weeks ago a report came out that said that the Indians had no interest in Cedeno.

You can do more than that. You have to sell a lot more than just the contract. Epstein convinced Schilling to go to Boston after he had said he'd never go. Hendry has to do more than just layout a contract and say, "it's up to you." He should convince Schmidt that he's building a legit contender that will win big in the next few years. The contract itself is the most important thing, but you can't just stop there. I'm not positive about this now, but I seem to remember hearing a report from an unnamed agent saying something to the effect of the presentation Hendry made to Soriano to convince him to come out here was the best he had ever seen. I can confirm that I heard the exact same thing about the great presentation.

I don't know how much value Izturis would have, but somebody would trade for him. There are similar type shortstops out there who are receiving contracts (Alex Gonzalez, who is just a little better with his deal for example) and multiple teams were chasing him. If the Cubs decide they want to just give Izturis away or take a low prospect in return, there will probably be multiple teams interested.

I was just listening to Mike and Mike, and on one of their updates they just said that Buster Olney is reporting that the Orioles are going to sign Scott Williamson. They also reported that the Baltimore Sun says that the Orioles are going to sign Chad Bradford to a 3 year deal. How many relievers can Baltimore pick up? Wouldn't that be four already this offseason?

I know I shouldn't ask this, but what happens in the other 1% of the time? When he said that, I actually thought of one explanation. You don't win the game if you outscore the opponent but the game rains out before it is official.

Actually it's Wisconsin that's offering the money to Buffalo. hmmm. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/sports/ncaafootball/23college.html?ei=5088&en=6c9319bdf85298db&ex=1313985600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print Yup, that link proves Cuse's point. Buffalo is getting paid over half a million dollars by Wisconsin to let Wisconsin destroy them.

Hendry put down what you're doing and get him. NOW. Again, I ask-why do you think we're on Manny's list to actually be traded to? Here's the list that I've gleaned from all the reports-the report last month said that it was 10-12 teams long. Giants Padres Dodgers Mets Rangers Orioles Indians Angels Those are 8 of the teams, which only leaves 2-4 teams left. I certainly don't think it's a huge possibility that the Cubs are one of those teams. It's possible, but not very likely IMO. Even if Hendry wanted him, he might not be able to get him if he does not want to come. Why do you think that? What evidence have you that you have not shared? And what is a "huge possibility" exactly? So you're saying there's a chance... Well, anything's possible :D From looking at the 22 teams left though, I just don't think the Cubs would be one of the frontrunners left. I think we would have had at least discussions with the Red Sox, even if those discussions went nowhere (like they are reporting with other teams). My guess is that the teams that are left on his list really have very little interest or capability to add on salary, which is why they have not been mentioned while the other 8 have. My last point is the media-if they knew the Cubs were on Manny's list, they would love to spread that news because it would gather more interest. The fact that it hasn't while most of the list has not been very secretive is probably a sign that they are not there.

Hendry put down what you're doing and get him. NOW. Again, I ask-why do you think we're on Manny's list to actually be traded to? Here's the list that I've gleaned from all the reports-the report last month said that it was 10-12 teams long. Giants Padres Dodgers Mets Rangers Orioles Indians Angels Those are 8 of the teams, which only leaves 2-4 teams left. I certainly don't think it's a huge possibility that the Cubs are one of those teams. It's possible, but not very likely IMO. Even if Hendry wanted him, he might not be able to get him if he does not want to come.

strange situation for them. two points either way to the fourth ranked team could mean the difference between a BCS game and the Lampshade Bowl. A similar thing happened to Tennessee in 2004. We made it to the SEC championship with two losses (I still have a little hate for ND for knocking Ainge out for the year in our loss to them) and outplayed Auburn but still lost and dropped from a BCS bowl to the Cotton Bowl. We went on to demolish TAMU in the bowl. Funny how the Cotton bowl is considered an inferior bowl. When I was a kid it was one of only 4 bowls on New Years day and it was a big one. The Southwestern Conference champ would go and play an at large. I remember Joe Montanas(really Notre Dame) comeback against Houston was a Cotton Bowl Yeah, the Cotton Bowl was the last bowl left out of the BCS-I have no idea how it became such a minor bowl so fast.