ISUCubsFan

We're going bowling!!! Ok, probably going bowling, but we're eligible. Heck of a job by Rhoads.

Better than Oregon State being down 44-19 to Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Life after the Barnes announcement (some people are taking this way to hard, he shouldn't have drug the announcement out like that, but dang) got off to a good start. Led by 20 at half over Idaho St, pushed it to 27 or so and let off the gas. This could be the make or break year for McDermott, and it's easily the best team he's had here. The offense can finally run, and they're 12 deep and tall (6'-7.4" is the average height of the starting lineup). Looking forward to a good year.

Not gonna be ISU... Yep, UNC.

I feel like it's going to be Barnes to UNC. Hope I'm wrong, though that's better than Kansas.

Not that this isn't a good idea for the MWC in the long run, but TCU is definitely a national title contender right now. Texas probably wins out a little over 50% of the time (including Big 12 CG), Cincy probably wins out 30-35% of the time, and TCU is about 85-90% to run the table at this point. Even if it's a given that an undefeated Cincy will pass them in the standings, that's still a 25-30% chance TCU finishes ahead of both of them. Boise and GT aren't passing them in the standings, so all that's left at that point is passing the SEC CG loser. My percentages could be a little off, but they still have a legitimate shot.

Steal from the CUSA West if you can. Of course I wouldn't leave CUSA for the bottom 2/3rds of the WAC, so...North Texas? Montana? Not a whole lot of options for football.

I'm far more optimistic about ISU's chances than I was a few weeks ago. I still think UNC and Duke are the favorites, but there's a realistic shot he stays in Ames. Barnes has been very secretive though, so nothing would surprise me.

I know, right. This is a mistake, IMO. Not to mention the slogan "Cochon de Lait" translates into something like "Pig of Milk". I have to be missing something here.

i've foolishly allowed myself to get my hopes up. buddy is trying to convince me to go to the press conference... i mean, he wouldn't hold a big pc in ames if he wasn't going to pick iowa state, right? right?? I sort of considered going, but it would probably be a disappointment and I have a class that ends when the announcement starts. Barnes is playing it close to his chest and saying everyone is still in the running (lies of course), but there's a chance. He seemed to enjoy himself at the exhibition game Friday, but I'm pretty sure everyone involved thought their visit went well with him. On a semi-related note, this year's team looks pretty darn good.

Wow, UConn just missed a two point conversion to tie Cincy. Still 5 minutes left. Cincy has 657 yards of offense. ESPN has decided this is a regional blackout game for me, so I can't see it.

The report is that he just has a concussion and has full movement. I just caught the replays 10 minutes after it happened, but that's the scariest concussion I've ever seen.

I think you underestimate how much bowls are about money as opposed to football quality. IMO, a two loss Iowa, Penn St, Miami, etc. is an easy choice for a bowl over an undefeated Boise State. I don't think it's fair, or that those teams are even better than Boise, but that's how it usually goes. They might beat out someone like Cincinnati or Oklahoma State though.

I'm too lazy to figure out whether that's the correct call right now, but I'm pretty sure it is.

Iowa State is going to need to find their offense again if they want to go bowling. Today was pathetic.

That's three bad to awful calls in about a 5 play span.

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. It's a tough spot for Boise though. What do they have to do to be highly ranked if they go by your criteria? What good team would want to play Boise State? Major conference teams don't gain anything from it...and they stand to potentially lose a lot. They really need to get out of that conference. There was a story this week - buried in the whole "WAC hires PR firm to help Boise get to BCS" hubbub - about how Boise has a slot left on their 2011 schedule and are trying everything they can to get a BCS conference team to host them for a one-off. Boise's not even asking for a return trip, they just want a road game against a BCS team. And they can't get one. 2011 is pretty short notice for football scheduling, but yeah, even if you have an open date scheduling Boise is an awful idea for a good BCS team. There's really no easy fix for this either, other than for Boise to keep winning every game (good likelihood of going undefeated this year + 21! returning starters next year = decent chance of this), or have the MWC take Boise and two more good CUSA/WAC teams and push for automatic status.

Honestly, they have to win by as much as possible vs Louisiana Tech. I think that may have factored into the decision. I can see style points, but it's one point and going for 2 decreases your chance of winning at all.

WTF, why did Boise go for 2 up 8?

Boise State's schedule, besides Oregon, is complete and total garbage, pretty much. TCU, meanwhile is playing in a league most consider better than the ACC at this point. People consider the MWC better than the ACC? TCU is probably the best team out of both conferences, but it's all downhill from there for the MWC. The bottom 2/3rds of the league have to count for something. Despite the ACC's awful early season losses I don't think they're significantly worse than the Big 10, 12, or East. TCU still has a pretty tough schedule though, and they've handled it very well.

It's been a while since I've seen that next to an Iowa State game. I sort of like this game though. Arnaud should be back at quarterback, meaning passes of over 5 yards, and their very good center decided missing more than a week for an appendectomy is for whimps and is expected to play as well. Oklahoma State is a little overrated, and is coming off a deflating loss. I think the current line of 7.5 is about right, but I'll take a ~30 percent chance of beating a ranked team on ABC.

Dolphins games are way too close. Winning 30-25 with 104 yards of offense is nice though.

Memo to Dolphins defense: the games are 2 halves this year, not 2 quarters. Memo to Chad Henne: 15 yard sacks are bad.

Nope, only one non-BCS team is guaranteed a spot. Others can be selected, but I doubt they get chosen if enough BCS teams are eligible (maybe over Cinci?). As far as I know, the top 8 rule only applies to ND. http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/eligibility So TCU would get the auto-berth, and Boise State would have to get in as an at-large (which I think they very well could based on recent BCS bowl performances). I'd like to think a 2-loss USC is out of the BCS picture, but we know how much the pollsters love them. Yeah, Boise might pass TCU again if Oregon keeps winning, but unless they finish 1-2 one of them has to be an at large. USC will definitely be eligible if they win out, and will almost certainly be chosen over a non-BCS team for $$$ purposes. The best hope for TCU+Boise is for no 2nd option to be available (top 14) in 4 of the 6 conferences + ND. Possible but the math doesn't look good right now.

Ted Ginn doesn't suck? Dolphins up 11 with 59 yards of offense.

Nope, only one non-BCS team is guaranteed a spot. Others can be selected, but I doubt they get chosen if enough BCS teams are eligible (maybe over Cinci?). As far as I know, the top 8 rule only applies to ND. http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/eligibility