FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Anyone else glad that election's over? Remember, whatever your politics, President-Elect Barack Obama favors a playoff system in college football, so maybe all you BCS-bowl haters will have a voice in the White House and the system will finally get straightened out. Um, yeah, or not.

My main man Pete Carroll's also a bowl basher, obviously in part because my Trojans will probably be on the outside looking in again. They've been steamrolling nearly everyone recently, but of course, that one Beaver blemish on the record from weeks ago outweighs all the blowout games. Alright, it was the Beavers and yes, I do know any team aiming to be national champion needs to finish them off in the first quarter but I have to agree with Coach Carroll that things would shape up much differently, and perhaps even more fairly, in a playoff system.

One team that doesn't look good no matter what system we're using is Tennessee. The sentimental fool in me feels a little bit bad for Phil Fulmer, dedicating his career to UT until the cutthroat world that is SEC football knocks him out of the game. Steve Spurrier told reporters Fulmer was lucky because he got the biggest buyout in history ($6 mil). Of course Spurrier would think that. I'd be pretty ticked, myself. Oh, and note to the guy who moved to Tennessee and promised me a Vols t-shirt that I never got: I definitely don't want it dude. But I still have the Dogfish Head tee I promised in return. I think I'll stick with that one and call it even.

Speaking of even, the top teams seem pretty even to me right now. I was thrilled but surprised when TEXAS TECH BEAT TEXAS last week. Also surprised the Red Raiders made it to #2 but hey, good for them. I'm skeptical about whether it'll last though. It was a tough win, and Oklahoma State's not going to make things any easier. And who thinks the #1 team is going down again this weekend? Yeah, not me. I would really really like LSU to get a win over Alabama and the Sabanator but I don't see it happening. Sad.

You know what else would be sad? A USC-OSU rematch in the Rose Bowl. Or another Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl. Seriously pollsters? Let's get a little more creative. And as much as I want to see Penn State in the championship game, another SEC-Big-10 matchup makes me cringe, so at this point, I'm pulling for PSU and rooting against the Gators and the Crimson Tide. PSU and Texas Tech might be good, but my bet would still be on the Red Raiders.

And my favorite announcer, Doc Walker, called the Miami-Virginia game last week, which worked out well for me since I was planning on watching anyway. It didn't disappoint.

Notable Quotables:

• You could be looking away and know that was a touchdown!
• And we're talking about a puppy, a true freshman on the road. (And on-field guy Mike Hogewood must've heard that, because after the game he asked Randy Shannon, "How bout these young puppies of yours?")
• The Polar Bear was hibernatin.' The Cane's may have woke him up.
• I don't know where the Cavalier fans are. I'm a little disappointed that I see concrete.
• He had two guys on him and he still gave the quarterback a slobberknocker. (Yeah, it looked pretty much like it sounds.)

Walker's cohort Steve Martin also got in on the action, saying a player "pulled that ball loose like he was starting a lawnmower."

And when Virginia only got a field goal on one of their red zone possessions, he said Miami "gave Virginia the porch but all they did was rock the chair." To which Walker replied, "Well, they rocked the chair on it but they didn't break down the door." Could this game get more metaphorical? 

And this week's Words of Wisdom from Doc Walker: If you can hit people in the mouth, you'll always have the ability to be a good football team.