Pesky Panthers and more afternoon observations

2008-10-28T12:11:31-04:00

2008-10-25T20:11:53-04:00

2008-10-28T12:11:31-04:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

31 right Mallory? Mallory? thanks for filling in and writing those 3 blogs this past weekend while Daddy was busy "working". Just make sure Mom doesn't see the credit card bill this month. And yes, just in case, the cover story is that the Bunny Ranch is a real "ranch". 3171283

2008-10-27T14:31:08-04:00

181

CuseFanInSoCal

San Diego 190925

thanks for the chuckle this morning. The fact that the Big East will get an automatic BCS bid and not have a team even ranked in the top 25 is absurd, and a joke.

29 WVU will probably be back in the top 25 next week after beating UConn (in fact, odds are they'll win out, finishing at 10-2 and in the top 15, and then beating some ACC team in the Orange Bowl). Louisville should finish 9-3 (lose to WVU, beat everyone else), which probably gets them ranked. Same with the USF/UConn winner. 3161916

2008-10-28T00:14:30-04:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

WVU will probably be back in the top 25 next week after beating UConn (in fact, odds are they'll win out, finishing at 10-2 and in the top 15, and then beating some ACC team in the Orange Bowl). Louisville should finish 9-3 (lose to WVU, beat everyone else), which probably gets them ranked. Same with the USF/UConn winner.

30 if my aunt were a guy, she'd be my uncle. 3167629

2008-10-27T11:34:44-04:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

When you look at the Big East, consider that the only teams that consistently beat their teams are from within their conference. We win our BCS games against the other conference winners every year. You wanna take our BCS bid? Try to win it from us. You embarrass yourself every year with the same BCS BS. The acc deserves a bid? Nope, but who's complaining...we aren't. Let's just go play for it. Speed kills...just ask the sec, acc & big 12. No one wants to play against the Big East teams. Who's next? A big 10 champ? Bring it on! A pac-10 champ? Bring it on!

26 thanks for the chuckle this morning. The fact that the Big East will get an automatic BCS bid and not have a team even ranked in the top 25 is absurd, and a joke. 3159487

2008-10-27T14:31:08-04:00

181

CuseFanInSoCal

San Diego 190925

thanks for the chuckle this morning. The fact that the Big East will get an automatic BCS bid and not have a team even ranked in the top 25 is absurd, and a joke.

2008-10-27T13:15:20-04:00

t3ch13

Fayetteville 593263

28 I'm not sure why I even feel the need to debate football with a woman, and a young one at that, but I will give in to my irritation with the lack of a truly uneducated fan. If she would take just a minute to look at one fact, overall BCS bowl record, she might re-write this article about the fact that the ACC is 1-9 in BCS bowl games and the Big East is 6-4, heck even the mighty Big Ten is 8-9 in BCS bowl games. So before you go talking about a particular league losing it's bid, based upon a comparison of Duke-Vandy and USF-UL, do your homework.... 3160789

2008-10-27T11:51:07-04:00

Andrew Gram

Denver 111531

27 That is pretty silly Sayitonthefield. WV lost to ECU and Colorado, Louisville lost to Kentucky, Pittsburgh lost to Bowling Green, Cincinnati lost to Oklahoma, Connecticut lost to North Carolina, Rutgers lost to Fresno State, North Carolina, and Navy, etc. An overtime home win against Kansas by USF and a home win against Auburn are the closest things to good wins in the Big East. That looks like pretty consistent losing to BCS teams this year to me. 3159747

2008-10-27T11:25:27-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/173/213/thumb/wvu_babe.jpg 5 WV

Sayitonthefield

Elkins 173513

25 When you look at the Big East, consider that the only teams that consistently beat their teams are from within their conference. We win our BCS games against the other conference winners every year. You wanna take our BCS bid? Try to win it from us. You embarrass yourself every year with the same BCS BS. The acc deserves a bid? Nope, but who's complaining...we aren't. Let's just go play for it. Speed kills...just ask the sec, acc & big 12. No one wants to play against the Big East teams. Who's next? A big 10 champ? Bring it on! A pac-10 champ? Bring it on! 3159320

2008-10-27T11:34:44-04:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

26 thanks for the chuckle this morning. The fact that the Big East will get an automatic BCS bid and not have a team even ranked in the top 25 is absurd, and a joke. 3159487

2008-10-27T11:25:27-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/173/213/thumb/wvu_babe.jpg 5 WV

Sayitonthefield

Elkins 173513

2008-10-26T20:42:20-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/487/634/thumb/pitt2.jpg 24 PA

efw_west

Pittsburgh 488074

24 Beachgator, you're a loser. 3155682

2008-10-26T12:29:45-04:00

181

CuseFanInSoCal

San Diego 190925

23 #22, you're absolutely right. Lousiville has one bad year where they lose to my Orange (in a game they handed to us, and we kept trying to hand back) and finish .500 and suddenly they're conference doormats? I mean, yes, their loss to Kentucky to open the season looked bad, but their only loss since then has been 26-21 to a pretty good UConn team. 3153890

2008-10-26T03:32:06-04:00

Harold H.

Englewood 592520

22 Could you at least bother to look at Louisville's record before typing? They're 5-2. "Conference doormats?" They're not world-beaters by any means but please. They're one game off the lead! 3153179

<div class="photo_container image_center"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/10/25/lesean-mccoy-swp.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes">LeSean McCoy's 146 yards and four touchdowns were the only bright spot for Pitt today. :: Chris Livingston/Icon SMI</div> <div class="photo_attributes"><br /></div> </div> <p>One day, we'll all stop falling for <strong>Dave Wannstedt</strong>'s tricks. Until then, however, we'll continue to believe in his Pittsburgh Panthers, only to have them make fools of us time and time again. <br /><br />Today's "gotcha" moment came courtesy of Rutgers (Yes, the same Rutgers team that's delivered so few noteworthy performances this season, we're all still talking about <strong>Mike Teel</strong>'s <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=3600866" target="_blank">helmet-hitting habits</a> and the <a href="http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080701/VIDEO/80701042" target="_blank">tavern ruins</a> unearthed during stadium excavations), which marched to a <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2008/10/25/38732_viewcast.html" target="_blank">54-34</a> win over the No. 17 Panthers.<br /><br />It's only been two weeks since Pitt reasserted itself as a top 25 team after beating South Florida (whose latest woes are chronicled below) and already, it's lapsed back to its Week 1 ways and lost to an unranked opponent. <br /><br />Rutgers, meanwhile, abandoned its former self, which had scored less than 20 points five times this season, and channeled the Big 12 scoring spirit. Teel threw for 361 yards and a whopping six touchdowns … on only 21 pass attempts. <br /><br />It's still worth paying attention to the Panthers, if for no other reason than the thrill of watching <strong>LeSean McCoy</strong>, who had a monster 146 yard and four touchdown rushing performance. But after today, the only sure-bet in the Big East is <strong>Greg Robinson</strong>'s impending unemployment.<br /><br />• It's not that ACC teams lack talent, it's just that they're remarkably inconsistent. Last week, SI.com's <strong>Stewart Mandel</strong> awarded Georgia Tech with <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/10/21/power.rankings1/index.html" target="_blank">a 10-spot leap</a> (from 25 to 15) in his AP ballot and SI.com Power Rankings strictly because the then 6-1 Yellow Jackets had been the conference's most consistent team. Virginia, on the other hand, had shown both flashes of brilliance (like in its dominant 31-0 win over Maryland) and total ineptitude (like in its ugly 52-7 loss to USC). So, naturally, the Cavaliers managed to pull this one out, beating the Jackets <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2008/10/25/37640_viewcast.html" target="_blank">24-17</a>. Now, coaches everywhere can take solace in the fact that a team can lose three of its first four games by an average of 36 points and still lead its division heading into Week 10.<br /><br />• I'd briefly entertained the notion that all this time, a lack of job security had been screwing with <strong>Rich Rodriguez</strong>'s sense of self worth, but that after finally inking his <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/wires/10/24/2060.ap.fbc.michigan.rodriguez.contract.1st.ld.writethru.0541/index.html" target="_blank">Michigan coaching contract</a> on Friday, he'd channel his newly inflated self esteem and lead his Wolverines over Michigan State. I was wrong. The Spartans ran all over the Wolverines (<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2008/10/25/37819_viewcast.html" target="_blank">35-21</a>), as State's <strong>Javon Ringer</strong> rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns and showed on a good day, he's one of the country's best backs. Ringer's counterpart <strong>Brandon Minor</strong> only rushed for 55 yards, but Wolverines fans were probably too busy lamenting <strong>Steven Threet</strong>'s three interceptions to care. <br /><br />• SI.com's <strong>Gennaro Filice</strong> put it best in the <a href="http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/the_sweep/posts/17401" target="_blank">Saturday Morning Splurge</a> when he said, "A Vandy-Duke game with buzz? Somebody check the temperature in Hell." Today, Duke won the Battle of the Bookworms (if that name sticks, I want a cut of the marketing profits) <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2008/10/25/37575_viewcast.html" target="_blank">10-7</a> and closed the door on <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/10/08/vanderbilt/index.html" target="_blank">Vandy's Cinderella season</a> by handing the Commodores their third-straight loss. <br /><br />• In 2006, it would have been unthinkable for college football fans to care more about Duke-Vandy than South Florida-Louisville. But today, most probably did. Louisville's descent from national power to conference doormat has been mind-bogglingly rapid, and USF's No. 14 pregame ranking couldn't have been enough to make people forget how shoddy the Big East (and even it's best teams) has been this season. Right on cue, the Bulls fell <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2008/10/25/37781_viewcast.html" target="_blank">24-20</a>. Maybe this is the year the Big East should lose its automatic BCS bid.</p> http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868 17522 <div class="photo_container image_center"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/10/25/lesean-mccoy-swp.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes">LeSean McCoy's 146 yards and four touchdowns were the only bright spot for Pitt today. :: Chris Livingston/Icon SMI</div> <div class="photo_attributes"><br /></div> </div> <p>One day, we'll all stop falling for <strong>Dave Wannstedt</strong>'s tricks. Until then, however, we'll continue to believe in his Pittsburgh Panthers, only to have them make fools of us time and time again. <br /><br />Today's "gotcha" moment came courtesy of Rutgers (Yes, the same Rutgers team that's delivered so few noteworthy performances this season, we're all still talking about <strong>Mike Teel</strong>'s <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=3600866" target="_blank">helmet-hitting habits</a> and the <a href="http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080701/VIDEO/80701042" target="_blank">tavern ruins</a> unearthed during stadium excavations), which marched to a <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2008/10/25/38732_viewcast.html" target="_blank">54-34</a> win over the No. 17 Panthers.<br /><br />It's only been two weeks since Pitt reasserted itself as a top 25 team after beating South Florida (whose latest woes are chronicled below) and already, it's lapsed back to its Week 1 ways and lost to an unranked opponent. <br /><br />Rutgers, meanwhile, abandoned its former self, which had scored less than 20 points five times this season, and channeled the Big 12 scoring spirit. Teel threw for 361 yards and a whopping six touchdowns … on only 21 pass attempts. <br /><br />It's still worth paying attention to the Panthers, if for no other reason than the thrill of watching <strong>LeSean McCoy</strong>, who had a monster 146 yard and four touchdown rushing performance. But after today, the only sure-bet in the Big East is <strong>Greg Robinson</strong>'s impending unemployment.</p>