The Baker’s Dozen (last week’s ranking in parenthesis)1. Bears (4-0) (1) - all I have to say is "WOW".....
2. Colts (4-0) (4) - it will take a perfect game to beat this team....
3. Ravens (4-0) (7) - they are winning ugly....but the fact is, they are winning....
4. Chargers (2-1) (3) - I still am high on the Chargers....they should have beaten the Ravens....this week’s game against the Steelers will tell me how good they are.....5. Eagles (3-1) (9) - who needs T.O.??....it is clear that McNabb is having fun again....
6. Saints (3-1) (6) - they lost a tough one to the Panthers....but they fought hard....
7. Patriots (3-1) (NR) - incredible game....a heart of a champion is for real with this team.....
8. Bengals (3-1) (2) - just when it looked like they were ready to challenge, they came up with a lame game.....
9. Falcons (3-1) (10) - they took care of business against the Cards......10. Steelers (2-1) (11) - the game with San Diego will be a flat out blood bath.....I learned from the Patriots this past week, don't count out the champs just yet....11. Seahawks (3-1) (5) - it didn’t matter if Alexander played or not.....they got whupped....
12. Broncos (2-1) (13) - I am not high on this team....but they will beat the Ravens on Monday night....
13. Cowboys (2-1) (NR) - the game we have all been waiting for - TO vs Philly....The Carp30. Dolphins (1-3) (NR) - it’s official, the Dolphins are horrible....they have no offense.....
31. Titans (0-4) (30) - Vince will take his lumps this year....but it will pay off in 2 years....
32. Raiders (0-3) (31) - they blew a lead against the Browns....
Here are some thoughts after Saturday’s college games....
Technically it is an upset because they were a 9 point underdog.....but Georgia Tech is for real....look at how they played Notre Dame in the first game of the season.....they have a big match-up on October 21st at Clemson....which may be one of the best games of the year.....
Southern Cal has a tough stretch of games in November when they play 11th ranked Oregon, 17th ranked Cal, and 12th ranked Notre Dame all in a row....the one reprieve, all those games are at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum....
Talk about a tough stretch of games, the Florida Gators get these four games in five weeks, Alabama, LSU, at Auburn, and then Georgia.....if they survive that stretch, they are clearly one of the top 2 teams in the nation....
What about Northern Illinois’ Garrett Wolfe?.....he is averaging 236 yards per game!!!!....and that includes 171 yards rushing against a good Ohio State defense....
New Mexico State is the best rated offense in the country....
A solid quarterback that nobody knows about is Kevin Kolb from Houston....the Cougars almost got Miami coach Larry Coker fired after the game.....but the Canes pulled one out and won 14-12.....
The top four ranked teams in scoring defense are all SEC teams.....1. Georgia; 2. LSU; 3. Auburn; 4. Florida....
So far, Ohio State has committed 4 turnover all season while the defense has forced 13 turnovers for a +9.....
Bear Report - the Fighting Manginos of Kansas made a gallant effort at Nebraska on Saturday.....Kansas found themselves down 24-7 only to comeback and send the game to overtime before losing 39-32.....the Bear welcomes Texas A&M into Lawrence on Saturday.....
Heisman watch
If the vote ended today.....and if I actually had a vote....here are my top 4 votes along with my. +1, sleeper pick....
1. Troy Smith, Ohio State - at this point in the season, he clearly has the lead.....it’s his to lose....
2. Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma - if he has a huge game on Saturday against Texas, Peterson may leap over Smith.....
3. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame - he had 1 bad game against Michigan.....don’t count him out just yet....
4. Calvin Johnson, Ga. Tech - he is flat out the best receiver in the game....if Ted Ginn could be mentioned for the Heisman before the season, then why not an actual true receiver now?.....
+1 Garrett Wolfe, N. Illinois - if he keeps up the numbers, he may make my top four.....
Sweet 16 + 1 (Last week ranking in parenthesis)
1. Ohio State (1) (5-0) - impressive win for top ranked team....in order to beat this team, you have to commit 0 turnovers....
2. Auburn (2) (5-0) - the ole ball coach made the Tigers sweat....
3. Southern Cal (3) (4-0) - Trojans missed Jarrett at wide receiver....escaped upset bid by Wazzu....
4. W. Virginia (4) (4-0) - on the bye this week.....head down to Miss. State this weekend....
5. Michigan (5) (5-0) - they took care of bitness in Minnesota....the Little Brown Jug is back where it rightfully belongs....
6. Florida (6) (5-0) - the Tide made the Gators sweat....but Gators survived first of four big games in a row....
7. LSU (7) - (4-1) - the Bayou Tigers head into the Swamp on Saturday for another classic.....
8. Louisville (8) (4-0) - on a bye this past week....and basically on a bye again as they take on Middle Tennessee State Friday night....
9. Georgia (9) (5-0) - Dawgs struggled again this past week....better get their heads together before Tennessee invades....
10. Notre Dame (11) (4-1) - the Brady Quinn for Heisman machine starts up again....
11. Texas (10) (4-1) - beating Sam Houston State???.....sorry, I had to drop the Horns a spot this week.....but a win over the Sooners on Saturday will move them up again....
12. Oklahoma (12) (3-1) - plays Texas on Saturday....the loser is out of the national title picture.....
13. Tennessee (13) (4-1) - Vols played Florida tough but lost....a win this week against Georgia is a must....
14. Clemson (16) (4-1) - they whupped up on La. Tech 51-0.....they are still the team to beat in the ACC....
15. Oregon (NR) (4-0) - the Ducks dominated the Sun Devils.....face a major test at Cal Berkeley this week.....
16. Georgia Tech (NR) (4-1) - will someone please tell me how the USA Today has Ga. Tech ranked 20th and Va. Tech ranked 18th after the Yellow Jackets jacked up Va. Tech 38-27 on Saturday?????......unbelievable....
+1. Wake Forest (5-0) - yes the Demon Deacons are perfect.....they will probably lose this week to Clemson, but kudos to the team in Winston-Salem.....
Here are some thoughts on today’s NFL games.....
If I were Bill Parcells I would start Terrell Owens today.....Owens needs to get back into football and forget about what happened over the past week....and he also needs to get mentally prepared because next week the Cowboys play at Philly.....and that will be a circus....
I like the move by Titans head coach Jeff Fisher in starting Vince Young.....Young will never learn anything by carrying a clipboard.....
The Chiefs’ Trent Green has been out longer than expected after taking that head shot in week one....the Chiefs needs this game today to keep from going 0-3.....
This is a big game for Miami.....they have stunk the first three weeks....if they don’t get that offense started today against Houston, the fish may be in for a long season....
Cincinnati reminds me of the Colts of a few years ago.....those Colts teams had Manning at qb, James at rb, and Harrison, Wayne, and Stokely at wide receiver.....the Bengals have Palmer, at qb, Rudi at rb, and Johnson, TJ, and Henry at wide receiver.....but the Bengals even have 1 more weapon in the elusive third-down back Kenny Watson....
I say Kurt Warner will not even finish the game today for Arizona.....
Here are some predictions
Chargers @ Ravens (Chargers - 3.5) - the Ravens lucked out last week against the Browns....but the defense shutdown Cleveland when they had to.....Chargers are coming off a bye and are 6-1 against the spread (ATS) when in this situation.....look for Steve McNair to show his age today against an aggressive San Diego defense - Chargers 23-13
Browns @ Raiders (Browns -3) - the last time the Browns were a road favorite was November 17, 2002.....that shows how bad the Raiders are....Oakland has yet to score a touchdown this season.....they will score today, but end up losing.....Winslow is the spark plug for the Browns - Browns 21-14
Patriots @ Bengals (Bengals - 7) - the Pats were gosh darn awful last week.....this in an incredible stat - the Bengals are 7-0 ATS vs the Patriots....Cincinnati is the team to beat in the AFC.....they make a statement once again today - Bengals 31-16
Seahawks @ Bears (Bears - 3.5) - all the stats point toward Chi-town....believe it or not, the Bears have covered its last seven regular season home games.....and to take it a step further, Seattle is 1-7 ATS in non-division road games....plus Shaun Alexander is not expected to play – unless God provided some divine intervention - Bears 24-14
