On the tube

So TCU makes it a blowout (Ted and I called this one), while Florida State pulls out a W, cranking up the interest in the ACC down the back stretch. What's on the line this weekend? Only the Big 12, SEC and BCS standings.

Big East brawls: The weakest of the BCS automatic qualifying conferences is now officially the Big East. UConn visits Rutgers (11 a.m. ESPNU) as the Huskies try to stay in the hunt for the conference title, while hapless Syracuse visits South Florida (11 a.m., ESPN Gameplan) as the Bulls try to maintain their Top 25 ranking. Later, conference leader Pitt visits Navy (2:30 p.m., CBSC).

Redemption on the plains: Oklahoma needs to win out to stay competitive in the Big 12. Visiting Kansas (2:30 p.m., ABC) is hoping for a berth in the conference championship. Ain't gonna happen, unless Missouri stumbles in the season closer in Lawrence.

This used to be a good one: Oh, the old Big 10 rivalries. But my, how times have changed. Michigan visits Penn State (3:30 p.m., ESPN), hoping to find some magic and give Rich Rod a win.

On the chopping block: You want to see coaches in peril? Watch that Syracuse-South Florida game, Missippi State at Tennessee (6 p.m., ESPN Gameplan), Oregon State at Washington (6 p.m., Versus) or Cal at Arizona (9 p.m., Fox College Sports).

Heisman shootout: Chase Daniel and his Tigers put their postseason plans on hold, while Colt McCoy and the Longhorns put a big ol' target on their backs with a Red River win last weekend. If Mizzou can win in Austin in prime time (7 p.m., ABC), all hell will break loose in the BCS rankings.

The rest:
Georgia Tech-Clemson (11 a.m., ESPN): No hope for the Tigers.
Purdue-Northwestern (11 a.m., ESPN2): An early Big 10 start.
Texas Tech-Texas A&M (11 a.m., FSN): Aggie fans still don't admit that Tech is their true in-state rival.
Wake Forest-Maryland (11 a.m., ESPN Gameplan): Which Terp team goes on the field? The ones who beat Cal or the ones who got shut out by Virginia?
Vanderbilt-Georgia (11:30 a.m., ESPN Gameplan): Commodores get thumped, knocked from Top 25.
North Carolina-Virginia (2:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2): Very little of the country gets to watch the resurgence of Virginia.
Ole Miss-Alabama (2:30 p.m., CBS): Tide tries to hang on to its undefeated season.
LSU-South Carolina (7 p.m., ESPN): Tigers spring back from a beating.
Virginia Tech-Boston College (7 p.m., ESPN2): Big game, big ACC implications.

What's not on that should be:
Oklahoma State threw many for a loop when the Cowboys upset Missouri last week. They deserve to be rewarded -- at least regionally (looking at you, FSNSW) -- by putting their home game against Baylor (2 p.m.) on the air.

Fenway to Tampa: Drop Dead.

I understand that the Tampa area has a baseball team that's trying to get to the World Series. Well, that means, ahem, beating the Sox four times, not three. (See: Yankees, Indians.) Let's be honest: Did you really think the Sox would bow out quietly?

The Crystal Ball...

Another week of predictions is upon us. Before we get to it, a few thoughts on some lingering topics...

Dallas Cowboys. What a circus. Having lived in Dallas for over a year now, I can safely conclude that the Cowboys are the anti Patriots. That's not to say the Cowboys aren't talented. They are, in fact, loaded. But what a carnival this team is: Pacman Jones and his alleged drinking problem. T.O.'s penchant for crying. Jerry Jones and his stretched face. Romo's finger. Jessica Simpson's skybox dances. And now WR Roy Williams. Tell me this isn't the opposite of Patriots, Inc., where everything is run like Microsoft and handled in house.

Boston Red Sox. As much as I hate to say it, this team is in dire straits. (In fact, this is one of the few predictions the Crystal Ball had correct last week.) Starting pitching has deserted them. And they are really missing the middle-of-the-lineup pop of Manny Ramirez. It pains me to see this team flailing away, waiting for the big hit that just won't come. Face it, folks. Manny's the difference and now he's gone.

Now to the college gridiron, where many good games await. The Crystal Ball's Spidey sense foresees a weekend of upsets that will roil the rankings. For the Ball's sake, here's hoping for a better week than the last one...

Thursday quick hits:

Florida State at North Carolina State. NC State has a history of playing the Seminoles tough, especially in Raleigh. But the matchups just don't favor the Wolfpack this time. Florida State is just too fast on defense. 'Noles win.

UPSET ALERT: Brigham Young at Texas Christian. A game with lots of Mountain West Conference ramifications. TCU plays well at home and I don't trust BYU on the road (They struggled against Washington and Utah State.) The Cougars are playing with the highest stakes in the balance (undefeated season, BCS berth). That pressure will begin to seep into their play this week, especially late. Humiliated at Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago, TCU is spoiling for redemption. I think they get it. The Horned Frogs pull the upset and dash BYU's big bowl hopes.

Saturday:

Georgia Tech at Clemson. Game One of the Post Bowden Era does not bode well for Clemson. Georgia Tech's strength is its defensive line and Clemson's weakness is its offensive line. The Yellow Jackets will win this one in the trenches.

Texas Tech at Texas A&M. The Aggies are a team desperate for a win, but Tech just has too much offensive talent to be denied. Following a scare against Nebraska, Tech stays focused and routs A&M.

UPSET ALERT: North Carolina at Virginia. After a putrid opening to the season punctuated by that big loss to USC, Virginia has turned it around. In fact, they have now become tough to beat at home. UNC is coming off of a big win against Notre Dame and recently got news that the team's top deep threat, WR Brandon Tate, is out for the year. I think Virginia is hungry and UNC is still thinking about the Irish and what to do without Tate. Virginia springs the upset.

UPSET ALERT: Ole Miss at Alabama. Everything points to the Crimson Tide. They're at home, rested and ranked No. 2 in the nation, while Ole Miss is coming off of a loss to South Carolina. Call it a hunch, but I think Alabama's still got a little ways to go before coach Nick Saban brings them to the promised land. If Ole Miss can beat Florida, they can win in Tuscaloosa. The Rebels pull a major upset and shake up the polls.

Michigan at Penn State. If there were ever a game to pity Michigan, this would be it. Michigan is struggling, while Penn State is playing lights-out football. Add that to the fact that the teams will be playing before a jacked up, clad-in-white Nittany Lions' crowd. I foresee a rout of epic proportions coming for Michigan and its fans. Penn State wins big.

NEAR UPSET ALERT: Baylor at Oklahoma State. College football giveth and college football taketh away. Poor Oklahoma State. Sandwiched between nationally-televised showdowns with Missouri and Texas sits this game against Baylor. No matter what the coaches do, the Cowboys are going to come out flat. The Bears are getting better with every game, especially on offense. Oklahoma State, I think is too talented to be upset here. But if the Cowboys ride into this game with a light heart, they will lose. Cowboys win, but I would not be shocked to see Baylor sneak up on them.

LSU at South Carolina. The Tigers lost big at Florida last week. Now, here come the Gamecocks, who are playing at home and have won four in a row. If you look hard at LSU's schedule, they really haven't beaten anyone. South Carolina, meanwhile, is a couple of fumbles away from being undefeated. I think this is one of those "wheat-from-the-chaff" games. Wheat: South Carolina. Chaff: LSU. Gamecocks win.

Virginia Tech at Boston College. Ah, my alma mater playing in prime time against the team I love to hate: the Hokies. Alas, if only the matchups were better for the Eagles. The Hokies will roll big time if they create turnovers and wreak havoc on B.C.'s special teams (a very real possibility given that the Eagles have weak kickers). B.C.'s strength is its defensive front seven, which will prevent Tech from running the ball with any sustained success. The Eagles have a chance if the defense plays well and QB Chris Crane keeps interceptions to a minimum. We'll find out on Saturday. No pick.

Big games:

UPSET ALERT: Ohio State at Michigan State. The Buckeyes will focus on stopping Spartan RB Javon Ringer and they may well do so. But Ringer and Michigan State will make more plays on offense than Ohio State. You heard it here first: It'll be darned close, but the Buckeyes go down in East Lansing.

Kansas at Oklahoma. If only we could have seen this showdown last year, when both Kansas and Oklahoma were ranked in the Top 5. I'm a believer in Kansas QB Todd Reesing, who might make things interesting. But the Sooners have too much talent and too much to prove to lose at home. Oklahoma wins.

Vanderbilt at Georgia. The Commodores have had a good ride, but I fear for their defense. Bulldogs RB Knowshon Moreno is due for a big game. What better time than against a Vanderbilt defense that is vulnerable against the run? Moreno and Georgia QB Matthew Stafford provide too much firepower for the Commodores to handle. Bulldogs win.

Biggest game:

Missouri at Texas. Oh Mizzou. There may be bigger upsets on paper. But, in my estimation, Missouri's loss to Oklahoma State was an absolute shocker. Let's be clear: The Cowboys are very good. But until last week, Missouri's offense looked darned near unstoppable.

In upsetting the Tigers, the Cowboys laid out a blueprint for stopping Missouri's juggernaut spread offense: Harass the receivers to disrupt their timing. Shut down the run. And force the Tigers into unmanageable third-and-long situations. Oklahoma used a similar strategy to beat Missouri twice last year. Texas will likely try the same thing.

Against Oklahoma, the Longhorns showed they are the real deal. The team is stacked on offense and defense (and special teams, for that matter). They can move the ball, shut down opposing offenses in key spots and hatch game plans that work. Missouri QB Chase Daniel won't quit until the final whistle, but the karma, talent and game plan will be with Texas. Longhorns win.

Memo from a fan: Non-football

To: Los Angeles Times sports department
From: Ian
Re: Thanks for the memories

You are awesome.

The "Where are they now?" photo gallery spotlighting the 1988 Dodgers sent chills down my spine. Now, if only they can pull out three straight wins, I'll be able to fully tap into that Dodger Blue that I once bled.

The questions you asked the members of the team (well, the ones you were able to reach) were perfect. What are you doing? What's your most memorable moment from that season? What went through your mind when Kirk Gibson hit that Game 1 homer? Where do you keep your World Series ring? They actually elicited some pretty smile-inducing responses.

These days, I feel little connection to the Dodgers. I blame the sale of the team to News Corp., which totally ruined the home game experience. Since then, the Dodgers lost their soul, as many could say about their own teams as the sport has tried to become more corporatized.

But back to 20 years ago. What a season that was. Orel Hershiser broke Don Drysdale's scoreless inning record. Vin Scully, Ross Porter and Drysdale were in their broadcasting prime. The O'Malley family still owned the team. Tommy Lasorda was all about the SlimFast.

And then there were the playoffs. Jay Howell gets suspended in the NLCS for the pine tar incident. Hershiser coming into Game 4 against the Mets to notch a save. Kirk Gibson's fist-pumping homer. Pitchers shutting down the Bash Brothers. Hershiser winning two against the all-powerful A's. Lasorda running onto the field, two fists in the air, just beaming.

Oh, the memories. Thank you.

The Agony Meter...

It's time to spell out the travails of our alma maters, as well as other things.

Heaping loads of agony: Ted Kim's stock portfolio. Let's just say there's a lot of red ink in there. We'll spare you the details, but trust us, it's agonizing.

Lots o' agony: Arizona State. Another loss, this time to USC, makes it four in a row. The running game is ailing. QB Rudy Carpenter is bruised and battered and looks like he's been through three UFC fights. At this point, the Sun Bowl is looking like a stretch.

Some agony: Southern Methodist. The 1-6 Mustangs fell agonizingly short of upsetting favorite Tulsa on Sunday. The team once again showed signs of offensive improvement. The defense, on the other hand, surrendered more than 600 yards. (Note to June Jones: Please brush up on tackling and gap fundamentals.)

A dash of agony: Boston College. The Eagles enjoyed a bye. The weekend was not without its little insults, however. B.C.'s prime time game with Virginia Tech on Saturday was bumped from ESPN to ESPN2. And its game the following week at North Carolina was relegated to Raycom Sports, which employs arguably the worst television analyst in the history of electronic media: Rick "Doc" Walker.

Lots of thoughts brewing about the Red Sox, the Cowboys, the Patriots and college football games to come. We'll get to it when we get to it.

On the tube: Weekday edition

Games are on just Thursday and Friday this week.

Florida State-NC State (6:30 p.m. Thursday, ESPN): Old Man Bowden's team on the upswing meets the bottom of the ACC.

BYU-TCU (7 p.m. Thursday, Versus): A hard-fought battle in Fort Worth. A Horned Frog victory would in all likelihood end Brigham Young's BCS hopes. TCU is a hungry but inconsistent team. Upset alert is at Code Red on this one.

Hawaii-Boise State (7 p.m. Friday, ESPN): Last year's WAC darling, Hawaii, has already knocked off a ranked team (Fresno State) on the road. But Boise State has won five in a row, four of those in blowout fashion.

Scoping out the BCS

It's the last week before we get to see what the computers think about this clustermess that is the Top 25. But here's how things stand...

Top from each major conference:
ACC -- Virginia Tech (No. 17 twice, plus No. 18)
Big East -- South Florida (No. 19 twice, plus No. 20)
Big 10 -- Penn State (No. 3 in all)
Big 12 -- Texas (No. 1 in all)
Pac 10 -- USC (No. 4, 5 and 6)
SEC -- Alabama (No. 2 in all)

A comment, then the discussion. I think I'm goofing by using the top-ranked team from each conference, not the standings leader. But I'm going to keep the list the way it is -- just two conference leaders fall into this category -- Big East (Pittsburgh) and Pac 10 (Cal). And I simply can't justify naming Cal as the top team in the Pac 10. (Though Pitt I can agree with.)

Big changes after Weeding Out Weekend. LSU out. Oklahoma out. South Florida still slowly slipping -- and we could end up with an unranked Big East champion.

Texas and Alabama would now meet in an if-it-were-today BCS championship.

Non-majors: The Mountain West's BYU (No. 8 twice, plus No. 9) continues to break the Top 12, taking another automatic bid. They close out the season against Utah (No. 13 and No. 14 twice), which makes that a huge game. Boise State (WAC) is still potentially in the running, with two No. 15 and a No. 16 ranking.

Oklahoma and LSU are potential automatic qualifiers, if either ends up ranked No. 3 or 4. I'll be easy on the Sooners (No. 4 twice, plus No. 6) this week and give them No. 4 and an automatic berth.

So there are two at-large bids left. The contenders: Florida, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Ohio State, Missouri, LSU.

By my count, we'd see Florida and (ugh) Ohio State in BCS bowls. (None of the Big 12 teams would be eligible if Oklahoma gets an automatic bid.)

If they were played today:
(Automatic placements are not labeled; guessed placements are marked as such.)
BCS Championship: Texas-Alabama. Horns figure out a way.
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech-South Florida (guess). Still a battle of the worst of the BCS automatic bids. Hokies win.
Sugar Bowl: Ohio State (guess)-Florida (guess). Yet again, Ohio State loses a BCS game.
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (guess)-BYU (guess). Sooners will have to watch out for another non-major surprise.
Rose Bowl: USC-Penn State. I'm going to flip-flop and say Penn State pulls one out.

Mediocrity hurts...

I hate football. Pro football, to be more precise. Watching other teams settle scores and tee off on my beloved New England Patriots without QB Tom Brady is a horrible thing. I admit it: I had grown accustomed to the dominance. The Dolphins? Puullease. San Diego? Target practice.

Those days appear long gone, at least until Mr. Brady's knee gets better. Imagine being a USC fan and watching your team struggle consistently to beat the Washington States and Stanfords of the world. It's bizarro world.

You're probably thinking: Cry me a river. Right? Just wait until your team tastes success and then declines (See: Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, New York Yankees). It ain't fun.

Pigskin Potpourri, Week 7

Aerial view of the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl, 10/11/08

While the rest of you were watching UT's glorious smackdown of the Sooners in HD on Saturday, Tracy and I were hard at work producing an exclusive multimedia package for Three Fans. Let us pause for a real-time glimpse of the Red River Rivalry atmosphere just as the third quarter got underway at Fair Park:



I found it a somewhat surreal experience to try stay abreast of the game through text messages and sporadic outbursts from the Cotton Bowl crowd while also taking in all the fair had to offer -- Big Tex, corny dogs (with mustard, of course), the Texas Star, brazenly drunk OU and Texas coeds, Domino Man. A car dealer was showing the end of the game on a big screen near the African-American Museum, so during the latter half of the fourth quarter my dad and I beheld the greatness of Jordan Shipley's near-touchdown that clinched the game while Tracy and my stepmom checked out the 2009 Toyotas. (A Rav4 may be in our future.) The sheepish, skulking behavior of the dejected Okie fans rushing out of Fair Park was fun to behold in itself, as was the HD DVR recording of the game that awaited us when we returned home.

A few more pigskin tidbits:

Faux-hawks are an omen. Chase Daniel's half-assed version of Mr. T was bound to upset the karma gods at some point. Those deities came calling against OSU and Mike "I'm a Man! I'm 40!" Gundy. This Saturday, UT will remove all doubt in the Big 12 by steamrolling the overrated Tigers. Now that they have vanquished the Sooners, the only thing that stands between the Longhorns and the BCS title game is Mike Leach's offensive juggernaut in Lubbock. UT-Tech games are always shootouts. This year will be no different.

The SEC is too inconsistent to be a BCS factor this year. What, you think Alabama will run the table? Please. LSU showed its true colors in a blowout loss to Florida. The Sugar Bowl is as good as it gets this year for Les Miles, Tim Tebow, Nick Saban and Co.

ASU's best hope is the Sun Bowl. USC handed the Devils their first shutout in four years in LA on Saturday. I still think ASU has a decent shot to upend perennially overrated Oregon at home on Saturday, and the schedule gets much easier after that. Sneaking into a bowl game this year will help ASU set the stage for the Jack Elway era, which begins next year. Hey, Rudy Carpenter: Thanks for the memories, and best of luck in your future endeavors with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

What we learned on television...

...I'd say that we, ahem, learned quite a bit this weekend.

We learned that sports, like life, is unpredictable and runs its natural course no matter how you try to push it and prod it and fit it neatly into a box. Thus was the case in college football this weekend -- a weekend when many games defied all forecasts.

Who could have predicted that Missouri and Oklahoma State, two of the game's most prolific offenses, would become locked in a defensive struggle? Who would have thought the Tiger's first-team offense, which did not have a three-and-out all season and had put up 52 the week before at Nebraska, would turn into a pumpkin? (Missouri ended up scoring fewer points against Okie State than Houston and Texas A&M did.)

Who could have foreseen Penn State's 48-7 thumping at Wisconsin or Florida's 51-21 dismantling of defending national champion LSU? Who would have believed that Texas, which had yet to establish a consistent rushing attack all season, would run roughshod over Oklahoma's vaunted defense?

As much as we'd all like to think we know the secrets to sports, politics, finances or life, the truth is there's no substitute for real life, which to paraphrase columnist Thomas L. Friedman, "always bats last and always bats a thousand."

We should have given this weekend a theme: Weeding Out the Pretenders Weekend. These games in October and November separate the wheat from the chaff. We're starting to see which teams belong where.

The Wheat:

Texas. All of that game experience is starting to pay off for QB Colt McCoy, who served as a steady hand for the Longhorns in a game that was buffeted by roller-coaster-like momentum swings.

Penn State. What an impressive team. After last week's 20-6 sleepwalk against Purdue, I was ready to write them off. But on Saturday, the Nittany Lions pummeled Wisconsin in Madison. It takes talent and desire to do that.

Oklahoma State. The Cowboys won this weekend's most improbable game. They accomplished the impossible mission: Shutting down Missouri's juggernaut of an offense. And they did it on the road, too. That feat alone is enough to sell me.

Florida. I would argue there's no team that's faster than the Gators, including USC. I still believe LSU has a solid defense. But you can't tackle what you can't catch.

Notre Dame. Yes, they lost to North Carolina. But QB Jimmy Clausen, just a sophomore, continues to grow on me. His poise and accuracy under pressure is remarkable. Sure, Notre Dame will struggle at times the rest of this season. But, as commentator Bob Griese put it on Saturday, the taste of last season's 3-9 debacle is long gone.

The Chaff:

Oklahoma. What happened when the Sooners ran up against adversity for the first time this season? They crumpled. This team is so used to first-half blowouts that it did not know how to react to a pressurized fourth-quarter battle. The talent is there, but the emotional leadership is lacking.

Missouri. It finally happened. Missouri's offense let the team down. That's a scary thought given that the offense is what makes the Tigers an elite team. Without the O, Mizzou is little more than a pretender.

Texas Tech. It is only a matter of time before the Red Raiders, presently ranked No. 7, start to lose games. Both the offense and defense struggled at home against a mediocre Nebraska team. With the Big 12's heavyweights looming on Tech's schedule, the team's days in the Top Ten are numbered.

Crystal Ball report card:

The Crystal Ball had arguably its worst week ever: Wrong on Oklahoma, wrong on Vanderbilt, wrong on Kentucky and dead wrong on Missouri. The Ball also predicted two other games correctly, but incorrectly described how those contests would unfold. Wins by Florida and Penn State were absolute blowouts, not hard-fought close calls. Still, a few predictions actually came to fruition: The Ball foresaw victories by North Carolina, Kansas and USC to a tee. The Ball also had a good feeling about Toledo upsetting Michigan, but the prediction ended up on the cutting room floor.

Overrated: Texas Tech, Brigham Young

Underrated: Notre Dame, Michigan State, Boise State

Fine Nine: Texas, Penn State, USC, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Missouri