Hill: 122-22 overall (5-8 upsets), 14-6 (1-1) last week
Chesh: 112-32 overall (3-13 upsets), 13-7 (0-2) last week
I've got dual helmet sticker honorees in Mike Hartline, Kentucky QB (32/42, 349, 4 td's, no picks) and his teammate WR Chris Matthews (12 catches, 177, td). The Wildcats came back from a 28-10 halftime deficit to then-10th ranked South Carolina and Hartline and Matthews led the comeback. Chesh went with Jermaine Kearse, WR Washington (9 catches, 146, 4 td's).
This week's picks:
(note-going forward, we will be using BCS rankings)
* denotes upset
UCLA 24
#2 Oregon 45
Chesh: Oregon 48 UCLA 24
Game of the Week
#1 Oklahoma 34
#11 Missouri 30
Chesh: Mizzou 23 OU 19
#6 LSU 24
#4 Auburn 37
Chesh: Auburn 31 LSU 24
Air Force 20
#5 TCU 35
Chesh:TCU 38 AF 14
#7 Michigan State 34
Northwestern 17
Chesh: Mich St 35 NW 17
#8 Alabama 28
Tennessee 20
Chesh: Bama 28 Tenn 10
Colorado State 21
#9 Utah 47
Chesh: Utah 48 Colo St 10
Purdue 16
#10 Ohio State 36
Chesh: Ohio St 42 Purdue 17
Washington State 14
#12 Stanford 41
Chesh: Stanford 55 Wash St 0
#13 Wisconsin 21
#15 Iowa 24*
Chesh: Iowa 27 Wisc 24
#16 Nebraska 30*
#14 Oklahoma State 27
Chesh: Okla St 31 Neb 21
Washington 24
#18 Arizona 35
Chesh: Ariz 27 Wash 17
Iowa State 12
#19 Texas 34
Chesh: Texas 34 Iowa St 10
Syracuse 20
#20 West Virginia 37
Chesh: West Va 53 Cuse 13
#21 South Carolina 30
Vanderbilt 14
Chesh: S. Car 28 Vandy 20
#22 Kansas State 38
Baylor 17
Chesh: Baylor 23 K-St 16
Ole Miss 24
#23 Arkansas 34
Chesh: Ark 34 Miss 26
UAB 10
#24 Mississippi State 28
Chesh: Miss St 37 UAB 10
Duke 20
#25 Virginia Tech 42
Chesh: Va Tech 47 Duke 7
Non Top 25 Game
North Carolina 21
Miami 30
Chesh: UNC 27 Miami 20
One of the big stories in sports this week has been the NFL's stance on big hits, going so far as to say they will suspend players for hits it considers to be egregious. The main offenders from last week were the Steelers' James Harrison, the Falcons' Dunta Robinson, and the Patriots' Brandon Meriweather. All three have been fined for hits the league deemed dirty. At the heart of the issue is how to police the natural gladiatorial nature of football. Violence will always be a part of the game. But to me there have to be some controls in place. Everyone agrees that Meriweather's hit on the Ravens' Todd Heap was dirty. He went head-hunting, plain and simple. But all three penalized players led with their helmet, something the league has deemed illegal, especially on defenseless players. To me, Harrison's two big hits (one on Mohamed Massaqoui and the other on Josh Cribbs) were just as bad as Meriweather's (or Robinson's for that matter, but at least he took as much punishment as he dealt to DeSean Jackson). In both cases, Harrison led with the crown of his helmet to hit the other player in the head. In fact, the one that many seem to consider the more innocuous of the two, the hit on Cribbs, who as a ball carrier wasn't considered defenseless, was as bad as any of the illegal hits. Cribbs was engaged by other defenders so he couldn't defend himself against the oncoming Harrison who came flying in directly helmet to helmet. He didn't have his hands up or anything. To me it was strictly to ding the guy. Now Harrison, after being fined $75,000 by the league, is supposedly considering retiring. What a freaking baby. I can't help but think of Cartman from South Park whining, "Screw you guys, I'm going home". Dude, you are a grimy player and you got caught. How would you like an o-lineman to chop block you and blow out your knee? Is that "how the game is played"? Harrison is just a weird dude. He didn't go visit the White House after the Steelers last Super Bowl win because the White House only invites winners... or something like that. Bizarre. Again, football will always be violent. People are crying that policing hits will ruin the NFL. It's like anything else in life, there have to be rules and laws. Otherwise, why give these guys any padding or protective equipment at all? People are saying that it's like all these guys will have to "re-learn" to play the game. Huh? I picture a Pop Warner coach: "Okay, Timmy, run at the ball carrier and launch straight into him with your helmet and your helmet alone. Don't use your arms at all. Just helmet. Alright, let's run it!" Wrap a guy up, use a shoulder, that's cool. But when did helmet hits become "fundamental"? Surely not in the early days of the NFL when guys had leather helmets. Somehow I bet those players weren't quite as bold with leading with their heads, just a guess. These are not new rules. The league is just enforcing them more. I agree that the league comes off as slightly hypocritical because they promote big hits so much. Big hits put butts in the seats. But so does having electric playmakers like DeSean Jackson and Josh Cribbs on the field. And both are likely out this week with the concussions each suffered. So, yes, the NFL can be exciting and violent... but with some control in place. Otherwise, just put them in loin cloths and give them maces and swords. Oh, and put lions on the field. That would be sweet.
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