The Bizniz, Volume 4, Issue 12

We are nearing the home stretch in college football. Teams are jockeying for conference championships and BCS berths. Should be a phenomenal fight to the finish for the title game and for the non-AQ schools to see who is on and who is left out.

Standings:

Hill: 182-42 (7-12 upsets) overall, 16-5 (0-1 upsets) last week

Chesh: 171-53 (10-19 upsets) overall, 17-4 (3-1 upsets) last week

Helmet stickers for this week are unanimous between Chesh and I: Marcus Lattimore, RB South Carolina (40, 212, 3 td's). Lattimore had a ridiculous 40 carries as South Carolina controlled the ball in a big win in the Swamp sending them to the SEC championship game as the SEC East champs, a first in South Carolina history.

Picks for this week:

Georgia State 10

#11 Alabama 55

Chesh: Bama 56 Ga St 3

Fresno State 34

#4 Boise State 48

Chesh: Boise 38 Fresno 21

#15 Missouri 37

Iowa State 27

Chesh: Mizzou 45 Iowa St 20

Ole Miss 20

#5 LSU 35

Chesh: LSU 31 Miss 17

#6 Stanford 23

Cal 21

Chesh: Stanford 28 Cal 13

#7 Wisconsin 32

Michigan 24

Chesh: Wisc 34 Mich 23

#8 Nebraska 24

#19 Texas A&M 23

Chesh: Neb 27 TAMU 24

Game of the Week

#9 Ohio State 26

#20 Iowa 21

Chesh: Iowa 31 Ohio St 27

#10 Oklahoma State 56

Kansas 17

Chesh: Okla St 48 KU 10

Purdue 19

#12 Michigan State 35

Chesh: Mich St 38 Purdue 19

#13 Arkansas 28

#21 Mississippi State 21

Chesh: Ark 28 Miss St 23

#14 Oklahoma 36

Baylor 24

Chesh: Okla 31 Baylor 17

#16 Virginia Tech 31

#24 Miami 23

Chesh: Va Tech 27 Miami 16

Troy 18

#17 South Carolina 38

Chesh: S. Car 44 Troy 14

New Mexico State 13

#18 Nevada 48

Chesh: Nevada 41 NM St 17

#23 Utah 32

San Diego State 34*

Chesh: SDSU 31 Utah 23

#25 Florida State 28

Maryland 30*

Chesh: Maryland 28 FSU 23

Non Top 25 Game

North Carolina State 28

North Carolina 31

Chesh: NC St 34 UNC 26

Michael. Freaking. Vick. I have always been a HUUUUUUGE Vick fan, going back to his Va Tech days. He is the only guy, if anyone, I've ever considered worth trading an entire draft away to get, a la Mike Ditka/Ricky Williams. He was the best quarterback and running back in the 2001 draft. Dude has always been electric. He's never been the most accurate but his arm strength has always been under-valued to me. He can straight sling it. Clearly he made some major mistakes with the whole dog fighting fiasco. I'm not a animal/pet guy at all but obviously killing dogs is reprehensible. He went to jail and he's square with the house. Leonard Little and Donte Stalllworth killed HUMANS and did a month in jail combined (yes, I realize Vick's prison time was most due to the conspiracy factor and being the ring leader of a dog fighting syndicate). But the outcry over Vick's comeback to the NFL was silly. Again, Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth killed actual human beings, both in DUI's. I don't remember any picket lines or boycotts when those players came back. I digress. Vick is absolutely killing it for the Eagles right now, most recently throwing 4 td passes and rushing for 2 more scores in a MNF beat down of the Redskins. He is doing damage inside the pocket, something that always eluded him even during his previous success. As a Vick guy, I am loving his success and the redemption story. Yes, he made major mistakes. But let's all move on. Mike Vick sure has. You go, 7. You are the man.

Quick comment on the NL Cy Young. Roy Halladay is amazing. He is certainly a deserving winner. But for all these years, everyone has down played the successes that offensive players have had for the Colorado Rockies, saying that the numbers put up in Coors Field are exaggerated because of the altitude. From Larry Walker to Andres Galarraga to Matt Holliday to Troy Tulowitzki, hitters have been looked at askance because they played home games in hitter friendly Coors. So how does Ubaldo Jiminez finish third in the Cy Young with a 19-8 record, 2.88 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 214 K's? (Halladay was 21-10, 2.44, 219, 1.04... pretty comparable numbers.) Yes, Jiminez reeeeally struggled in the second half (dude was 15-1 at the All-Star break). But if all these years we've heard that Colorado has an unfair advantage and all offensive stats are overblown, then how does a pitcher with Jiminez's stats not win the Cy Young... or at least finish a close second? Gotta wonder if Jiminez would've won it even with 23, 24 wins with all the love Halladay got all year...