I want to start with something that's bothered me for a long time. If a team runs the Wildcat offense, it is called the Wildcat. Period. It's not the Wild Rebel or Wild Duck or Wild Hog or Wild Whatever. Really bugs me. It is the Wildcat no matter what your mascot is. Thank you.
Word coming out that Dan Hawkins got fired at Colorado. It is the Big XII, after all. Guess he now has time to go play intramurals, brother.
On to picks.
Standings:
Hill: 166-37 (7-11 upsets) overall, 14-5 (1-1 upsets) last week
Chesh: 154-49 (7-18 upsets) overall, 11-8 (0-3 upsets) last week
My helmet sticker is dual pick, going to another QB/WR combo, this time from Oklahoma State: Brandon Weedon (34/45, 435, 3 td's, no picks) and Justin Blackmon (13 catches, 173, td, 69 yard rushing td). Pretty big deal to have people in Stillwater saying (Zac) Robinson and (Dez) Bryant who? And Blackmon stepped up with a huge statement game after returning from suspension for a DUI. Chesh went with Andy Dalton, TCU QB (21/26, 355, 3 td's, no picks). Huge win for TCU in Salt Lake against #5 Utah, and Dalton led the way. Say what you want about Utah being overrated but it's still a road win versus a top 5 team. Oh, and it was by 40 points.
This week's picks:
#4 Boise State 54
Idaho 23
Chesh: Boise 48 Idaho 10
#24 Kansas State 28
#17 Missouri 34
Chesh: Mizzou 28 K-St 26
USC 27
#18 Arizona 30
Chesh: USC 27 AZ 25
#6 Stanford 42
Arizona State 16
Chesh: Stanford 34 ASU 17
#1 Oregon 51
Cal 20
Chesh: Oregon 54 Cal 16
Georgia 20
#2 Auburn 37
Chesh: Auburn 45 UGA 23
San Diego State 15
#3 TCU 39
Chesh: TCU 38 SDSU 10
LA-Monroe 14
#5 LSU 45
Chesh: LSU 58 LA-M 17
Indiana 21
#7 Wisconsin 35
Chesh: Wisconsin 45 IU 17
Kansas 10
#8 Nebraksa 38
Chesh: Nebraska 38 KU 7
Penn State 21
#9 Ohio State 36
Chesh:
#10 Oklahoma State 37
Texas 32
Chesh: Ok St 27 Texas 20
#19 Mississippi State 23
#12 Alabama 28
Chesh: Bama 26 Miss St 19
#13 Iowa 35
Northwestern 24
Chesh:
#14 Utah 35
Notre Dame 20
Chesh: Utah 30 ND 20
UTEP 21
#15 Arkansas 45
Chesh: Arkansas 34 UTEP 13
Texas Tech 28
#16 Oklahoma 37
Chesh: OU 31 TTech 27
#20 Virginia Tech 34
North Carolina 24
Chesh: Va Tech 41 UNC 38
#21 Nevada 41
Fresno State 27
Chesh: Fresno 37 Nevada 35
Game of the Week
#23 South Carolina 29
#22 Florida 34
Chesh: S. Car 24 Fla 20
#25 Texas A&M 30
Baylor 33*
Chesh: Baylor 28 TAMU 17
Non Top 25 Game
Clemson 28
Florida State 38
Chesh: Clemson 27 FSU 23
The NFL Network recently did a big panel to determine the top 100 players in league history. The list, not surprisingly, is debatable. As a younger guy, I never saw Johnny Unitas or Jim Brown (other than highlights all these years later) so these type of players are strictly reputation guys. I respect all the old guys that paved the way but as with all other sports most players of yesteryear (read: Wilt Chamberlain) are a bit overrated in the grand scheme of things in terms of all time greatness. The NFL Network panel's top 10, in descending order:
10.) Dick Butkus (gold standard at LB I guess, greatest name ever)
9.) Don Hutson (uhh... who?)
8.) Peyton Manning (okay)
7.) Reggie White (okay)
6.) Johnny Unitas (come on... really?)
5.) Walter Payton (eh... okay)
4.) Joe Montana (eh.... eh... maybe)
3.) Lawrence Taylor (okay)
2.) Jim Brown (okay... at least on the rep)
1.) Jerry Rice (sacrilegious I know... but I'm saying a little overrated)
As I said, debatable. Again, I respect the greats of the past. But my list is a little different. This is a list of the top 10 players ever to me, not a list of my favorite players (although there is naturally a some degree of influence there on some, but not all). My additions to top 10 in bold.
10.) Steve Young (best true dual threat QB--4,000+ yards rushing/43 td's; all-time leader in passer rating; 2 time NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP)
9.) Reggie White (198 sacks; 1,048 tackles)
8.) Walter Payton (16,726 yards; 110 td's)
7.) Jerry Rice (great, great WR that had not one but two Hall of Fame QB's; all-time td king)
6.) Jim Brown (12,312 yards, 106 td's; only played 9 seasons)
5.) John Elway (51,475 yards, 300 td's; NFL MVP; Super Bowl MVP; best clutch QB for my money)
4.) Lawrence Taylor (132.5 sacks, most feared defender ever)
3.) Barry Sanders (15,269 yards, 99 td's; 6 time First Team All-Pro; NFL MVP; most explosive and elusive RB ever; only played 10 seasons)
2.) Peyton Manning (52,000+ yards and counting, 382 td's; 3 time NFL MVP; Super Bowl MVP; ultimate tactician; still playing)
And numero uno..... drum roll.....
1.) Ray Lewis (1,400+ tackles, 29 int's, 38.5 sacks; 2X Defensive PoY; Super Bowl MVP; still playing; ultimate football player to me in terms of size, speed, passion, ability, leadership, and production)
