Monthly Archives: October 2009

Conference USA takes center stage this evening with Wednesday Night Football.  Hosting tonight’s game are the UTEP Miners, perhaps the most disappointing team in the league so far this season.

Billed as an explosive outfit, with a returning QB who nearly had a 4:1 TD/Int ratio a year, the Miners were a trendy darkhorse in the CUSA race. No less of a handicapping expert than Phil Steele, not only put them fourth on his famous Most Improved Team list, but he also tabbed them favorites to win the West and qualify for the league title game. The less famous e-blogger from this blog didnt go as far, but did predict a bowl appearance. They are one of just four teams on that Steele Dog list I track that have losing records when catching points. I’ll let you wonder who the other three are until the end of the piece. So, to see them stumbling around, playing both sloppy and stupid en route to a 2-4 record, comes as a letdown.

Despite their awful start to the season, if the Miners win tonight, they will be in control of their division. In this waste of a season so far, the Miners one shining moment was their 17-point beatdown of nationally ranked Houston on this field earlier in the month. They put up 58 points on the Cougars. For the only time this year, the offense looked like the explosive outfit we expected after last year’s play down the stretch.  If they wrap that win with another tonight, they will have head to head wins over both power teams from the West. They duck all the legit competitors from the East. They’ll be 2-1 in league play and with those shiny tiebreakers in their pocket, they could probably afford a loss, if not two, and still grab the Division crown. So this game isnt as much about putting the TV spotlight on a team that has been underachieving as much as its about seeing if a team can rebound and follow through on their sleeper status from the summer. Of course, there is also a chance they continue their disappointing ways tonight.

Vittatoe has regressed as a QB. After 33 TDs last season, he only has five at the season’s midpoint and has tossed more picks than scores. They still cant play any consistent defense. They never get to the QB.  And they might be the dumbest team in America. They average nine penalties a game and have had double digit hankies thrown on them in four games this year. Sadly, you wont find any books that will go O/U on you with Miner penalties. Endorse this team at your peril. They will make you pull your hair out if you do.

I really dont think they hang with Tulsa tonight. I feel UTEP has the better rushing attack, at least statistically. And, I generally like underdogs, especially at home, that will likely outrush their opponent.  With Donald Buckram, the Miners have something to hang their hat on. He’s gone for close to 700 yards already this season. Tulsa doesnt run the ball, really as a philosophy. This is a perfect place to test this theory, right? Well, maybe not. The Miners just got rolled to the tune of 240 yards by Curtis Steele of Memphis last week in a 15-point loss. Tulsa uses three backs, all get solid yards, but it does not take much to picture one of them going off tonight. Besides, rushing stats might get skewed away from UTEP tonight on sacks alone. The Golden Canes will get to Vittatoe a few times, but I dont think CJ Kinne of Tulsa gets touched all night. So, rushing theory, get the frack outta here.

I am not laying the points with Tulsa either, though. That Houston game makes me wonder if UTEP has something special tonight. And I hate road chalkChalk is another name for the favorite team to win.. Tulsa has not done anything great this year, either, unless you count a 7-point loss at home to Boise in this time slot exactly one week ago. If the Miners werent so mistake prone, I’d love to take this home dog. As it stands, I am sitting this one, but if forced to make a play, I would grab a slice of the over 58. Unless Over 8.5 UTEP penalities is available.  Of course, I still have two hour to talk myself into something. Read more »

Heading into late October, two college football teams have stood out among the pack as the best of the best. No, not Alabama or Florida. Certainly not Texas. And, I’m not talking about Cincy, Boise or Iowa either.

Nope all those clubs are mere contenders right now, a step behind the top two performing teams in the country. Who are those teams? Isnt it obvious? I’m talking about the UConn Huskies and the Idaho Vandals. While neither program is anywhere near the BCS rankings, both of these clubs have been the top earners in the game that counts the most: The game of odds against the betting house.

Heading into Week 8 of the season, the Huskies and Vandals remain the only teams unbeaten and untied against the spread this season. UConn is 6-0 ATS (4-2 striaght up) while the Vandals clock in at 7-0 (6-1 SU).  The programs were 6-6 and 4-7 ATS last season, so there weren’t too many foreshadowing clues that these clubs would evolve into the pointspread monsters of 2009. How are they doing it?

Its impossible to talk about UConn football without mentioning the tragic news of the death of defensive back Jaspar Howard, who was murdered over the weekend. I cant even begin to imagine the emotions, struggles and heartaches that pierce Randy Edsall’s program this morning. It’s as impossible to conjecture just how the team will respond to this during the second half of the schedule.

The most I can do is explain just how Uconn got here. Expected to be a down year, the Huskies were expected to struggle going up against an upgraded schedule. But, they got a tougher-than-it-looks win in Athens over MAC Contender Ohio U and then went down to Baylor and upset the Bears, who still had the talented Robert Griffin in the lineup. The team had UNC and Pitt on the ropes before losing double digit fourth quarters and going down to defeat. Better fourth quarters in those games and the Huskies would also be undefeated straight up. They’ve covered three times as underdog against Baylor, UNC and Pitt. Last week, they handled their first spot of the season as heavy chalkChalk is another name for the favorite team to win. laying 12 points to Louisville and edging out the cover in a 38-25 win.

The combination running of Andre Dixon and Jordan Toddman has replaced the uber productive Donald Brown, the school’s all-time leading rush. The new backfield duo have averaged 185 yards more per game and scored 13 touchdowns. Dixon is coming off a 153-yard performance against Luoisville over the weekend.

The team expected to see an upgrade at the QB position with the insertion of Zach Fraser, former Notre Dame commit and one of the top QB’s in the 2007 recruiting class. They have seen improved play at that position, but it has not been Fraser pulling the trigger. Instead, its been Cody Endres behind center. A combination of avergae play from Fraser, an injury and solid play from Endres in his stead, has forced a change at the top od depth chart. After a solid 14/21 day passing with 243 this past weekend, it appears the job is all Endres right now. Read more »

If the Alabama/Florida-Texas collision course to decide this year’s national championship gets derailed, one thing we know: The Pac 10 season is going to have a major sway in who steps in to fill the void.

We only learned the initial pecking order with yesterday’s first release of the BCS Standings. But let’s consider the next three teams in line after the top three. We’re talking about, in order, Boise State, Cincinnati and Iowa. Each of these teams has as its most impressive out of conference win a contender from the Pac 10.

Boise has the scalp of Oregon on its mantle. An opening day win that is working overtime to keep Boise’s computer numbers competitive. The Ducks are the #11 team in the BCS right now. Only one team has a win over a higher ranked team and that’s top-ranked Florida’s win over #9 LSU earlier in the month. I wont argue Boise deserves a shot. Indeed, they still need a lot of teams to fall around them. But, if that sort of attrition sets in and the Ducks keep winning as well, it could make things interesting. What happens if Boise State can claim a win over the Pac 10 Champ come December? Chris Peteron and company will be waving Oregon pom-poms as hard as anyone else this season, especially on Halloween night when they host the Trojans.

Iowa thumped Arizona back in September. Even though the Wildcats won the Las Vegas Bowl last year, I think many are surprised that the Hawkeyes could get an extra push from that win. But Arizona appeared as the #22 team in the first BCS poll. That surprised me. But, upon reflection, the Cats are 4-2 and have played five games against teams with a winning record.  This makes the Cats nationally relevant for the first time since the Deseert Swarm days of the mid 1990s.

Unlike Iowa and Boise, the Cincinnati Bearcats have the added jewel of defeating their Pac 10 foe on the road when they went to Corvalis, flexed their defensive muscles and cam away with an easy 10-point win over Oregon State. Iowa boosters, of course, would point out that Arizona did the same thing only worse to the Beavers, and the Wildcats proved no match for Iowa. The Beavers went on deep run in pursuit of the Pac 10 Title last year, boosting Penn State’s BCS numbers while the Lions remained in contention. Another run this fall would do the same for the Bearcats.

If any of those teams go on a run, including say an upset over USC,  to close the season, expect enhanced BCS numbers from either of the above contender. And, speaking of the Pac-10, you cant bring the league up without taking about the Trojans. They are as big a key to the Pac 10 being the conference watch as anything else. They sit #7 in the BCS right now. But, they still have a rugged Pac 10 slate. One which if they get through unscathed will allow them to seriously climb the rankings.

Right now, they are the first in line of the one-loss teams. And because the Pac 10 is so tough (I think its the clear #2 league right now), nobody will likely supplant them of that title. But can they survive? Read more »