Monthly Archives: December 2009

Civil War For The Roses

December 3, 2009
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The decade is ending the way it began, with the Civil War determing the Rose Bowl berth in consecutive years.  Nevermind that little bitty USC dynasty in the years in between, the state of Oregon pwns the Pac 10, amirite?!?! If tonight’s matchup confirms anything, however, it’s that Oregon and Oregon State are the top two programs after the Trojans when listing the longterm rankings of the Pac 10.   It’s probably been that way the whole decade and it’s a part of the Pac 10 evloution that nobody would have bought ten years ago.

Oregon State had their first winning record in 36 years in 1999, but surged in 2000 to 11 wins. They beat Oregon to close the season knocking the Ducks out of first place and putting the Beavers into a first place tie with Washington. UW went to the Rose Bowl due to a head-to-head win, but the Beavers were invited to the BCS Fiesta Bowl where they hammered Notre Dame 41-19.  The following season, Oregon earned some revenge and in a 24-14 Civil War win clinched the league’s BCS bid which that season went to the Fiesta Bowl. The Ducks pasted Colorado and ended up finishing #2 in the national rankings.

Flash forward to the end of the decade. Last season, Oregon State was on a magical run, spurred by a primetime upset of USC. The Rose Bowl was theirs for the taking, but Oregon extinguished those dreams with a beatdown in Corvallis no less, in what was supposed to be a crowning finale for OSU. This season, a BCS berth will be up for grabs in the Civil War for the fourth time in the last 10 years, but for the first time its a true winner take all event. No one team playing in just a supporting spoiler role. A true Pac 10 Championship Game as the league crowns its first non-USC champ since 2001.  Winner gets to take on the mighty Buckeyes in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. The bloggers at Addicted to Quack have  already penned an Epic Poem to mark the big night. Heady times indeed for college football in Oregon.

Of course, these programs havent been chopped liver during the Trojan Dynasty that spanned their BCS showdowns bookmarking the decade. In the last 10 years, Oregon State has made eight bowl games and carries a five-game postseason winning streak, thesecond longest active streak in the nation. Oregon has been to nine bow games, winning six. The Ducks 49-26 and Beavers 45-30 Pac 10 records this decade are, in fact, #2 and #3 overall behind USC. The Beavers are one of 10 teams to have finished ranked in the top 25 for the last three years and they beat a top-10 team during each of those seasons.  Oregon has now won seven Pac 10 games in three of the last five seasons, most by anyone else in the league not named USC. Speaking of the Trojans, did you know the seniors on these teams who arrived on campus in 2006 are both 2-2 against mighty USC? Interesting.

These programs belong in the position they’re in tonight.  Building the Dam offers a formal tale of the tape on tonight’s grudge match. With that out of the way, here are some thoughts in the lead-up to the most important Civil War in series history.

PROGRAM STAYING POWER Read more »

Big 10/ACC Challenge, Part II. Wednesday Session

December 2, 2009
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We arrive at the Wednesday session of the Big 10/ACC Challenge deadlocked at 3. The Big 10 stands in its best position ever to actually win this. In the final five games, three will be played on Big 10 courts. While they have no automatic win, there are no automatic losses on the baord either. All five Big 10 teams are likely NCAA Tournament teams. All five games appear to be coin flips tonight. If the Big 10 wins enough of them, the challenge is finally theirs.

Before diving into the tonight’s action, how about a few thoughts on last night’s action:

  • I think its time we match somebody other than Michigan State against UNC. I think its clear who the better team is. And, its pretty clear we all missed out some easy money by not jumping on the Heels laying a scant 1.5 points at home. I hate missed opportunities. Michigan State has talent, but the Heels are obviously a bad matchup for them. And Roy Williams pwns Tom Izzo.

 

  • Maybe we ought to arrange a match between the Heels and Boilermakers. It took Purdue a while, but they finally shook off and blew out a good Wake Forest team. With Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore, they have two Big 10 Player of the Year candidates. And if JaJuan Johnson  can score and be that active on the glass, then they have three potential candidates. This is a very talented team that plays great team ball. This is your true Big 10 favorite, IMHE. Get on them at 2/1 odds right now to be the top seed in the B10 Tournament while its still available.

 

  • Indiana. Sigh. Apparently, I’m going to spend all winter talking myself into the Hoosiers chances as they play a good first 30 minutes of the game, only to run out of gas in the end. They’ve already lost four games this year to teams that played in the postseason last season and in each one the script was the same. Enough stretches of good to great hoops, but not enough savviness or energy to keep up for a full 40 minutes. If last year’s team was the hoop mirror image of the 2008 Michigan football team, then this year’s club is the mirror image of the 2009 Wolverine footballers. Obviously better in spots, but not good enough overall to pile up a lot of wins. They will tease their fans of better days ahead, if only they will get here fast enough. The Michigan football team this season needed to play a near perfect game in order to beat teams in the Big 10. The Hoosiers are the same. They will be in every game, much like Michigan was, but if they dont play perfectly, they wont come out ahead on the scoreboard. We saw that last night as Indiana turned the ball over a ton in the first half and was unable to build on an early 5-point lead. It happened again in the second half when missed front ends of 1/1 chances and failed putback attempts led to a scoring droguht to proved too be the difference. But, I remain steadfast that the Hoosiers will have a winning record at home in Big 10 play. Why not, hope is a good thing, after all.

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ACC/Big 10 Challenge, Part I. Tuesday Session

December 1, 2009
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Last year, I invoked the spirit of Tripper Harrison when assessing the Big 10′s chances of winning the league’s basketball challenge with the ACC, so I am not that obsessed with the league finally getting of the schnide in this, uh, rivalry. And, despite being excited to see the season play out with the Big 10 as one of the best conferences in the country, I never bought into any hype that this would be the year they finally beat the ACC in the challenge.

The matchups never seem to favor the Big 10 enough, which is just going to be a fact of life when the other conference is typically deeper and has to fall farther down its pecking order until it really hits a bad team. This year is  no exception. Iowa and Indiana, despite playing at home, are automatic losses in this thing, right? That puts the league in chase mode already. It puts a lot of pressure of them to hold serve in their other home games and nudge out a winning record in five road games, all in the underdog role. I can buy the former, but not the latter, so you’re looking at falling short of the ACC again.

Events of Feast Week certainly doused whatever hopes or expectations I might have even begun to build up as I poured over preview magazines and blog posts. The league fell flat during the first showcase of the season. They went Under the win total I would have bet Over on had such a line existed. Only three teams–Purdue, Northwestern and Wisconsin–had winning records and won multiple times against their fields. Trendy Sweet 16 picks Minnesota and Michigan went 1-2. Illinois, a team hinted to be the most talented in the conference, lost to projected middle of the pack teams from the Mountain West (Utah) and Missouri Valley (Bradley). I projected Penn State to play for the championship in their tournament, but instead ended up playing in the last place game. I said Michigan State was the surest bet to win their tournament, and of course, they didn’t, finishing in third place instead. Sigh. What is this, football season?

Now, the league readies itself in the annual punching bag position they’re in every December for this challenge with a lot of the goodwill from preseason accolades dried up after the uninspiring Feast Week. If ever the league needed a good showing in the challenge, its right now with the college sports punditry ready and willing to bury the league again.

As it turns out, one of the culprits during the underachieving Feast Week, Penn State, got the challenge off the on the right foot last night for the Big 10. In the only game scheduled, they sneaked out a road win at Virginia behind the second half greatness of Talor Battle. He dominated the way I expected him to do during the Charleston Classic. He scored 32 points, close to half of the Lions points. I went from Doubting Thomas to flat no way the last week in the Big 10′s chances on the road in this challenge, so nabbing a road win in this one finally begins to get me thinking their chances are better than usual at winning this sucker.

Let’s preview tonight’s action with some predictions topping it off at the end. Read more »