College Football Top 25

By Matt Smith

Nobody is safe in College Football.

1. Ohio State (7-0): The Buckeyes are number one…..for now. They have played six and a half cupcakes (Washington is not bad) and now they have five pretty tough games to end the year with.

2. Boston College (7-0): Didn’t look great in beating a horrible Notre Dame team, but BC doesn’t usually win pretty. The Eagles have a big game with Va Tech on Thursday, October 25.

3. Oregon (5-1): Destroyed Washington State, and now that teams keep losing they should be kicking themselves for losing that Cal game at the goal line, or they could be in the driver’s seat.

4. Oklahoma (6-1): They have bounced back nicely from the Colorado upset, beating two ranked teams in a row after taking care of Missouri on Saturday.

5. LSU (6-1): The SEC has a lot of good (not great) teams and it is very hard to go unbeaten in that conference. Kentucky coming off a loss was a tough task for the Tigers. I still think they and Oklahoma are one-loss teams that will be playing for the National Title.

6. Cal (5-1): Just throw the ball out of bounds Kevin!!! That loss is going to sting for a while and have Cal fans second guessing that final play against Oregon State for the rest of the year if they win out and don’t reach the BCS game.

7. Florida (4-2): They get a week off to rebound from that tough LSU loss and now they get a Kentucky team fresh off a big win. I seriously love how the SEC has one or two big games every week.

8. USC (5-1): Looked horrible against Arizona. A win is a win in the Pac-10, which is probably the second best conference in the country this year.

9. South Florida (6-0): Nothing like playing Florida Atlantic and Central Florida back-to-back. They are due to lose……soon.

10. West Virginia (5-1): Coming off a bye week and playing a tough SEC team in Mississippi State team that has been playing all the big teams tough. With Rutgers on the horizon, could be a trap game.

11. South Carolina (6-1): Standing pat after a not so dominating win over North Carolina.

12. Virginia Tech (6-1): The Hokies are starting to play better and have bounced back after getting trounced by LSU in September. The biggie is next Thursday against BC.

13. Kentucky (6-1): Big win over LSU propels them seven spots as the Wildcats make this week’s biggest jump.

14. Tennessee (4-2): The Vols are a bad half against Florida and a few mistakes against Cal away from being undefeated. They are in control of their destiny in the SEC East.

15. Arizona State (7-0): The Sun Devils keep winning, but have USC, UCLA, Cal and Oregon left on the schedule.

16. Hawaii (7-0): Avoided the upset on National Television by coming back to beat San Jose State. Fresno State and Boise State are still hurdles in the WAC.

17. Michigan (5-2): The Wolverines pounded Purdue despite losing Mike Hart after the first half and then losing his backup, Brandon Minor shortly after. Big Blue is still a favorite to win the Big Ten.

18. Auburn (5-2): They keep winning tough SEC road games.

19. Texas (5-2): They weren’t very nice to Iowa State on Saturday.

20. Georgia (5-2): Should have lost to Vandy, but caught some breaks. You need those to win tough conference road games.

21. Missouri (5-1): Mistakes cost them in Norman on Saturday. Big 12 North is still wide open.

22. Illinois (5-2): Tough loss at Iowa, perhaps looking ahead to Michigan. They still have a chance to win the Big Ten.

23. Penn State (5-2): The Nittany Lions' only losses are two Michigan (five points) and Illinois (seven points).

24. Kansas (6-0): They’re 6-0, so why the hell not?

25. Alabama (5-2): Third Saturday in October is a big game as far as the SEC picture goes.

LCS Predictions

By Matt Smith

Buster Olney was the only expert on ESPN with enough guts to steer his ship clear of picking the Boston Red Sox to beat the Cleveland Indians, thus advancing to the World Series.
I guess I don’t know if that is guts or ignorance, but I appreciate it.
I am not an expert, but I think I know enough to know that the Red Sox are going to beat the Indians in the American League Championship Series. My heart really wants to go with Cleveland, seeing as they haven’t won a World Series since 1948 but my brain knows that the Red Sox have the total package.
The Sox hit, pitch and field well and probably own the biggest home field advantage with the quirks of Fenway. Boston also beat the Indians five times out of seven in the regular season, and the last time they faced them in the post-season was in the 1999 ALDS when they won the last three games to come back from an 0-2 deficit to take the series.
I don’t think the Red Sox can beat C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona back-to-back, so Cleveland will salvage the split. I also can’t see Cleveland winning both games Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd pitch, so essentially I see this series going seven games.
That seventh game will obviously be at Fenway, and it’s nearly impossible to pick against Boston in a deciding game at home.
Prediction: Sox in seven.

Does anyone remember the last time the Rockies lost?
It was September 16 and the pitcher in that game was Arizona’s Brandon Webb, the very same Brandon Webb that is starting game one of the NLCS for the Diamondbacks.
I wouldn’t exactly consider game one a sure thing for Arizona, considering that September 16 start was the only time that the sinker baller beat the Rox in six starts over the season. He was 1-3 against them as the three losses were the most he had against any team. His 5.77 ERA against them was the highest of any opponent he faced during the regular season as well.
The Rockies also took the season series, winning 10 of the 18 games against their NL West rivals.
I guess it sounds like I am really high on the Rockies, and the truth is I am. Not so much because I think they are amazing (which they have been) but more because of how horrible I think the Diamondbacks are.
Colorado is hotter, they have more talent and they are the best fielding team in baseball. I will take a middle of the order with Tulowitzki, Holliday, Helton, Atkins and Hawpe over Mark Reynolds, Connor Jackson, Eric Byrnes and whichever other overachieving bums that happen to be in the Arizona lineup on that particular day.
Prediction: Rockies in six.

National League Division Series

By Matt Smith

The Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks are going to play for the rights to go to the World Series. I repeat; one of these two teams is going to play in the Fall Classic.
How? Why?
The Diamondbacks were outscored by 20 runs this season, yet found a way to win 90 games and took the National League’s best record into their National League Division Series with the Cubs.
At least, I think they played the Cubs. Did that series even take place?
I thought it was supposed to start on Wednesday, but I don’t remember hearing about it.
In all seriousness, the series was a joke. The Cubs scored six runs in the three-game sweep and four of those runs came in a game two loss.
I’m not going to pretend to know how the Diamondbacks are good. I mean for the love of god, they have Mark Reynolds and Jeff Salazar in their lineup. This can’t go on any longer, or can it?
Well, they are playing the Colorado which has never been to the LCS and hasn’t had a winning season since going 82-80 in 2000.
The scary thing is that I have to imagine that the Rockies are the favorite. They won 14 out of 15 just to get into the playoffs and then just kept steamrolling through the LDS, sweeping a Phillies team that was nearly as hot.
The Phils won 13 out of 17 to end the year, snatching the NL East from the Mets, but looked inept against Colorado. They hit .274 as a team in the regular season but scored just eight runs in three games against Colorado as five of them came in game two.
The Phils had their hearts ripped out in the fourth inning of game two, leading 3-2 and threatening to get back into the series when Kazuo Matsui (a Mets castoff) launched a 900-foot grand slam off Kyle Lohse (because that’s what he does, allows home runs that don’t land) and the Rox never looked back.
So now, by default, one of these two teams will be in the World Series as unimaginable as that is. Whichever team it is better soak it in as soon as they get there, because it will probably only last four games after the American League champs pounds them into the ground.

College Football Top 25

By Matt Smith

1. LSU (6-0): The Tigers are a clear cut number one and in fact look pretty unstoppable. They passed a major test on Saturday by beating a very good, hungry and angry Florida team.

2. Cal (5-0): The only other legitimate unbeaten team is the Golden Bears. They have a few hurdles to clear, but with that many weapons it’s easy to see how they could play for a National Title.

3. Ohio State (6-0): The Buckeyes just keep winning and with a very weak Big Ten Conference, they could keep doing so and even without being dominant could play for a National Title.

4. Oregon (4-1): Forget conventional rankings where you lose and drop and have to move up slowly. This poll is who I think the top teams are and Oregon is as good as anyone. They were six inches from taking Cal into overtime. Those two teams are very even.

5. Boston College (6-0): I think they are very good and with the lack of dominant teams in college football, I suppose they are a top five team.

6. Oklahoma (5-1): They bounced back from a tough loss in Boulder to beat Texas in the Red River shootout. I think Oklahoma is going to be okay, and probably won’t lose again.

7. Florida (4-2): Two losses or not, the Gators are still very good. They have lost both games by a combined seven points, including a field goal as time expired and lost to LSU in the final minute in Baton Rouge.

8. USC (4-1): I wish I could drop them, but I just kept looking at teams to rank them behind and I couldn’t do it. They certainly deserve to be dropped after allowing Stanford to convert on fourth and 20 and then win the game on fourth and goal. They have struggled with Washington and Idaho as well, so they aren’t as good as we thought going into this year.

9. South Florida (5-0): What is wrong with this picture? What? If I didn’t think so highly of West Virginia, there is now way I would have the Bulls this high.

10. West Virginia (5-1): Despite the Big East being weak, I do think WV is legit. They just can’t beat South Florida. Two years in a row they have had their title hopes dashed by the Bulls.

11. South Carolina (5-1): Perhaps I am overvaluing the SEC, but their only loss is by 12 to LSU. The Cocks are a solid squad.

12. Missouri (5-0): I think the Big 12 is awful, but the Tigers keep winning convincingly. They pounded Nebraska and have a nice win over Illinois to their credit.

13. Virginia Tech (5-1): I don’t think they are that good, but I think the ACC is worse. I guess beating Clemson is a nice win.

14. Illinois (5-1): Ron Zook has got himself a good team in Champagne. I feel they are easily a top 15 team considering the field this year, and perhaps the Big Ten favorite.

15. Wisconsin (5-1): It was just a matter of time before they got beat. They are a solid squad, just not an unbeaten, BCS contender.

16. Arizona State (6-0): They are an upset waiting to happen, but they keep getting by.

17. Hawaii (6-0): Colt Brennan’s nickname is throw. The Warriors offense is trouble for anyone they play.

18. Cincinnati (5-0): Danny Fortson and Nick van Exel are stoked.

19. Tennessee (3-2): They have losses to Cal and Florida. Can’t get too many better losses than that. Pummeling Georgia showed they are a good team. Or is Georgia just terrible?

20. Kentucky (5-1): Again, the SEC gets some love. They are a top 25 team, but I don’t know if they are any more than that.

21. Michigan (4-2): They aren’t exactly dominating as they bounce back from starting 0-2, but they are still better than all but 20 teams in the country. At least for now.

22. Georgia (4-2): I love the SEC. Who else? Everyone sucks this year.

23. Auburn (4-2): The South Florida loss doesn’t look bad now, but the Mississippi State loss does. A win over Florida shows they are still a good team who went through a rough stretch.

24. Texas (4-2): The name on the front of their jersey keeps them ranked. Despite looking bad in starting 4-1, they looked better in losing to Oklahoma by just a touchdown.

25. Florida State (4-1): Whatever.