Big Ten Title: OSU vs MSU

One team everyone expected.  The other, only the diehard fans expected.

Michigan State and Ohio State square off tomorrow for the rights to a trip to Pasadena.
Same destination, but two different goals.

The undefeated and second ranked Buckeyes look to represent the Big Ten in the National Championship against (most likely Florida State.

Whilst Michigan State looks to earn its first trip back to the Rose Bowl since 1987.

Two teams enter!  Both will leave! But only one can win! (EPIC VOICE OVER)

WHO WILL IT BE?!?!

The opposite of whatever I pick...
So I should pick... Ohio State then right?

Okay for seriousness though, I'm taking the Buckeyes, but in a close one.

Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde are a two man wrecking crew.  It's hard to keep them both in check, especially Miller who has become a legit passing threat under Urban Meyer.
The defense isn't spectacular, I mean Michigan put 41 points up on them, but it should be good enough to stop MSU's offense, which is ten times better than it was at the beginning of the season.

If any team (in the Big Ten) is gonna beat Ohio State, it's gonna be MSU.
Michigan State defends better than anyone in the conference and it's not even a debate.  MSU has the top ranked rush defense and are fully capable of neutralizing Ohio State's rushing attack.

A low-scoring affair favors the Spartans.
But if it turns into a shootout, the Buckeyes will take it.

I'm going 31-24, Ohio State wins and stays undefeated.

But I desperately hope I'm wrong.

Thoughts?  Comments, questions, concerns?

Welcome to the Big Fourteen?

Maryland and Rutgers are now officially members of the Big Ten... Errr Fourteen?  Well Rutgers will be officially official tomorrow, but for all intents and purposes, it's official.  And judging on the reactions I'm seeing, I'm not nearly as confused or surprised as most of you guys.

So let's break this down, beard style.  Does it make sense?  On the surface, no.  Rutgers and Maryland are east coast squads, they both aren't known for football prowess.  I mean Rutgers has had a good squad every three or four years lately, including this year's team.  Maryland... Well they have lots of flashy uniforms and that's about it.

But here's why it makes perfect sense, and trust me, you're not going to like the reasons.

Money.  Big Ten wants and now has that east coast TV market.  Maryland and Rutgers were considered when Nebraska was added too and they were on board.  Nebraska won the four team race between the aforementioned three and Missouri.  For those that don't remember, it literally became a race, Big Ten said GO! and Nebraska got it done first.

And reason number two why it makes sense?  You guessed it, Money.  This is where college football is going, like it or not.  Super Conferences that generate absurd amounts of money and dominate the sport.  They're coming.  Like it or not.  SEC started the super conference talk by bumping to 14 and Big Ten is moving that train right along the tracks.  Notre Dame's ACC deal just meant that the Big Ten would start looking elsewhere.

Over the next few years we will see more shifting and moving and super conferences will be made.  The Pac 12, SEC, Big Ten will stand alone, and the ACC and Big 12 will fight it out amongst themselves on who can survive.  Big East is done, it's over.  Goodbye.  Your conference stunk anyways.

Now how do I feel about these teams specifically?  Meh.  I don't hate them, I don't love them.  I'm not stupid though.  I know why they're here.  I just hope that they make sure to keep the divisions competitive   Maryland should join the Legends and Rutgers the Leaders.  That's not what early indications are but it makes the most competitive sense, and you can have Rutgers and Maryland be the protected crossover game.  I'ma genius.  Why don't I get paid for this kinda insight?

Maybe some good will come out of this guys... Maybe they'll finally change the division names!

Just Another Saturday...

Photo Credit: Yahoo!

So last night was pretty crazy eh?  #1 and #2 go down so now Notre Dame is #1... Personally, I'm really bummed.  I was excited at the prospect of having a non-SEC team win the ship, but as soon as K-State lost no matter what happened a team I hated was going to be crowned national champion.  And now that Bama is back in the hunt it's going to be them

And on the local front, Michigan absolutely destroyed Iowa 42-17 on senior day.  Devin Gardner looked great once again with six total touchdowns.  All Denard did was run and catch swing passes, so he looked great too.  Honestly, when Denard first got here and Tate Forcier looked as good as he did, I thought running and catching passes was Denard's future.  Honestly wish it were... TATE YOU'RE STILL MY BOY.

And for the Spartans?  Well... Same ol' Spartans.  They lost 23-20 and looked very lethargic while doing so.  They out gained Northwestern in every stat except points.  I am still amazed at how awful State's wide receivers are this year.  I have never seen so many dropped passes collectively by an entire core of wide outs.  It's cost them dearly this season, this game included.

Michigan is still in the hunt for a Big Ten title, needing to beat Ohio State next week and Nebraska to lose to Iowa.  Since I don't think either of those will happen, out Big Ten champ will be either a lucky, undeserving Nebraska (we all know they would have lost to Denard AND they lost to Penn State) or the third-best team in the leaders division Wisconsin (puke.)

And for the Spartans, they have to beat the vaunted Golden Gophers of Minnesota just to get a bowl game.  God I love college football.

Bearded Predictions for next week:
Ohio State 24  Michigan 20
Michigan State 17 Minnesota 14

I also have Notre Dame on upset alert because I hate them.

Have a good Sunday y'all, go Lions!

Thanksgiving football

Sorry all, I've been under the weather and out of town for the past week, sorry to keep my fans waiting, but the bearded fellow has made his triumphant return.
Thanksgiving and football go together like John Madden and Turduckin. Sit down around the table and watch grown men throw the pigskin around, or toss it around yourself with your family. I love Thanksgiving, it combines my two favorite things: Family and Football. Well I'm not here to recap the action, if you haven't noticed I don't do that on my blogs. You all saw the games, most likely, so I don't need to tell you what you saw. Instead I want to touch a sensitive point to us Detroit Lion fans...
Thanksgiving football is ours Detroit, and people around the nation and the league want to take that away from us. That is a bunch of crap my friends. Does anyone know why there is football on Thanksgiving? Well it wasn't the pilgrims, but try the Detroit Lions. Sure go ahead, talk about taking our game away because we suck, but we started this great tradition. We played the first Thanksgiving Day game against the Chicago Bears in 1934. We have this great time-honored tradition due to the lowly Lions, so show some respect. It is great for the NFL, and it's some exposure for the Lions, which is something we never get. If you don't like the football we bring to the table, well then save your turkey for the Dallas game. But you can't strip away the Lions game just because we aren't good anymore, and haven't been good since the 50's. But we deserve our Thanksgiving game, it's all we have left, don't take it away from us.
So please, Mr. Goodell, don't steal from the poor by taking our one prized possession... Thank you, and good day.

Our Rally cry

College Football: The greatest Sport out there

Oh boy do I love college football! Sure my favorite teams are going to struggle to make a bowl, that''s Michigan and Michigan State for those of you that don't know, but it still is such a spectacle. The reason why it's so great is because anything can happen. Upsets happen every weak. Every game has so much riding on it. And the atmosphere for college football is just amazing. Enter the Big House, "Death Valley" in LSU, The Swamp down in Florida, you can't find atmospheres like that anywhere else.
This past Saturday had two major upsets that inspired me to talk about this. Navy beat the all-mighty Notre Dame. And the hottest team in the country, Oregon Ducks, lost to the Stanford Cardinal. What huge games, only in college football my friends. Upsets happen every week, it's why college football is so amazing. Think back at all the upsets and all the great moments in college football, Appalachian State beating Michigan :'( Stanford beating USC at USC the same year. Stanford-Cal and the band, Doug Flutie, Iowa's hail mary against LSU. The list goes on and on. Sure the NFL has it's fair share of great moments, but they don't mean as much when it's just a bunch of college kids. COllege Football, the greatest sport in the world. I love college football, you should too.

Pictured is the game-winning catch in the Stanford-USC game referred to.