Hello ALDLAND listeners, its the ALDLAND Podcast team, and we have quite the episode for you this week. Lip service is paid to the end of the Olympics and Canada is blamed for things that are assuredly their fault. If that’s not enough, your two favorite co-hosts get deep into discussing the NCAA tournament bubble.
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After an extended break the ALDLAND podcast is back and better than ever. College basketball is finally on the menu, as is discussion of a big trade in the MLB. And as always, listen for ALDLAND’s college football picks of the week.
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ALDLAND’s weekly football review returns after an infamous fall wedding weekend. Bear with us as we attempt to piece together the happenings of the last few days.
College Football
Pregame:
- After the Game of the Century of the Season of the Week last week in College Station, everybody predicted a scheduling letdown this week. Sports predictions have become (always were?) completely useless and devoid of meaning, but once in a while, the wisdom of the crowd gets it right. Throwing out expired food? No, actually. A soft slate of week-four matchups? For the most part, yes.
The games — That 70s Show:
- Clemson opened the week of play by getting punchy on Thursday night in a closer-than-it-should-have-been win over North Carolina State. So far as I can tell, the Tigers have played only fellow Carolinians to this point in the season. A check of their schedule confirms this, and the trend will continue this weekend. (EDIT: Except for that little game against UGA in week one.) Clemson 26, North Carolina State 14.
- A number of teams posted gaudy scores and spreads. Since they already had their fun, they’re all getting grouped in this one paragraph. Ohio State 76, FAMU 0. Louisville 72, FIU 0. Miami 77, Savannah State 7. Washington 56, Idaho State 0. Baylor 70, Louisiana-Monroe 7 (that one’s actually a little surprising). Florida State 54, Bethune-Cook 6. Wisconsin 41, Purdue 10. UCLA 59, New Mexico State 13. Texas A&M 42, SMU 13. And others.
As promised, ALDLAND is back at it again with another college football preview blowout. Every BCS conference is discussed, and don’t worry, we didn’t forget about the Domers. Join Marcus and I, along with a special surprise guest as we unveil our picks and discuss the major players in the 2013 season as we see it. College football! So exciting!
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The full bowl schedule, including times and broadcast networks, is here. Some highlights, in chronological order: Continue reading
Excepting the above-depicted forty gambler-point swing victory by Middle Tennessee State University, the Volunteer State’s biggest school, over Georgia Tech, there were a lot of close college football games on Saturday. Michigan State lost by one to Ohio State. Although the internet’s had a lot to say about that game in the way of eye-gouging, taunting, and the pregame game tape exchange, there’s not much to say about the game itself beyond the observation that OSU’s Braxton Miller is pretty good. Even though it was high scoring, West Virginia only beat Baylor by a touchdown in Morgantown. Of course, it was really high scoring. Like 70-63. Big Ten basketball territory. Other top-25 games, though not quite as close, probably were closer than the winning team would’ve preferred. Alabama beat Ole Miss 33-14 in a game that was in reach for the underdogs (underbears?) in the fourth quarter. Washington State put up 26 against Oregon, which is 26 more than Arizona could do. Texas and Oklahoma State went to the wire, and UGA-UT was a one-score game as well. Clemson got back to its winning ways with a 45-31 win over woeful Boston College.
The pros sang a different tune on Sunday, though, at least in part, when Denver found its legs against Oakland (38-6), New England posted 52 on Buffalo, and San Francisco bounced back with a 34-0 shutout of the dead-in-the-water-not-walking-on-water J-e-t-s. There were some close games in the NFL too, as the Cardinals won by three in overtime to inexplicably stay undefeated, and the Saints lost by one to stay defeated.
On the topic of defeats, the U.S. team absolutely melted down on the last day of the Ryder Cup, surrendering a supposedly insurmountable lead. We now return to our regular golf coverage, which, absent Jungle Bird, is nonexistent.
College football turned in a wild day of action on Saturday, when Iowa State topped then-#2 and presumptive national championship contender Oklahoma State, Southern Cal beat then-#4 Oregon, Baylor beat then-#5 Oklahoma, and North Carolina State destroyed then-#7 Clemson. Nebraska’s first visit to the Big House did not go well for the ‘Huskers (more on that game later), and Michigan’s 45-17 win, together with Michigan State’s 55-3 pounding of Indiana paved the way for the Spartans’ appearance in the first-ever Big Ten championship game, where they’ll face either Wisconsin or Penn State. In the SEC, Georgia hung on to beat Kentucky and ensure the Dawgs’ place in the SEC championship game against LSU, and Tennessee beat Vanderbilt in a controversial, overtime finish in Neeyland Stadium on Saturday night. The result of all of this is that LSU and Houston are the only undefeated teams, and the scenario that would’ve sent three SEC teams to BCS bowls now looks like it could balloon to four, with Alabama and Arkansas in the second and third BCS slots, respectively, and Georgia still set to play for the SEC championship.
As predicted, the Lions beat the Panthers, overcoming the offensive force that is Cam Newton in a shootout. Stafford (28-36, 335 yds, 5 tds) outplayed Newton (22-38, 280 yds, 1 td), and the Lions seem to have rediscovered a running game in the form of Kevin Smith’s mohawk, but a concern going forward is the apparent decreased effectiveness of their defense. In Chicago, Philip Rivers continued his free fall, but the concern for the Bears, who weren’t going away this season, is that Jay Cutler’s broken thumb may knock him out for the rest of the season. And I didn’t forget about the Colts, who lost to the Bye Week and are holding steady at 0-10.
Finally, in one of the most exciting NASCAR races in memory, Tony Stewart held off Carl Edwards to win the race and the championship on Sunday night. Stewart and Edwards, who finished 1-2, technically were tied in points, but Stewart held the tie-breaker: most wins on the season. Stewart won five times this year, and each win came during the Chase– the season-ending ten-race playoff. This marks Stewart’s third championship, something only eight other drivers have accomplished, and it’s his first as an owner.
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