The Dirty Dozen and Bottom of the Barrel: I Thought Turkey's Could Fly

If you have no idea about this or what it is....look up WKRP in Cincinnati, a TV show from the early 1980's. If you do that, the above video will be very funny.

Kinda like those of us who actually bought into the Baylor Bears...or the Oregon Ducks. By now you know Baylor blew their BCS opportunity after getting hammered by Oklahoma State last week. That overshadowed flashy media darlings Oregon, who coming off a loss to Stanford decided that it wasn't worth showing up to play Arizona.

But enough of that. It's Thanksgiving. Rivalry week. The week you get to talk trash and say mean things about other teams.

((Note--I said plenty about my Georgia Southern Eagles over the past few days. I stopped laughing on Tuesday))



And we aren't laughing about this week. The week where all of College Football will be focusing on the state of Alabama. (More in a minute)

Last Week: Okay, we struggled. A little. 13-2. That makes us 142-21 on the season.



Yeah....

So, in the immortal words of Casey Kasem, it's "On with the Countdown"

THE DIRTY DOZEN:

1) Florida State 11-0. As long as or until Jameis Winston is a free man, FSU is #1 in our book. They have crushed...everyone they've played. And young Mr. Winston, should he get in trouble, won't BE in trouble until after Thanksgiving. Or what's commonly known as AFTER the Florida game. This Week: at Florida. Our Pick: FSU 48, Florida 10

2) Alabama 11-0. Hmmmm....now we get to find out if they are REALLY the big dog or not. And yes, we know the past history. We just aren't convinced of this years version. Because much like Ohio State, the schedule, well, hasn't been impressive. This Week: at Auburn. Our Pick: Alabama 41, Auburn 37

3) Ohio St. 11-0. Yes, they talk lots of crazy talk about Michigan. Heck, Urbane Meyer even banned Sports Writers from wearing dark blue to practice. And yes, it's as childish as it sounded. Nothing seems to make the Buckeye's sphincters tighter than saying Michigan it appears. Lucky for them the Wolverines aren't very good. This Week: at Michigan. Our Pick: Ohio St 38, Michigan 23

4) Missouri 10-1 Well, they bounced back. The Tigers could easily be 11-0 and in the BCS title talk, but they gagged vs. South Carolina. They still may pay heavily for that. Still, this is a well balanced, strong team that we think will be good for many years to come. This Week: vs. Texas A&M. Our Pick: Mizzou 43, Johnny Football's 34

5) Auburn 10-1. Talk about being on a roll. The week off most certainly will help the Tigers, who are still catching their breath after the Georgia win 2 weeks ago. We do think they have a punchers chance this week since the Iron Bowl is at their place. Though we do think this is the week where luck runs out. This Week: See #2

6) Oklahoma St. 10-1. Yay for the Fighting Gundy's. He may be a man and he may be 46 now, but this also arguably may be his best, but not most talented team. They totally dominated Baylor last week. In every way. Gotta make it last another week. This Week: vs. Oklahoma. Our Pick: Okie St. 31, OU 23

7) Clemson 10-1. Say this for Clemson. They are resilient. They started oh, so well and aside from totally laying an egg vs. Florida State, they've won everything else. Though some of the games have been too close for comfort. This Week: at South Carolina. Our Pick: South Carolina 33, Clemson 27.

8) South Carolina 10-2. Again, they haven't been impressive, but they keep winning. If not for the narrow escape at Missouri and UCF, they'd be 8-4 and not even in this conversation. But instead, they still have a shot at the SEC title. We'll see if that actually happens. This Week: See #9

9) Northern Illinois 11-0. Undefeated. Yes, they are undefeated. So they get to be in OUR poll. And they have the guy who SHOULD win the Heisman, Jordan Lynch (he won't). They still may sneak into the BCS, which would be VERY interesting. This Week: vs. W.Michigan. Our Pick: N.Illinois 47, W.Michigan 23

10) Fresno St. 10-0. The Bulldogs have their own worthy Heisman contender in Derek Carr. 39 passing TD's this season. Yes please. However, they won't get a BCS shot unless Northern Illinois loses. Which is unfortunate. You really should watch them play. This Week: at San Jose St. Our Pick: Fresno St. 43, San Jose St. 27.

11) Stanford 9-2. So, they got beat by USC 2 weeks ago. Not a bad loss. At least not as bad as the Utah loss. Still, don't underestimate the Tree. They could beat a lot of teams ranked above or near them. But we'll never find out. At least not this season. This Week: vs. Notre Dame. Our Pick: Stanford 33, Notre Dame 21

12) Michigan St. 10-1. Finally another Big 10 team steps up to the plate. The Spartans got off to a rough start, though the defense never waned. If not for a hiccup with Notre Dame, they'd be in a different group too. And facing off with Ohio State in the conference title game, still gives them a shot. This Week: vs. Minnesota. Our Pick: Michigan St. 27, Minnesota 10

THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL



5) Florida 4-7. Yeah, we could have gone the easy route with some winless teams. But why? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha! You lost to my alma mater. You will never live this down. EVER! The Tebow seems like he graced you with his presence decades ago now, doesn't he? So sorry. This Week: see above #1

4) Hawaii 0-10. Give them credit, they didn't quit. Losing to Wyoming last week in OT is not embarrasing.



But poor Norm Chow, once the most respected offensive coach in all of College Football. Now he's overseeing this. Wah, wah, wah! This Week: vs. Army. Our Pick: Army 34, Hawaii 28

3) Georgia State 0-11. Again, nice effort. If not for a missed 2-pt conversion, the Panthers may have escaped our little list. But alas, Arkansas State escaped with the victory. This Week: vs South Alabama. Our Pick: Ga.State 31, S.Alabama 21 UPSET!!

2) Miami (OH). oh and 11. Thank god it ends on Friday. No, not the world silly, the Redhawks season. One that to them probably seems like it started in 2003. They did reach double figures 5 times this season. So there is that. This Week: at Ball St. Our Pick: Ball St. 44, Miami (OH) 7

1) Southern Miss. 0-11. Oh, wither the poor Golden Eagles. Another season, no wins. Maybe a win in 2014? The odds are in your favor. We think. Things certainly can't get much worse. Can they? This Week: vs. UAB. Our Pick: UAB 20, S.Miss 13

And so we come to the end of another season. Yes, there will be a final poll and conference title picks--but that will be it. And then there will be the bowl games.

Enjoy your turkey, enjoy your football and enjoy your holiday travel. We'll see you next week....

Suh To Schaub: Rack Me...

And we're going through the whole thing again...

Last year after Ndamukong Suh decided to do some damage to a rival player on Thanksgiving... he apparently did the same thing to a quarterback again this year...

Damage... not an identical injury...

Here's what happened this year- intentional or otherwise...
((HT: NFL on CBS))


"I really don't have anything to say about that play or that person," Schaub said in a postgame scrum.

Last year on Thanksgiving, Suh was ejected for stomping on Green Bay OL Evan Dietrich-Smith and got suspended for two games for that act.

Suh has been fined for damaging Andy Dalton, Jay Cutler and Jake Delhomme in the past...

No word if anything will happen this time...
The HQ thinks it looks a little circumstantial...

The Dirty Dozen and Bottom of the Barrel: Turkey Day Edition

Hi Boys and Girls. We had something come up and couldn't do our regular look at the best and worst of college football...but we're back.

And it's the week of rivalry. The week of the Turkey. The week we all celebrate the fact that we can eat. And that we can eat in excess.

But we digress...

To celebrate the holiday, we pay homage to the greatest Thanksgiving TV Show episode ever produced:



Classic.

So...last week was upset Saturday with two of the three undefeated teams taking it on the chin. And when the dust settled, suddenly we were back where we started.



Anyway. We'd like to say we would have been 14-0 or something last week, but honestly...we wouldn't have been. So instead of dwelling on where we were this season, we'll just turn Casey Kasem and say "On with the Countdown"....

**Note**--We are not beholden to the BCS poll so what you are about to read may not be what . they think the rankings should be. It's what "I" think they should be...and it's my column...


THE DIRTY DOZEN:

1) Alabama 10-1. This will anger Texas A&M and Notre Dame fans, but you all know this is true. Yes, Johnny Football beat them, but if they play 10 times, 'Bama wins at least 8 of them. And to be totally honest, I'm not going to put any money on these guys beating Georgia next week. But I have been known to be wrong. Yes, I can admit that!. (This Week: vs. Auburn. Our Pick: Alabama 41, Auburn 10)

2) Oregon 10-1. Yes, we know they lost to Stanford, but we still believe they are this good. There obviously is a way to beat them and part of that is hope there are injuries. If they were to have made it to the BCS Championship game, they could very well win it because they'll be healthy. (This Week: at Oregon St. Our Pick: Oregon 38, Oregon St. 31)

3) Notre Dame 11-0. Sorry Irish fans, your team is good, but they aren't "That" good. They may survive USC (thanks Matt Barkley) but they aren't better than a 4th place SEC team to be honest. And that alone will get you to the BCS Championship game. (This Week: at USC. Our Pick: Notre Dame 24, USC 21) 

4) Texas A&M 9-2. So...here is your hottest team in College Football. Are they the best team. No, not this year. But I wouldn't want to play them either. Johnny Football may have stolen the Heisman this year and the O-Line on this team is good. Really good. (This Week: vs. Missouri. Our Pick: A&M 41, Mizzou 24) 


5) Georgia 10-1.  On paper, this team should be #1 or #2, but they don't play on paper. Until they win a game like the SEC Championship game, there will always be questions about this team. They haven't won a "Big" game in a long time. The ranking isn't higher because of that and a soft schedule. (This Week: vs. Georgia Tech. Our Pick: Georgia 43, Ga.Tech 21)

6) Florida St. 10-1. One bad loss. Sometimes you never recover from that. And FSU hasn't. This is a good, deep football team that in theory would be tough to beat in a playoff. But we don't have a playoff this year. They are easily the best of the ACC. (This Week: vs. Florida. Our Pick: FSU 24, Florida 10)

 7) Kansas St. 10-1. Kind of hard to explain the loss to Baylor. If they were as good as advertised, should that have ever happened? It also may have ruined Collin Klein's shot at the Heisman. Redemption would come this week, but it won't get them to the BCS title game. (This Week: vs. Texas. Our Pick: K-State 31, Texas 21)

8) LSU 9-2. They've actually gotten better as Zach Mettenberger is beginning to show signs of being an SEC level QB. He wasn't until the Alabama game. However the "D" giving up 35 to Ole Miss is sort of surprising. (This Week: at Arkansas. Our Pick: LSU 34, Arkansas 27)

9) Stanford 9-2. A good win over Oregon. A very good win. But the "D" played the game of their life and Kevin Hogan didn't lose the game. We aren't sure they can do it 2-weeks in a row and they'll need to . (This Week: at UCLA. Our Pick: UCLA 34, Stanford 23)

10) Ohio St. 11-0. This isn't your dad's Ohio State, they are much more rounded. But in any other year, they probably wouldn't be undefeated in the Big 10/14. They are very good team in a very not-so-good this year conference. (This Week: vs. Michigan. Our Pick: Ohio St. 31, Michigan 27)
411) Florida 10-1. Sorry Gator fans, you have the most overrated team on the board. You wouldn't beat any of these teams ahead of you. Your defense and special teams are very good, but your offense is monumentally bad. But take heart, no matter what we say, if you beat FSU and Notre Dame loses, you'll be in the BCS Championship game, whether you deserve it or not. (This Week: see #6)

12) UCLA 9-2. Okay. So. We owe our pal Jim Mora Jr. an apology. He's apparently found some sort of magic track to get a group of someone else's recruits who weren't playing very well to the point where they could win the Pac-12. They won't beat Oregon but they aren't far away. (This Week: See #9)

THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL:

**UMASS WON! UMASS WON!**
 5) Idaho 1-10. Fear the potato. What else can be said about a team that fired their coach and their starting QB during the season? You are pretty much doomed to suck at that point. We did see a stat that they've lost 10 or more games 3 of the last 5 years. So they technically could be a legacy choice here. (This Week: at Utah St. Our Pick: Utah St. 43, Idaho 17) 

4) New Mexico St. 1-9. What would the worst of the worst be without a New Mexico team? Start off with a win...and then lose 9 straight. Not gonna make for a good holiday out there. (This Week: at BYU. Our Pick: BYU 38, NM State 17)

3) Akron 1-11. So...we can't pick the Zips final game vs. Toledo cause they've already played it. And lost. Well, at least they are already out of our misery. So there is that. Guess they won't be leaving the poll. See ya next year!

2) Colorado 1-11.This is like an EPICALLY bad football team. And yet they escape the basement only because they managed to somehow beat Washington St in week #4. The defense is the WORST in Division 1 football...bar none. And the offense isn't much better. (This Week: vs. Utah. Our Pick: Utah 46, Colorado 16)   

1) Southern Miss. 0-11. Fear not Hattiesburg, it's almost over. Your first losing season in 87 years. Words cannot describe this team, so we'll keep this short. The Ellis Johnson experiment= FAIL. New Coach= BRETT FAVRE! Make that hire...you'll be on ESPN every week. (This Week: at Memphis. Our Pick: --amazingly--Memphis 17, Southern Miss 13)
 
And...in honor of the Holiday...we give you an "All-Time" family favorite----