Rank	Team	Delta
1	TCU
2	Texas
3	Alabama
4	Florida
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State
7	Oregon	2
8	Georgia Tech	1
9	Ohio State	2
10	Pittsburgh	2
11	Virginia Tech	3
12	Iowa	1
13	LSU	2
14	Stanford	5
15	Southern Cal	5
16	Miami (Florida)	6
17	Penn State
18	Oregon State
19	Oklahoma State	9
20	Clemson	8
21	Houston	2
22	Brigham Young	2
23	Utah	7
24	Nebraska	1
25	Central Michigan
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: North Carolina (#21).

-Top six unchanged. Georgia Tech doesn’t drop much after a loss, even to a crap team like Georgia, because their resume is still solid. Same with Pittsburgh. Until you start having to pick these rankings every week, you don’t realize how stupid so many media pollsters are with their “oh they lost drop them minimum eight spots” rule.

-I still think LSU is vastly overrated, and I probably will continue to say as much until Les Miles is fired. Natch!

-What USC did to UCLA at the end of the game was hilarious. Extra spot up for that one.

-Miami finally shows up to play in the first quarter, and it shows in the final score. Great all around game. Win the bowl game and they can finish in the top 15 final polls, a great season for year three in the Randy Shannon era.

11/21 for 161 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions. I couldn’t ask for more perfect road game stats.

Fantastic season. Here’s to a great bowl game match up to steam roll to 10 wins!

Miami 8-3 (5-3) @ South Florida 7-3 (3-3)

Raymond James Stadium

Tampa, FL

A hunter spots a grizzly bear 1,000 yards away, but he can’t get any closer so he aims his rifle and pulls the trigger.  He can see he’s hit the bear, so he sets off after it.  When he finally catches up to the bear, the bear is clutching his shoulder and says, “Was it you who shot me?”

The hunter says, “Yes.”

The bear says, “You need to be taught a lesson.”  The bear strips off the hunter’s clothes, bends him over, and has his way with him.

Several minutes later the hunter struggles to his feet, pulls himself together, and vows to find that bear.  He searches through the woods, up hill and down, and then he spots it 500 yards away, aims his rifle, pulls the trigger, and sets off after it.  When he catches up to the bear, the bear says, “Did you shoot me again?”

The hunter, trembling, says, “Yes.”

The bear says, “Well, maybe this’ll teach you,” whereupon he grabs the hunter, rips off his already tattered clothing, throws him violently to the ground, and really rips him a new one.

The hunter eventually gets to his feet, naked and dazed, and he decides he’s going after the bear one more time.  He trips through dense underbrush, trudges through soupy swamps, treks across vast valleys, and finally finds the bear only a hundred yards away, across a small opening.  He takes careful aim, holds his breath, and pulls the trigger.

The hunter, already exhausted, sprints up to the bear.

The bear says, “Did you shoot me AGAIN?”

The hunter says, “Yep.”

So the bear says, “You didn’t really come here to hunt, did you?”

Lets all hope Miami continues to be the bear in this in-state burgeoning rivalry.

Official Prediction: Miami 27, South Florida 21

My annual Bad Ass® award will always go out to my favorite Miami Hurricanes player of all time, Sean Taylor. He is who created my love for the Free Safety ball hawking position. Two years later, countless Pro Bowl seasons left on the table.

Hey Florida! I can see your vagina from here!

Hidden beneath all the Florida’s huge vagina talk was Kirby Hocutt stating he doesn’t really want to play USF anymore.

Hocutt said he likes “that your last game is guaranteed in warm weather” and won’t try to escape the contract. But Hocutt also said USF wants to extend the series beyond 2013, and “I’m not convinced it makes total sense for us.” Hocutt said he wants to begin scheduling seven home games some years, beginning in 2011 or 2012.

I’m on record stating I like playing South Florida. Even if the Bulls do the dirty and beat Miami one of these years, I will still support the game. Many fans will chant Miami has nothing to gain, everything to lose. I disagree. Miami can directly put down a burgeoning rival, point to a direct on field result to all these recruits who are considering Tampa. Most importantly, the Canes can use this game as a rebound spring board incase of an early season loss. South Florida is in a BCS conference. Their reputation has already hit a high enough peak to give Miami a considerable jump in the late season polls should they win a four touchdown blowout. Yes, I would concede that years Miami finally starts making the ACC title game, playing USF the week prior might not be in their best interests. However, this year could’ve proven a great example. If Miami hadn’t lost three games already, beating South Florida this weekend would potentially have spring-boarded the Canes up the polls and into a BCS at large bid. Hypotheticals get you nowhere, but you don’t win the national title every year. Miami will always be better served playing these overrated name programs in BCS conferences over FCS schools. Personally, I think Miami should start scheduling home and homes with most of the Big East, mulch up on that “top notch” competition.

Jeremy Foley just found out FIU agreed to extend their deal until 2056

This came as no surprise. Florida has decided they will not be extending their contract to play Miami after the return game in 2013. What really is a shocker to me is Florida will still come to Miami in four years. Jeremy Foley, Florida’s AD, stated his reasoning as based on his desire to schedule seven annual home games. Oh, that’s right, you’re in the SEC. The biggest, baddest conference in the land. If the school doesn’t have a direction in it, and you have to pay them more than $500K to show up, you won’t play. Well, Mr. Foley, I have some Vagisil in aisle seven for you. You know, for your gaping vaginitis attack.

OK, in all truth, Florida can do what it wants. Sure, we can make fun of them, but they will keep winning titles with their obnoxiously bad OoC schedule, no matter the outcry. More power to them. The hilarious part of all this, is the writing is clearly on the wall. Miami is nearly “back,” whatever you want to define that as. They are about to be playing for national titles, intimidating opponents, having more talent on the field than 95% of the country. Jeremy Foley wants nothing of it. He saw what happened last year in Gainesville. Miami stood tall against the best Florida team in school history for three quarters. Yes, Florida showed they were clearly the better team in the 4th. However, being held without a touchdown, against a ridiculously young Miami team, full of freshman starters, Robert Marve at quarterback, and fucking Patrick Nix calling plays? Ha. Florida knows this game at best will be a toss up come 2013 and beyond. No reason to subject themselves to another potential loss.

Still doubt me? The proof is more than in the pudding, it’s already in the cookbook of history. Butch Davis of all coaches put the smack down on Steve Spurrier in the 2001 Sugar Bowl. Miami lost multitudes of first round picks in 2002, yet still demolished a Heisman contender Rex Grossman up in Gainesville. Then in 2003, we took their shitty backup quarterback, spotted them about three touchdowns, and still won the game. Add in the fact we all know Urban Meyer is doubtful to be in Gainesville much longer, let alone for 2013 and beyond, and if you’re Jeremy Foley, you have what I’d call a case of the Zooks.

The only thing the SEC leads in every year

I have always been adamant that the SEC is overrated, nearly every year. Most recently in 2006, when Florida used a two score victory over a lackluster Arkansas team with one great player to ride itself into the BCS title game. After seeing this article in the Sun-Sentinel, it got me thinking to do some quick research on this season, yet another year I believe the SEC is vastly overrated.

Look, I understand the idiot redneck who chants S-E-C!! at every game to feed Gary Danielson’s ego will just point to Florida and Alabama and say “Dat’s dat! Ain’t no mo reason ta tahlk!” Well, that is why they are not making decisions for the country, let alone their respective trailer park. Two teams, no matter how good, does not make a conference.

Lets all stop parading around the top 5 teams in the nation as an indicator of overall conference strength. No one ever claimed the Pac 10 was the best conference when USC was clearly the best team in the nation for the entire decade. The middle of the SEC is just as bad as every other conference, and this year more so. LSU is a complete joke, and if not for their ability to recruit instate defensive studs, they would be a six loss team this year. It has been very gratifying to see Les Miles finally exposed as the horrible coach that he is. All you Michigan fans, if you think Miles would’ve been the answer instead of Rodriguez, well, then have fun losing to Ohio State until 2023. He was bad at Oklahoma State, he is bad at LSU, and will continue to be bad as long as he coaches. He won his title with Saban’s players, he gets to own one of the best states for recruiting unchallenged by another in-state university, and his former school has reached new heights since his departure. Les Miles is guaranteed to get you two losses a year. He simply got lucky and was able to win a national title with said two losses. Case closed. (Les Miles sucks tangent now over).

I would argue the Pac 10 or even the ACC would beat the SEC from #3 on down the line. No one is touching Florida and Alabama, that much is not a question. But when these top SEC teams keep getting all this media bias credit for doing nothing other than barely beating horribly overrated SEC teams, with zero out of conference wins, it sickens me. Lest we all forget, the SEC was not always considered the best conference in the land, year in and year out, like it is today. If you do not have a dog in the BCS title game fight, there should be no reason you are not rooting for the opponent of whomever the inevitable SEC team that makes it in.

Praise be to Jebus. Hankerson has been Miami’s best receiver this season by far, and he has hidden speed. With Jacory “TAINT” Harris back at the helm next year, and us not knowing if he will solve his TAINT problems, we need all the possession/big play/all around receivers we can get.

Of course, if Hankerson can somehow leave early this year for the League and restart the first round draft pick streak, I’m not one to judge. I’ll tell you one thing, it’s fantastic to have a #85 actually producing again.

Howard Schnellenberger, in my mind, is the most underrated coach in the history of college football. Jimmy Johnson is undoubtedly a better overall coach, as he did win both in the NFL and college. However, you cannot overvalue what Schnellenberger did with the Miami program. Bobby Bowden, back when he was still lucid, has said on multiple occasions Schnellenberger would have the all time wins if he had just stayed put in Coral Gables.

Unfortunately for all Hurricane fans, he is just one of those personalities who always are on the move. They establish a goal, and once it is attained, need to start over from zero with a new goal (Louisville), instead of creating new loftier goals within the current framework (staying at Miami for 25 years). In a way, when Schnellenberger left a national title wake at Miami to leave for the USFL, he started the tradition of coaches using Miami as their springboard into the NFL.

Yet another hilarious anecdote was uncovered from all this great documentary talk going round:

Schnellenberger explains how he would intentionally leave his pipe in the home of some recruits so he would have an excuse to come back. Excited, Melvin Bratton took the pipe with him to Miami Northwestern High.

The man always is giving, more than we ever know.

Not only is he the main mastermind behind the documentary set to air on ESPN after the Heisman ceremony, but he even knows the right way to edit a film.

Larry Coker was the most prominent person interviewed who didn’t make the cut. “Originally, we had delusions of grandeur that we would somehow do the 2001-02 championship,” Corben said. “We wound up not going that far.”

Don’t be coy Billy, tell the truth. You cut his ass because even just seeing his face is more embarrassing than the Pell Grant scandal.

Now here is a pissed off athletic director. If there is any game I wish I could watch now, that I could watch live, it would always, always, always be the 1991 Cotton Bowl thumping of Texas. It literally created the 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty.

UM’s controversial on-field behavior receives ample attention. In his interview for the film, then-athletic director Sam Jankovich said Randal Hill’s memorable touchdown celebration in the 46-3 Cotton Bowl rout of Texas on Jan. 1, 1991 — Hill ran down the tunnel and pretended to shoot pistols — was “totally disgusting.”

Jankovich recalled telling Erickson afterward “if you don’t solve this problem, somebody else will solve it for you. You should be ashamed how this team performed.”

Man, that is hilarious. It also underscores the biggest problem with Erickson, and his inability to discipline anyone. If I was an inner-city youth used to running around after midnight causing a ruckus, only to be let off the hook due to a fantastic talent I had that old white men cherished, I don’t think I’d want to play for any other coach than Erickson.

Can’t wait to see the finished product.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	TCU	3
2	Texas	1
3	Alabama	1
4	Florida	1
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech
8	Pittsburgh
9	Oregon	2
10	Oklahoma State	3
11	Ohio State	1
12	Clemson	5
13	Iowa	1
14	Virginia Tech	4
15	LSU	6
16	Utah	5
17	Penn State	2
18	Oregon State	5
19	Stanford	9
20	Southern Cal
21	North Carolina
22	Miami (Florida)
23	Houston	1
24	Brigham Young	1
25	Nebraska
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Wisconsin (#16), Arizona (#19).

-TCU deserves to be ranked #1. There, I said it. The three-headed monster of Florida/Alabama/Texas are who should be trying to impress voters for the second BCS title spot. As of this week at least. Once the SEC title is played, it’s hard to argue that team shouldn’t be #1. Luckily for Texas, a 9-3 Nebraska team will roll into the Big 12 title game. But for this week, with Clemson surging, Utah and BYU on the mantle of wins, TCU is the top dog.

-Not too much other unsuspected movement. Some thoughts: Penn State is horrendous, and it’s a shame teams get to pad their records with horrible non-conference schedules. Of course, it is in their benefit. Five years from now, no one will remember Penn State was the worst 9-2 team in the history of college football. They will only remember the 9-2.

-I wanted to rank Temple this week, but then I saw they lost to Penn State. No hypocrites here, my friends.

Never thought I’d be so happy to see Harris take a sack. Score +1 for not chucking it downfield!

8-3 never tasted so good.

Look at the SEC. 10 years ago the conference was an overall joke. You had Spurrier, and 11 misfits. The coaches were so inept outside the Ole Ball Coach, that Phil Fulmer could win the national title. Case in point, once the conference started getting great coaches across the board, Fulmer was exposed for the horrible coach he always was. Now? Spurrier is arguably the 5th best coach. You have Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, two of the top five best in the nation. Les Miles, Mark Richt, Bobby Petrino, even Houston Nutt has proven he can put together some great seasons every five years. What the ACC needs more than anything is quality football coaches.

This is not to say the ACC doesn’t have its share of good coaches. Paul Johnson, Frank Beamer, David Cutcliffe, Jim Grobe. Then you have the ok coaches fantastic recruiters in Randy Shannon and Butch Davis, which is nothing to scoff at. Dabo Swiney has proven this year he’s sort of figured out how to break the Clemson curse. After that, however, the cupboard is bare. Bowden we all know about, Ralph Friedgen is on his way out, Al Groh as well, Tom O’Brien should’ve never left Chesnut Hill, and Frank Spaziana is untested. Lets assume in the next two years both Virginia and Maryland fire their head guys and are looking for new blood. It is imperative they hire top quality coaches to help rebuild their programs. Rumors that Al Golden is up for Virginia, and they should grab that guy yesterday. The ACC has become the spot for NFL retreads. It’s because these normally basketball boosters think on paper an NFL mind will just show up and own the college amateurs on the sidelines. We’ve seen how that has worked out across the country.

Anton you must be crazy! Why do you want the doormat schools to get great coaches? Won’t that hurt Miami? No son, it will only help. Look at Florida and Alabama. They clearly have the best players/best coaching combination, so they beat near everyone every year. Yes, the games are close, they don’t dominate, but the end result is national respect for the middle tier of the conference, pushing the SEC champ into the BCS title game seemingly every year, regardless of actually conference schedule strength.

David Cutcliffe at Duke is a perfect example already in place. He is a great coach, one who has taken Duke to heights unprecedented in 20 years. Will he ever win the conference title? Probably not. But he has taken a doormat and made them a respectable win. The ACC can’t have any winless conference teams and expect national respect. Right now the ACC is on par with the Big East in terms of BCS conferences, and rightfully so. The ACC has sucked for years, pretty much since they poached the Big East. A 9-6 title game in front of 30,000 people with a noon time-slot? Definition of embarrassing.

Coaches are dying to get into the SEC. It pays fantastic, most states have no professional team, and the fans live and die by the results on Saturday. Yes, the ACC is and always will be a basketball conference. That does not mean they can’t create a better atmosphere and attitude for their football counterparts. Half the ACC are football schools. With Duke and North Carolina both on the way up, it’s not hard to envision three years from now having a great middle tier of teams raising the profile of whomever goes undefeated or 7-1 each year. Best to root for Georgia Tech to win out this season, it will only help Miami next year.

Duke 5-5 (3-3) @ Miami 7-3 (4-3)

Land Shark Stadium

Miami Gardens, FL

Well, another year, another three losses in conference. With how this season started, it is disappointing. Thinking of the expectations in April, however, and the potential for nine wins with two games left would leave the fans with IQs over 80 happy all over.

You would think Miami would bounce back against the Dookies, as they did against Virginia two weeks ago at home, but you never really know with this team. One thing I believe we are all missing is the fact North Carolina’s defense is top 5 in the country. Fantastic defensive line, putting pressure on Harris, his biggest weakness. And again, Miami put themselves in a hole, only this time they weren’t playing a horrendous Wake Forest team, so they fell short. Duke is not close to being as good as UNC, so I do expect Miami to win by three scores regardless of how many gift turnovers Harris throws their way (and I expect at least two picks).

Recall last year. Miami sat with this same 7-3 overall record, and 4-3 in conference. Then Atlanta happened. One embarrassing road loss to NC State later, Miami was in another late season swoon, and had to travel across the country to play an underachieving California team. Looking at the losses as a sane fan, and Miami has lost to three very quality teams, all of whom have played arguably their best game against the Canes. Yes, Miami gift wrapped points for all three teams, but two of the games they still had a chance late to win. Compare that to last year, and it is night and day.

The Canes are still in line potentially for the Gator Bowl, nothing to snuff at, or possibly the Champs Sports Bowl, both in state. Personally I want the two wins to finish 9-3, a great “rebuilding” record, 1999 all over again (as previously discussed), but I want to play the Big 10 or Big East. This year only, I want the near guaranteed bowl game win. Give me the late night national coverage stomping for Miami to garner the needed media bias momentum to start next year right.

Miami starts slow, maybe a 7-3 first quarter lead, then opens the game up in the second quarter, Duke starts pressing, and Miami’s run game takes over. Duke just doesn’t have the defense to force Miami to call their mind boggling deep throws into single cover-”oh wait the safety can make it over in time for that balloon throw ha another pick oh my head hurts from slamming it against this brick wall” coverage.

Official Prediction: Miami 41, Duke 21

Jacory Harris is the man for Miami, good or bad. No qualms about it, he is the guy who will make or break the Canes getting back to the top within the next 2+ years. Still, that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t slap his shit around a bit, straighten his thinking out.

“I know I take way more chances now,” he said. “Last year, if I took any chances I knew, `That’s it for me, I don’t get any playing time.’ ”

Who knew Robert Marve actually brought out some positive qualities?

Clock management continues to be a problem at times for UM, which ran out of time in a late first-half drive against North Carolina, but never used its last timeout and didn’t line up quickly enough after a first down. “It was probably a mistake — everybody had something to do with it,” Jacory Harris said. Offensive coordinator Mark Whipple “gives me freedom to use timeouts, but I look to him first.” UM has no problem with Harris burning timeouts early in halves to get the right personnel in. Harris said “something bad is going to happen” if he doesn’t.

(Emphasis mine). I find this counterintuitive. Whipple gives Harris freedom, yet he looks to him first before calling a timeout? Again, this is me slamming my head against the wall.

“At the beginning of the year, teams didn’t know what we had,” he said. “Safeties don’t play the same now. I’ve got to learn to take what the defense is giving me and stop taking all the deep shots.”

RAWR! This is the quote that angers me the most. How can Harris still be saying this, let alone thinking this way?! The safeties have been playing different since the Virginia Tech game! Am I the only fucker noticing this? Does Whipple and Randy like playing from behind, to build character and what not?

This post is not meant to be a Debbie Downer. I still think Harris will turn this around next season after another spring in Whipple’s offense. I am simply annoyed with his laissez-faire attitude towards interceptions and wanted to say something about it.

Talks are taking place, the Rockies have started to shift, and the continuously overrated teams in the SEC are shitting their pants. Why? The Mountain West and WAC are considering having a inter-conference title game to strengthen each others schedules.

In reality, the two conferences are discussing this awesome idea to give themselves an automatic BCS bid. A noble idea, one that should work. Take this year as an example. TCU goes undefeated, with wins against Clemson, Virginia, Utah, then got to destroy an also undefeated Boise State, at some neutral site in Wyoming, and you’d have a Horned Frog sighting in Pasadena. Sure, this year that would probably mean Texas gets the shaft, but regardless, I love this idea. It is the first step towards super-conferences in college football, probably the closest we will ever get to a real playoff.

It would be great if this year the ACC and Big East had to square off after the conference title games to see if say Cincinnati gets a legit shot at the BCS title game. Or Texas has to first play the TCU/Boise State winner. More or less this is the Plus 1 model, which I despise in theory, but if you think of it more as a regional precursor, then I am more for this situation.

Really, I just want to go back to 1992. Blow up the BCS, skip past the Bowl Alliance, and just let the money grubbing bowls pick whomever they want, based mainly on regions. You want ratings to come back up across the board, instead of just being afterthoughts to the BCS title game? Sign up.

Orange: ACC vs. Big East

Sugar: SEC vs. At Large

Fiesta: Big 12 vs. Mountain West/WAC

Rose: Big 10 vs. Pac 10

Cotton: At Large vs. At Large

Bam. 10 teams, all playing each other on (sort of) neutral fields. Let the voters sort it out. Stupid idea? Of course. Also what worked for 50+ years with much less complaint than the current system. Isn’t fun when you go into the bowl game as #4, and if you destroy #1 and # 2 and # 3 lose by just enough, you win the title? Woooo! College football!

Ugh. Finally. Miami has had so many lower and upper extremity injuries this season, you wonder if they are doing circle or clean jerks in the weight room on Tuesdays.

Getting back two of your best defensive players, Spence’s production this season aside, will only help Miami down the abbreviated stretch. As my Canes Consiglieri once said, Miami is a middle tier ACC team when they have injuries to the first string. The depth is just not there yet to overcome the starters being out. Anyone still calling for Randy Shannon’s head better recognize this fact, and know in two years when the depth chart is finally filled out, to give themselves a big gulp of stfu.

Kenny, tell him how you just throw to the open guy!

I love that Dorsey is going to random away ACC conference games. Speaks volumes about the fact he will be on the coaching staff, sometime in the near future. I get hard envisioning Whipple calling the plays, and Dorsey standing next to him giving QBs all the tricks of the trade to fool these ACC wannabes, Big East style.

Daily Caneshooter with the great photo.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas
2	Alabama
3	Florida
4	TCU
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech
8	Pittsburgh	2
9	LSU	2
10	Stanford	15
11	Oregon	1
12	Ohio State	5
13	Oklahoma State	5
14	Iowa	6
15	Penn State	6
16	Wisconsin	3
17	Clemson	5
18	Virginia Tech	5
19	Arizona	3
20	Southern Cal	5
21	Utah	7
22	Miami (Florida)	9
23	Oregon State
24	Houston	15
25	Brigham Young
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: South Florida (#20), Boston College (#24).

-This season in one word? Boring. We have already climaxed out the regular season, and only get to look forward to knowing what SEC school will stomp on Texas in mid-January. I’ll admit seeing the Pac-10 finally grow a pair and stand up to USC has been fun, but I lose interest after awhile. Time zones and all.

-Speaking of the Pac-10, I jumped Stanford up 15 spots this week. I know, I know, crazy talk. But I couldn’t in my right mind keep them below Oregon, who they beat last week, so I had to put them right above. And because Oregon was right outside the top 10, Stanford sets my record for week to week jump.

-I’m beginning to realize how the idiot sportswriters and coaches jump arbitrarily move teams up for not losing. I don’t want to put Ohio State at #12, and I want to drop Iowa further than #14, but their resumes are better than those below. Same for Penn State, who if I did a power poll would probably not even be ranked.

The difference between 10-3 and 9-4 cannot be overstated. It is the biggest record gap for one extra loss a team can have in college football. The only win discrepancy higher is the 13-0 vs. 12-1, only when the one loss keeps a team from winning the national title.

The others? Not much difference:

11-2 v. 10-3: Both 10 win seasons, look great five years from now on the overall record. Unless you start 11-0 and drop the last two (Michigan 2006) these records are near interchangeable.

12-1 (non-title loss) v. 11-2: Sure, you could argue any 12-1 team was that one single loss away from the title, but a lot of the time that said fan is not being honest with themselves (this year’s Iowa, Georgia Tech, etc).

With those facts stated, Miami absolutely must win these next two weeks against Duke and USF, and finally win a bowl game under Randy Shannon. Better yet, if they pound an unsuspecting Big Ten team in the Champ Sports Bowl in yet another “highest rated college football game oh shit it’s Miami again playing lets put them on Labor Day they will always take our money!!”, Miami will be put in the top 15 of next year’s pre-season polls, allowing for some leeway in case of any losses sustained. I don’t want the Peach Bowl against another sleeping giant LSU team, who always comes to play after a month off. I don’t care if Miami plays the week after Xmas. I want the win, the bigger the victory the better.

It’s very exciting to watch these final two games, as I believe Miami will win them both. A 9-3 regular season is nothing to sigh at after the dark inevitability of the post 2002 Coker days. Miami can finish this “rebuilding” year with a 10-3 record, bowl game win against a BCS opponent, and feel fantastic going into 2010.

All I want for Christmas?

14-24 for 146 yards, 1 TD, zero picks.

Please recruit the next Craig Krenzel. That is all.

What you’re looking at, is where I will be with the missus this weekend. Kenan Stadium, widely considered to be the most beautiful on-campus stadium in the country, hosts the Hurricanes and yours truly Saturday afternoon. Thus, I will not be throwing up a regular preview this week. And so be it; they have gotten kind of stale for me lately. Hope all seven of you readers don’t mind.

I have never been to Chapel Hill, let alone a football game, so feel free to tell me in the comments where to go or where to meet up with you (and your free food and liquor) (what?!)). Lets all hope Butch has run out of his coaching “magic” after two straight years of beating an under-talented Miami team. One more step closer to 10 wins and a Gator Bowl stomping of Notre Dame.

Official Prediction: Anton has drunk dehydration headache by 3rd quarter. Also, Miami wins by two scores.

Is that you, Buck Ortega?

Miami is set to unveil their newest Nike jersey rape victim, this year at South Florida. At least they had the decency to match the normal away colors, instead of throwing out some whites at home like many do. I must say, I like these futuristic jerseys. After you get over the first 10 years of Oregon’s debacles, I have acquired a taste for Nike and their shenanigans. We all know my hard-on for white on white, so you should know this is right up my alley.

The 7th Floor gets the courtesy hit on this one. Along with Miami’s new duds, LSU, Va Tech, Texas, Ohio State, Missouri, Florida, TCU, FSU, and Oklahoma will all trot out some new unis. The funny thing is, Virginia Tech actually looks better than what they wear now.

I know this isn’t the Canes industry standard thought, but my favorite Nike incarnation is the 2004 jerseys with the backpack piping. It is the closest thing to a modernized version of the classic 80s unis of yesteryear. Debate and discuss.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas
2	Alabama
3	Florida
4	TCU	2
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State	1
7	Georgia Tech	2
8	Iowa	4
9	Houston	1
10	Pittsburgh	3
11	LSU
12	Oregon	4
13	Miami (Florida)	2
14	Utah
15	Southern Cal	1
16	Arizona	1
17	Ohio State	2
18	Oklahoma State
19	Wisconsin	1
20	South Florida	2
21	Penn State	9
22	Clemson
23	Virginia Tech	2
24	Boston College
25	Stanford
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Oklahoma (#21), Notre Dame (#23).

-TCU grabs the top non-media bias spot this week for the BCS title game. If Clemson keeps winning, I don’t see Cincinnati taking it back until a Pittsburgh win.

-Boise State is saved by the inevitable Oregon loss, but now the Ducks argument is replaced by Georgia Tech in two weeks.

-I think Iowa is horrible, and not top 10 material on face value. However, based on their resume they still belong.

-I can’t believe a Dave Wannstedt led team is in the top 10.

-LSU doesn’t drop after their Alabama loss, because this guy didn’t have them overrated the past five weeks like everyone else. I am still undecided if LSU sucks, because they lost their only two games while looking inept, or if they are just good enough to lose close to the top two SEC teams. What I do know is that, once again, the SEC is just as shitty top to bottom as every other conference. There is no way you convince me the #3-12 teams could unarguably beat the Big 12, ACC, Pac-10, etc. I’m so fucking sick of this SEC media bias.

-Penn State is like LSU, but way worse. If only they had one more loss, I could’ve dropped them out completely. There is not a worse two loss team in the country.

Virginia grad. Respect.

Virginia 3-5 (2-2) @ Miami 6-2 (3-2)

Land Shark Stadium

Miami Gardens, FL

Pretty crazy to think the season is already in it’s final month. Thanksgiving, by far the best holiday of the year, is right around the corner. And Miami’s make or break games for a great year three of the Shannon regime is in full effect. Miami needs a strong finish, minimum of 3-1 for November, for this season to be quantified as a great one. Being favored by two touchdowns against Virginia is not a bad start.

I see Miami coming out and dominating on offense, finally, against an inferior divisional opponent. They will jump out to an early lead, not unlike the Ga Tech game, and then the ridiculously depleted defense will create some more turnovers, and before half Miami is up 28 points. Virginia just isn’t that great to keep it close this year. Take a gander at a preview from a UVA fan over at From Old Virginia. I like his [null set].

If I have one worry this week, it is this will be Miami’s first noon game. Normally Miami would’ve broken this cherry against FAMU, but those money grubbers at Land Shark no doubt put the kibosh on that. Not that I’d be complaining if I was a local. Noon games prior to November are atrocious. You end up sweating out twice the amount of alcohol you put in. Very uneconomical.

Official Prediction: Miami 44, Virginia 17