BustedPlay

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I don’t pretend to know what bowls feature what conferences — outside of the Rose Bowl and the Peach, which are pretty obvious — so I won’t even attempt to claim some of these bowl projections as my bowl projections. These are the predictions that CBS Sportsline has put out, and I find that CBS is often more accurate than ESPN. To read all of their bowl projections, go here; I’m going to just highlight some of the good ones that I noticed.

-Emerald Bowl, Dec. 28: Georgia Tech vs. Cal

  • Most across the nation won’t find this to be too spectacular a game to watch, but I’m a Tech fan, so I couldn’t leave it off the list. And if I’m lucky, Chan Gailey won’t be coaching it.

-Independence Bowl, Dec. 30: Colorado vs. Alabama

  • If Saban loses this one, shit may officially hit the fan in Tuscaloosa. They were so snotty and snide about hiring Nick Saban, and were sure that he’s the best coach in the entire nation, but after three straight losses, the wheels appear to be falling off.

-Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, Dec. 31: Auburn vs. Clemson

  • This one appears to be set in stone, but it’s not quite official yet. Auburn has a pretty good run defense, but had a hard time containing KnowShaun Moreno, which might make it very difficult on them trying to contain James Davis and CJ Spiller, who, to me, is arguably the fastest player in college football. ACC/SEC games are always fun to watch, though, as VT and UGA proved last year.

-Capital One, Jan. 1: Illinois vs. Florida

  • If there’s one team Florida doesn’t want to play, it’s Illionis. It’s not that they can’t beat Illinois — because they most certainly can — it’s that they don’t want to play a team that’s good who’s coached by Ron Zook. FireRonZook.com was a pretty big hit during his days as a Gator, and what more humiliating way to end a season than by losing to the guy that you ran out of town who took over a formerly cruddy program? Oh, and this game may also feature this year’s Heisman winner (Tim Tebow), and next year’s Heisman winner (Juice Williams)

-Outback, Jan 1: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin

  • Last year’s game between these two was solid, and based on Tennessee’s inability to stop anybody on the road, you’d have to think it’d be a fun shoot-out to watch this year, as well.

-Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Ohio State vs. USC

  • USC hasn’t really been itself this year, and Ohio State, to me, has been vastly overrated. I guess this will give full closure. I hate the Trojans, but I’ll be rooting for them; Ohio State has been the most overrated team for the last two years.

-Orange Bowl, Jan. 3: VT vs. Georgia

  • Last year’s Peach Bowl game was great to watch, and it was spiced up even more back in August when VT accused UGA of spying on them during practice. Georgia has a great running offense, and VT has a great running defense. Read earlier what I said about SEC/ACC games — they’re very fun to watch.

-National Championship Game, Jan. 7: Mizzou vs. West Virginia

  • West Virginia was the team I called at the beginning of the year, and throughout the season I’ve thought they were the best team. Their defense isn’t the best thing since sliced bread, but that offense quite possibly is. Mizzou looked great against Kansas, but no one really knew how good or bad Kansas was. We all know how good West Virginia is. It’ll be fun, but Pat White and Steve Slaton will be holding the trophy up later on that night.

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Okay. I’ve posted on this a lot, which means I shouldn’t go over it much more, but recapping can never be done too much. Last week I went 2-2. This week? I’m switching up my style a little, have a couple of twists, and am expecting to be rolling in the dough somewhere around 9:00 Saturday night (only to start rolling in it again Sunday night, but those NFL picks will wait until tomorrow).

Anyway, in case you didn’t notice, last week had a few “misprints.” I didn’t pick an FSU team that can’t block, and I definitely didn’t pick a Tennessee team that can’t tackle. This week is free of any possible misprints that my editor may let sneak through. On we go.

--Teaser
Miami (+21) @ Oklahoma
South Florida @ Auburn (+3)
Kent @ Kentucky (-2.5)

It’s a teaser, which is one of those bets that always looks good until the games actually play themselves out. That said, I feel this one is pretty solid: I can’t see a Miami defense losing to an Oklahoma offense (without AP, mind you) by more than 21 points; Auburn looked shaky against Kansas State, sure, but at home, against South Florida, as a two point underdog? That’s money in the bank. As for Kentucky and Kent, well, it seems like a sure bet to me. Andre Woodson is one of the best players in the nation, and as hard as it is for me to bet on a Kentucky football team that doesn’t feature Tim Couch (pre-NFL-deadbeat days, obviously), it’s something I’ve got to jump on. This teaser’s a lock. Trust me.

-Straight up

-Virginia Tech (+14) @ LSU

LSU beat Mississippi State by 45. VT beat Eastern Carolina by a much slimmer margin than they were supposed to. But Matt Flynn only had 123 yards passing against Croom’s boys, and their top rusher boasted a measley 68 yards. This was against Mississippi State. Not against Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall. Sean Glennon’s as bad as they get, but VT can sit back on Brandon Ore and win a game. LSU can’t sit back on Jason Hester and Richard Murphy — Richard Murphy! — and expect to win much. Beamer knows special teams and defense. Matt Flynn’s gonna know this isn’t Mississippi State anymore. They probably won’t win, but take VT and the touchdowns.

-Troy @ Florida (-25)

Hey, it’s Troy. And better yet, it’s Florida. I don’t give a damn that Tebow’s new. Percy, Percy, Percy. Gators cover.

-Bowling Green @ Michigan State (-17)

Michigan State is that team that comes out of the gates hot and then really tanks. Thankfully, we’re in luck: It’s week two, where MSU does its best impersonation of USC. It won’t be like last week (my God, was that game ever really in question?), but MSU rolls, covers the 17.

Yo, Kid, You Want Three-Hundred Grand?

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Reggie Bush probably wasn’t very motivated to attend class his junior year at Southern Cal, partly because he was a year away from making his splash in the NFL, and partly because he was given $280,000, according to a report from Yahoo! Sports. If anyone’s really shocked at this, then, well, you haven’t paid much attention to college athletes, who come from broken homes and poor families, yet still drive Cadillacs on 24’s, blasting “Fitty” Cent over their $4,000 system, while watching Season One of the Chapelle Show on one of their eight TV screens, located on the head rests, visors and dashboard.

The existence of taped conversations between Reggie Bush or members of his family and an investor in a failed sports marketing agency could confirm the New Orleans Saints running back received cash and gifts while playing for Southern California, Yahoo.com reported Wednesday.

If Bush is found to have violated NCAA rules, USC, which won a national title in ‘04 and played for the ‘05 championship, could be sanctioned.

Also, the Heisman Trophy Trust requires players be in good standing with the NCAA to be eligible for the award given to college football’s top player. If Bush is ruled ineligible by the NCAA, he could be in danger of having his Heisman taken away.

Ouch. What punishments. No wonder college athletes accept money. They know they can away with it long enough to where it won’t affect them once they’re pro. If his only punishment is getting a trophy taken away that he probably lost in a box labeled “miscellaneous” while moving to New Orleans, or “stripping them” of their national title, then what do you expect him to do? Hmmmm. . . Two-hundred and eighty large, or a pointless trophy and national title that mean nothing now?

I don’t like Reggie, but he’s not an idiot. And he played at Southern Cal. He just wanted to blend in with all the other rich kids. I mean, you don’t really think Matt Leinart came from a impoverished family, do ya?

My question is this: If they strip USC of their title, who’s the national champ? College football would be making a mockery of itself if it had that Oklahoma team in its laurels. And I just refuse on thinking Tommy Tubberville should get it, even if his team was undefeated.

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