1. It sucks to be Texas Tech. With one lousy performance they cost their school a shot at a national championship and probably a Heisman, and instead of a huge bowl in front of a massive national audience they will be stuck in something like the Cotton Bowl that no one really cares about. I don’t feel nearly as bad for them, though, as I do for those, like me, who thought that this team was for real. The Big 12 is now officially a confusing mess.
2. I am thrilled for the University at Bufalo. They are going to be heading to their first ever bowl game, and they stand a good chance of making their conference championship game, too. If you have been reading this site for a while then you may remember I went to their first game of the year against UTEP. I was impressed by what coach Turner Gill was doing then, and that certainly hasn’t changed since. This guy is destined for a bigger job, likely as soon as this year, and he will be a star.
3. Charlie Weis has, once and for all, proven his utter incompetence. His loss at home to Syracuse is totally unforgivable, but especally since he spent the entire press conference leading up to the game cracking jokes and making fun of reporters and sounding like he was the king of the world. The Irish need to cut him loose, and I don’t care what it costs them. The guy clearly has no ability to manage a team, and they need to get rid of him before he irreparably harms the recruiting efforts of the school. After two bad choices in a row, the school needs to make a safe, hard working, proven choice who can roll up his sleeves and fix the attitude of the place. Like Turner Gill, for example.
4. The ACC is a joke. There were three ranked teams coming into this weekend – UNC, Miami and Maryland. All three were blown out – the closest margin was 18 points. Now all three teams are out of the rankings and three more are in. This conference does not deserve their BCS bid this year.
5. Florida should be ashamed of themselves, and punished in the polls, for scheduling a patsy like The Citadel this late in the season. Playing a team like that in September is bad enough, but mildly forgivable as a pseudo-exhibition game to get ready for the season. There is no excuse for it now, though, other than the athletic department really only felt like playing an 11 game schedule while getting paid for 12. Pathetic.
6. The AFC West should just collectively fold. That’s the only way for that pathetic group to salvage any pride.
7. This Donovan McNabb story is big after he got benched, but it shouldn’t really come as news to anyone who is paying attention. When was the last time that the guy’s play measured up to his repuation? Two years? Three? Four? The best possible thing for him and the Eagles would be for him to find a new address. He’d be an excellent consolation prize for whichever team loses out in the inevitable and sure to be ridiculous Matt Cassel derby.
8. The over was 10-4-1 this weekend in the NFL. Are defenses getting tired after a long season, or just an anomaly?
9. Baltimore benefited from the aforementioned McNabb debacle, but they sure looked good. They have been playing very well, and are in a three way tie for the AFC wild card. I am concerned, though, about how long they have to play without a real bye week. Especially since Joe Flacco is almost certain to hit a wall at some point since this season is much longer than he is used to.
10. My gut sense is that the AFC is much better than the NFC this year. I was surprised then, to discover that more NFC teams have winning records against the AFC than vice versa – six versus five. Overall, the NFC is 23-19 against the AFC
