by Wally
As far as college football is concerned, this will be a pretty casual weekend indeed. In Div 1A, only the annual and very bitter Army-Navy rivalry is there to stir our imaginations. HOWEVER, there are also “real playoff games” in the other divisions and a nice slate of matchups in college hoops. Here’s a look ahead:
— Army vs Navy (Philadelphia): Gotta go with the Midshipmen here. They’ve had a bit of an inconsistent season (for them) but they soundly whipped Notre Dame, while the Irish did the same to Army. Regardless, seeing the passion these academy guys play with is truly special and this particular game is really why they play. Navy 31 Army 17.
Division 1AA Quarterfinals: Villanova vs App State, Georgia Southern vs Wofford, New Hampshire vs Delaware, N. Dakota State vs Eastern Washington
Division II Semifinals
— Shepherd vs Delta State; Northwest Missouri State vs Minnesota-Duluth
Div III Semifinals:
— Bethel (MN) vs Mount Union; Wisconsin Whitewater vs Wesley
Feel free to comment on any of these games. I see a few familair schools in the mix again … they seem to always be in the playoffs: Nova, Appalacian State, NW Mizzou, Mount Union and Wisc-Whitewater. AT LEAST THEY HAVE PLAYOFFS AND SETTLE IT ON THE FIELD!!!
Some high profile college hoops games:
— Congrats to Temple on a nice win at home vs Georgetown last night. But storm the court??? C’MON, MAN!
— #13 Tennessee at #3 Pitt: Panthers are tough and they’re REAL tough at home. Pitt by 8.
— Indiana at #16 Kentucky: Wildcats coming off a nice win vs ND while Hoosiers are 7-1 and just getting into a tough part of their schedule. These two schools don’t like eachother … bit of a cross-sectional rivalry here in Hoopsville, USA. Two proud traditions only about 180 miles apart. Go with the Cats at home. KY by 14.
— #19 UNLV at Louisville: The Cardinals are undefeated and will remain that way. Freedom Hall is a terrific advantage. Loo’ville by 5.
— #22 Washington at Texas A&M: Pretty good Aggies team (8-1) battling for respect. (Wally and fam may be in attendance if highschool tournament games are over in time). I’m just gonna go with the home team … they’ve been playing a bit sloppy lately but they should regain some focus with the Huskies in town. Aggies by 3 in a see-saw battle.
— Gonzaga at #23 Notre Dame: The Zags are 4-4 but have played a tough schedule early on. The Irish received their 1st loss of the season Wed at Kentucky. Catholic school battle … not sure if they’ve ever played before. Irish are tough at home, but will the students be there or studying for finals??? Mike Brey’s squad really needs to win this one or they’ll have “Pretender” written all over them. This appears to be the year to beat the Zags and you have them on your homecourt with a verteran team. Get ‘er done, Brey! Irish by 5.
Please feel free to comment on the upcoming college games. Hope y’all have a great weekend.
The Zags are the kind of game Brey is destined to lose. Didn’t Bethel just place both their men’s and women’s soccer teams in the NCAA finals?
Messiah, not Bethel. And they lost both.
Is anyone else appreciating the irony of the Heisman Ceremony airing at 8pm on ESPN to be followed by the 30 for 30 episode on SMU’s scandal in the 1980s? Go Auburn!
And yes it is necessary for Temple to storm the court after an upset of the ninth ranked team. The student body there only attends games in which a top-25 team is being played or one of the Big 5.
Hahaha – I had not considered the significance of Pony Excess following $Cam Newton’s party.
Ummm Cam — you might want to avoid mentioning that your parents do a lot behind the scenes.. That has been the problem dude!!
The greatest quote in the history of sports:
Cam Newton after winning the Heisman: “My parents do a lot of things behind the scenes that go unnoticed.” This is verbatim because I kept rewinding it to make sure he actually said it. No, Cam, people have noticed.
SMITTY BEAT ME TO IT! Hahaha.
Lol.. Rey, I am glad to see I wasn’t the only one who picked up on that! 🙂
Wally nails the Army-Navy score!
Hahahaha – did anyone catch Newton’s interview on ESPN? When asked about his possible wrongdoings he responded: “I’m not here to talk about the past.” Where have I heard that before?
Helmet stickers to Rey and Smitty for crossing the streams. 🙂
It seems that Mark McGwire’s influence has carried over to college football and Heisman speeches.
A Helmet Sticker?
In the spirit of Cam’s speech – I would like to thank God for giving me these fingers to type these words. I would like to thank my parents who have done so much behind the scenes. I would also like to thank Toshiba for this laptop because without this laptop – I wouldn’t be able to comment on Cam’s speech…
🙂
Pete —
I missed the Pitt game pretty bad … wow, Tennesee won big. But I think I think I was pretty accurate on all the other predictions. Did you go to the ND-Gonzaga game like you hinted at a few weeks ago?
Since I dislike both Florida and Texas, I really like the hiring of Texas Def Coord Will Muschamp to replace Urban Liar at Florida. I think it will weaken both football programs. Hooray!
No ND Zags for me. I am in SD to hear my 4 year old grandson perform his first-ever violin recital. As good as it gets!
Sad day for Temple athletics. Looks like Al Golden is going to accept the Miami job.
https://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5912786
He’s been fighting temptations the past couple of seasons and I gues you can only say ‘no’ for so long. He deserves this shot as he turned around the laughing stock of college football in just a few seasons. TRavesty they did not get invited to a bowl this year. Hopefully Temple, who are trying their best to get a stadium built somwhere in North Philly, can replace Golden with someone as hungry as he. I’ll probably follow Miami as closely as anyone now.