College Football

Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/18-19

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All times PDT.

Saturday
9:30-1 PM: College football, #23 Vanderbilt @ Georgia (Raycom Sports, available free online from Yahoo Sports). When you think about it, the SEC’s new deal isn’t much different from their old one. They even have Arkansas-Kentucky on ESPNU this week. Except their syndicator is ESPN Plus now, so it’s not even available to everyone online. So they’re still screwing themselves out of a good third place game getting national exposure. Maybe ESPNU will become less of the ACC Network, I don’t know.

12:30-3 PM: College football, #17 Kansas @ Oklahoma (ABC, not available in most markets). I’d say the Big 12 gets screwed by never getting reverse mirrored on ESPN with the Big 10 game when the craptastic ACC does, but it does have Texas-Missou in primetime going to the whole country.

Alternately: 12:30-3 PM: College Football, Ohio State @ Michigan State (ABC or ESPN). I just realized that somehow, the Week 7 rankings aren’t on the web site as I thought. Either they got dropped from the backups in Freehostia’s ongoing transfer, or I just forgot them. Sure enough, Sandsday is missing a strip now so it’s the former. You might have wanted to make your last backup after shutting off the file manager, guys – unless you still have backups and you’re sadistically torturing me with the old copy because it’s fresh or something. (Man, how ill-timed is this whole voting sequence, with the cold last weekend and the backing-up this weekend?)

5-8:30 PM: MLB Baseball, Red Sox @ Rays (TBS). Well after that comeback I might actually watch and pay attention to this game. A damn shame it’s not on broadcast.

9-12 AM: Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC 89 (SpikeTV). Same on both coasts. I don’t think anyone other than diehards cares about the main event match.

Sunday
10-3 PM: NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing, TUMS QuikPak 500 (ABC). I’ve dropped a lot of NASCAR Chase for the Cup races, haven’t I?

5:15-8:30 PM: NFL Football, Broncos @ Patriots (NBC). Hey, remember when the Patriots had a half-decent quarterback for a couple of years?

Important notice regarding both Morgan Wick Sports and Sandsday

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Freehostia’s servers are moving to a new data center in the name of better performance, which means I can’t make any changes to the web site in the meantime. I never did get around to updating the lineal titles; the Princeton-Yale title is now Oklahoma State’s after their upset defeat of Missouri (potentially torturing Texas by delaying their shot a week), the 2008 BCS title is now in the hands of Florida, and the NFL lineal title is in the hands of the upset-scoring Cleveland Browns. Hopefully this won’t affect the release of next week’s rankings.

Obviously this also means for the remainder of the week, you’ll need to hit up Da Blog to catch the latest strips.

College Football Schedule: Week 8

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All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
Missouri @ Texas 8 PM ABC
Michigan @ Penn State 4:30 ESPN
USC @ Washington State 3:15 FSN
#17 Kansas @ Oklahoma 3:30 ABC
Mississippi @ *Alabama 3:30 CBS
Baylor @ *Oklahoma State 3 PM
Texas Tech @ Texas A&M Noon FSN
Ohio State @ Michigan State 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
UTEP @ #12 Tulsa 8 PM CBS CS
#23 Vanderbilt @ Georgia 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
#14 BYU @ TCU 8 PM TH VS.
Colorado State @ #15 *Utah 2 PM mtn.
Hawaii @ #16 Boise State 8 PM FR ESPN
#18 Georgia Tech @ Clemson Noon ESPN
#19 North Carolina @ Virginia 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
Wisconsin @ #20 Iowa Noon BTN
#21 Wake Forest @ Maryland Noon Raycom
#22 Nebraska @ Iowa State 12:30 VS.
Arkansas @ #25 Kentucky 7 PM ESPNU
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
California @ Arizona 7 PT FSN
Syracuse @ South Florida Noon ESPN+
Virginia Tech @ Boston College 8 PM ESPN2
LSU @ South Carolina 8 PM ESPN
Pittsburgh @ Navy 3:30 CBS CS
Florida State @ NC State 7:30 TH ESPN
Connecticut @ Rutgers Noon ESPNU
Oregon State @ Washington 7 PM VS.
Toledo @ Northern Illinois 4 PM CSN/Gameplan
This Week’s Other HD Games
Purdue @ Northwestern Noon ESPN2
Miami (FL) @ Duke 3:30 ESPNU
Stanford @ UCLA 4 PM FSN/FCS
Indiana @ Illinois 8 PM BTN
Big 12
Kansas State @ Colorado 7 PM FSN
SEC
Mississippi State @ Tennessee 7 PM Gameplan
Mountain West
San Diego State @ New Mexico 6 PM mtn.
Air Force @ UNLV 7 PT mtn.
MAC
Miami (OH) @ Bowling Green Noon ESPN+
Western Michigan @ Central Michigan Noon ESPN+
Akron @ Eastern Michigan 1 PM CSD.TV
Conference USA
Memphis @ East Carolina Noon CSS
Southern Miss @ Rice 3 PM CBSCS XXL
Houston @ SMU 8 PM CBSCS XXL
WAC
Utah State @ Nevada 4 PM Gameplan
Idaho @ Louisiana Tech 7 PM ESPN+
Sun Belt
Florida International @ Troy 7 PM ESPN+
Arkansas State @ Louisiana-Lafayette 7 PM CSD.TV
North Texas @ Louisiana-Monroe 7 PM CSD.TV
Florida Atlantic @ Western Kentucky 7 PM CSD.TV
San Jose State @ New Mexico State 8 PM Gameplan
Bowl Subdivision
Middle Tenn. St. @ Louisville 3:30 Gameplan
Army @ Buffalo 3:30 CSD.TV
Marshall @ UAB 4 PM CBSCS XXL

Quick college football ranking note

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The new rankings are up, and links should be fixed to the Week 6 full rankings, but there won’t be an RTF of the full rankings for this week until I post tomorrow’s strip. I should also have a couple more logos up by tomorrow, including TCU’s.

I may have a more substantive post later today turning back to politics and/or global warming/mass transit… or I may not. Coming down with something over the weekend has really played havoc with my plans and I’m still recovering.

College Football Schedule: Week 7

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Let’s launch right into the games. All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
Texas v. Oklahoma Noon ABC
Oklahoma State @ *Missouri 8 PM ESPN2
Penn State @ Wisconsin 8 PM ESPN
Arizona State @ USC 3:30 ABC
#19 Nebraska @ Texas Tech 3 PM FSN
Tulsa @ SMU 8 PM CBSCS XXL
*LSU @ Florida 8 PM CBS
Ball State @ Western Kentucky 7 PM CSD.TV
New Mexico @ #12 BYU 6 PM mtn.
Tennessee @ Georgia 3:30 CBS
#14 *Utah @ Wyoming 2 PM mtn.
Notre Dame @ #15 North Carolina 3:30 ABC/ESPN
South Carolina @ #16 Kentucky 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
#17 Michigan State @ #25 Northwestern 3:30 ESPN2
Gardner-Webb @ #18 Georgia Tech 3:30
#20 Vanderbilt @ Mississippi State 2:30 Gameplan
Colorado @ #21 Kansas 12:30 ESPN2
#22 Boise State @ Southern Miss 8 PM CBS CS
#23 TCU @ Colorado State 3:30 CBS CS
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
Clemson @ Wake Forest 7:30 TH ESPN
Rutgers @ Cincinnati Noon ESPN+
Iowa @ Indiana Noon BTN
Minnesota @ Illinois Noon ESPN
Arkansas @ Auburn 5 PM Gameplan
Purdue @ Ohio State 3:30 ABC/ESPN
Arizona @ Stanford 5 PM
This Week’s Other HD Games
Troy @ Florida Atlantic 8 PM TU ESPN2
Louisville @ Memphis 8 PM FR ESPN
Toledo @ Michigan Noon BTN
East Carolina @ Virginia Noon Raycom
Syracuse @ West Virginia Noon ESPNU
Central Florida @ Miami (FL) 3:45 ESPNU
Utah State @ San Jose State 7:30 ESPNU
UCLA @ Oregon 7 PT FSN
Big 12
Kansas State @ Texas A&M 2 PM
Iowa State @ Baylor 7 PM FCS
Mountain West
Air Force @ San Diego State 9:30 mtn.
MAC
Ohio @ Kent State 2 PM FSN Ohio
Western Michigan @ Buffalo 3:30 CSD.TV
Miami (OH) @ Northern Illinois 4 PM Gameplan
Temple @ Central Michigan 4 PM CSD.TV
Bowling Green @ Akron 6 PM
Pac-10
Washington State @ Oregon State 6:30 FSN NW
Conference USA
UAB @ Houston 8 PM TH CBS CS
Tulane @ UTEP 9 PM CBSCS XXL
WAC
New Mexico State @ Nevada 4 PM Gameplan
Idaho @ Fresno State 7 PT Gameplan
Louisiana Tech @ Hawaii 9 PT PPV
Sun Belt
Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas State 7 PM ESPN+
Middle Tenn. St. @ Florida International 7 PM
Louisiana-Lafayette @ North Texas 7 PM CSD.TV
Bowl Subdivision
Eastern Michigan @ Army 1 PM ESPN Classic

Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/4-5

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All times PDT.

Saturday
9-12:30 PM: College Football, Iowa @ #17 Michigan State (ESPN2). Wait, my new “mid-major lineal title” just got created, and all my thoughts were on whether Oregon State had done enough to crack positive B Points next week! (It will depend a LOT on SoS… but why do I keep reading, like from ESPN.com blogger Ted Miller, “what if the Penn State game was the fluke”? Penn State’s in my top 5! Didn’t the Beavers lose to Stanford as well? Win that game, and their B Rating is probably over 1 even without a better performance against JoePa! And that’s the only thing this entry has to do with the entire Big Ten.)

12:30-4 PM: College Football, Kentucky @ defending 2004 Auburn-Utah titleholder Alabama (CBS). Nick Saban is 1-0 this season in games against teams in my C Ratings with the Auburn-Utah title at stake.

6-9:30 PM: College Football, defending Princeton-Yale title holder Missouri @ Nebraska (ESPN). Preceded at 3 PM by Auburn-Vanderbilt, so games REALLY got crammed on ESPN today. Blame the Breeder’s Cup, but seriously, this seems like a natural opening for one more college football contract. But the SEC just re-upped and the Big 12 signed last year.
Sunday
10-1 PM: NFL Football, regional action (CBS and/or FOX). The WNBA Finals, below, cleared out space for NFL Football to not be restricted to SNF.

1:30-4 PM: WNBA Finals, Silver Stars @ Shock (ESPN2). Man, the WNBA Finals can’t even get an ABC slot on a weekend now? Blame NASCAR, running from 11-3 today with the AMP Energy 500. In other news, even women’s basketball players think the WNBA stinks. I really wish supporters of women’s equality in sports would put more chips on other sports like golf or softball. Basketball is either boring or incomprehensible no matter who plays it.

4-7:30 PM: MLB Baseball, Angels @ Red Sox (TBS) and 7-10 PM: MLB Baseball, Cubs @ Dodgers (TBS). I suspect some game time changes may occur if the Phillies-Brewers series ends early. Hey, by getting football out of the way earlier in the day we could fit baseball in here (SNF is 5:15-8:30) and have a whole day of college football! Thanks, WNBA, for bumping out the Chase for the Cup! (Baseball would have bumped out a primetime game, not an afternoon game as in past weeks.)

College Football Schedule: Week 6

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This post has nothing to do with politics. The rankings are based on my own college football ranking formula. I worked on this before most of the games of the weekend were completed, and only started moving stuff around once all the games were over. All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
Kentucky @ *Alabama 3:30 CBS
Oklahoma @ Baylor 12:30 FSN
Texas @ Colorado 8 PM FSN
*Missouri @ Nebraska 9 PM ESPN
Penn State @ Purdue Noon ESPN
*Oregon State @ Utah 9 PM TH VS.
Texas A&M @ Oklahoma State 7 PM
Ball State @ Toledo 7 PM CSD.TV
Auburn @ #12 Vanderbilt 6 PM ESPN
Oregon @ USC 8 PM ABC
Ohio State @ #14 Wisconsin 8 PM ABC
#15 Florida @ Arkansas 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
#16 Kansas @ Iowa State 12:30 VS.
Iowa @ #17 Michigan State Noon ESPN2
#18 BYU @ Utah State 8 PM FR BYUTV/KJZZ
#19 Texas Tech @ Kansas State 3:30 ABC
Pittsburgh @ #20 South Florida 7:30 TH ESPN
Rice @ #21 Tulsa 8 PM CBS CS
San Diego State @ #22 TCU 6 PM mtn.
Arizona State @ California 3:30 ABC
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
Connecticut @ North Carolina 7 PM ESPN2
Louisiana Tech @ Boise State 8 PM WE ESPN
Indiana @ Minnesota Noon BTN
Duke @ Georgia Tech Noon ESPNU
Western Kentucky @ Virginia Tech 1:30 CBSCS XXL
Stanford @ Notre Dame 2:30 NBC
South Carolina @ Mississippi 3:30 Gameplan
Florida State @ Miami (FL) 3:30 ABC
Boston College @ NC State Noon Raycom
Navy @ Air Force 4 PM VS.
Washington @ Arizona 7:30 VS.
Hawaii @ Fresno State 7 PT Gameplan
Northern Illinois @ Tennessee 7 PM Gameplan
This Week’s Other HD Games
Florida Atlantic @ Middle Tenn. St. 8 PM TU ESPN2
Cincinnati @ Marshall 8 PM FR ESPN
Maryland @ Virginia 7 PM ESPNU
Washington State @ UCLA 7 PT FSN/FCS
Big Ten
Illinois @ Michigan 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
Big East
Rutgers @ West Virginia Noon ESPN+
Mountain West
UNLV @ Colorado State 2 PM mtn.
Wyoming @ New Mexico 9:30 mtn.
MAC
Akron @ Kent State Noon ESPN+
Ohio @ Western Michigan 2 PM CSD.TV
Temple @ Miami (OH) 3:30 Gameplan
Eastern Michigan @ Bowling Green 4 PM CSD.TV
Conference USA
Memphis @ UAB 8 PM TH CBS CS
SMU @ Central Florida 3:30 CBS CS
UTEP @ Southern Miss 7 PM CBSCS XXL
WAC
Alcorn State @ New Mexico State 1:30
Nevada @ Idaho 5 PM CSD.TV
Sun Belt
Florida International @ North Texas 7 PM ESPN+
Louisiana-Lafayette @ Louisiana-Monroe 7 PM CSD.TV
Bowl Subdivision
Army @ Tulane 3 PM CST

Five weeks in the books in college football…

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If you had Week 4 in your “First Lineal Title Change” pool, collect your prize! If you had Week 4 in your “First Lineal Title Held By A Team That’s Not Unbeaten” pool, collect your prize! If you had both… you obviously saw the Oregon State upset of USC coming (or you saw Mississippi State beating LSU, or you had Alabama losing by now).

It’s funny… before Georgia beat Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl to unify it with the Auburn Title, the 2004 Utah Title was, in a way, the “mid-major” title. Now, if Utah beats the Beavers this week, the 2007 Boise State title, another title created by a mid-major BCS buster, could serve the same role – only going through Washington, Ohio State, Illinois, USC, and Oregon State first. As for Bama, although this means the Auburn-Utah and BCS titles are now both held in the same division, it’s a long road to unification – LSU must beat Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tulane (two of those teams are ranked), while Bama must face Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Arkansas State (one of those teams is ranked and another is in positive B Points). It would actually have been a shorter road if Georgia had won, as Georgia would have had to face only Tennessee and Vandy, but Vandy is still ranked. Bama really runs the risk of losing to Kentucky this week, and if that were to happen we’d need another loss or a Kentucky-LSU title game for unification before the bowls, but the game is at home and Bama can handle the pressure.

Lineal title updates and the new C Ratings, including stylesheet changes and most logos, are now up (or should be up by the time 45 minutes have passed from the timestamp on this post). No logos past R for now, and UConn will have to wait for the Us. Many of the changes are a result of the ratings being more volatile early in the season.

I think I figured out why I couldn’t load more than two files at a time in Freehostia’s new file manager: it only opens up a new line if you put something new in the first line, not any later lines. So if I change the file in the first line, I get a new line, but not if I put something in the line I would normally put it in. Which sucks.