Football

It happens every year: after guiding a team through a successful season, a coach leaves the team before the bowl game. Suddenly, everything that the team had worked for all year is up in the air as the coach is thinking about his new job, leaving the school to scramble for an interim coach to take over duties for the bowl game.

Many people are high on the Chiefs this year, we feel they are a year or 2 away. They have been loading up on good players, because they have drafted so high for years. San Diego has no more excuses.

The Jets and Rex Ryan are so full of hot air. Everybody has the Jets and Cowboys in the Superbowl this year. Neither will get there. People will never get it, that it’s not about individual talent

The Cardinals had their chance at a title last few years, now they must retool, not rebuild. Man hasn’t Matt Leinhart turned out to be a dud. They do have Derek Anderson however, who has the same “gun slinger”

Both of these teams played some pretty good ball at the end of last year. The Browns have a good coach and some good young players. Tampa drafted 2 great defensive tight ends to help an already good defense.

Tennessee played great at the end of last year after a terrible start. They have one of the best coaches in football, play good “D” and run the ball well. All recipes for winning football games.

Since Matt Millen left, the Lions have done some good things. The defense is better and Stafford will be a good quarterback

Last year Denver surprised everybody by going 6-0 to start the year. You have to give Daniels credit; he is doing everything his way, right or wrong. They gave away their best receiver

Whenever you play a teaser there is always one game that you worry about more than the others. This is it. Miami is obviously a better team than Buffalo

Very interesting game. The Packers have looked better then anyone in the pre-season, and drafted very well, filling every hole on the team. The Eagles finally let Mcnabb go, and had 13 draft choices

Part 2 of our teaser could also be used as a straight bet. Indianapolis has looked terrible in the pre season as usual, and the new umpire position is hurting Manning while Houston has looked great in pre season.

Pittsburgh has many question marks. How will the quarterback who is replacing “Big Ben” play to start the year. They lost their best receiver

Another thing you will remember from last year is we did well on our teasers. We love the Giants here, but 7 points is a lot. You could buy a half point

Everybody thought we were crazy when we picked the Bengals last year to win the division. They odds are shorter this year, but I’m a little more worried. Jordan Shipley will help at wide right

Now we are talking. This is a Frankie Special. National T.V., division rivals, one team is overrated the other underrated, and the dog is getting more

USC had a puzzling game in Week 1 against Hawaii. On one hand, head coach Lane Kiffin may have accomplished his mission, racking up 49 points against a defenseless Warriors team

Though they sputtered out to a slow start in Week 1, the Razorbacks eventually handled Tennessee Tech, 44-3 after scoring all 44 points in the second and third quarters

TCU’s 30-21 win over Oregon State does not entirely tell the story of the battle between those two teams. The Horned Frogs outplayed Oregon State in almost every aspect of the game

Oregon and Tennessee combined to outscore their opponents 122-0 in Week 1, with Oregon beating New Mexico and Tennessee topping Tennessee Martin.

Heading into halftime of LSU’s season opener against North Carolina, the Tigers led 30-10 and had completely thrown the Tar Heels off their game plan.

Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s first start for the Longhorns was less than inspiring. Gilbert, the heir to the prestigious Texas quarterback lineage, finished 14 for 23 for 172 yards and no

The marquee game of Week 2, Penn State travels to Alabama where both teams won their first games by at least 30 points. Penn State’s only concern is at running back

Perhaps no two teams looked better in Week 1 than Miami and Ohio State. Both were led by quarterbacks who had outstanding games against truly inferior opponents.

Virginia Tech suffered a bitter loss at Fed Ex Field in Washington DC in Week 1, falling victim to Boise State in a last minute loss. The Hokies’ running game

Pittsburgh had its heart ripped out in Week 1 in an overtime loss to Utah, and quarterback Tino Sunseri may have taken it personally. He certainly should have

Nebraska’s 49-10 win over Western Kentucky showed America almost nothing to take away from the game. Though the Cornhuskers ran for six touchdowns among four players and nearly doubled the Hilltoppers in offensive yardage

As strange as it is to watch a Florida game without seeing Tim Tebow starting at quarterback, the Gators must close the chapter on the Tebow era and start to get used to new quarterback John Brantley

Few teams looked less impressive in the first game of the season than Kansas, who lost an embarrassing home game against FCS North Dakota State, 6-3. Kansas quarterbacks threw for fewer

Georgia beat Louisiana Lafayette 55-7, holding the Ragin’ Cajuns to 128 yards of offense and forcing 10 punts and three interceptions. One would think the top 25 Bulldogs would be favored over South Carolina

Few low major FBS teams play a tougher first two weeks than San Jose State, who comes off a road loss to Alabama and now plays another Top 15 team on the road. Wisconsin returns home for its home opener

Iowa State rarely fields a competitive team and almost always seems to find itself at the bottom of the standings in the Big 12. Iowa has had a recent revival and appears one of the front runners for a Big 10 championship and a BCS bowl game.

After a disappointing opener performance against Utah State, fans in Norman, Oklahoma have started to worry that the Sooners are in a slump. Florida State fans are excited about head coach Jimbo Fisher’s first game leading the Seminoles

With four fumbles, eight punts and an interception in a 45-7 loss to Ohio State, Marshall is not a team that West Virginia will be pencilling in as a loss. The Thundering Herd could barely get out of its own way

Auburn beat Arkansas State 52-26 in Week 1, which would potentially be a bad omen for the Tigers, especially because Mississippi State crushed Memphis 49-7 and would have shut out the Tigers out if not for a garbage time late touchdown.

Welcome back guys. We are going to have a great year this year. We are going to start with the traditional opening night game featuring last year’s champ the Saints.

The “must watch” game of Week 1 in the college football season will be taking place in the nation’s capital, when Virginia Tech and Boise State square off at 8 PM. The Broncos return significantly more starters – 10 on offense and nine on defense – than Virginia Tech’s 13 returners

Houston may not be used to being ranked, but the Cougars deserve to be there after last year’s 10-win season. Star quarterback Case Keenum returns, as well as the majority of his offense and seven starters on defense

If there was ever a year for North Carolina to put itself back on the map, it would be this year. Coming off a successful 8-5 campaign, the Tar Heels return 19 of 21 starters, including defensive standouts Marvin Austin

Few teams in the country return more experience on one side of the ball than Florida State, which brings back every offensive starter.

Cincinnati had one of its best years ever last season, culminating with a 12-1 record and a Sugar Bowl berth. Though the Bearcats return 13 starters, the biggest missing name from last year’s stat lines is quarterback Tony Pike, who is now in the NFL.

The only reason to watch Arkansas pummel Tennessee Tech is to see Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Ryan Mallett, a junior who threw for 3,624 yards and 30 touchdowns

Every few years, Penn State gets a crack at its next door neighbors in Ohio by taking out some early season aggression on lowly Youngstown State. While YSU never puts up much of a fight

Nebraska returns 17 starters, but most noticeably missing is defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was the second overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft. The Cornhuskers won’t worry much about a Western Kentucky team that was 0-12 last year

If Florida was playing intrastate foe Miami (FL), this would be a fantastic Week 1 game. As it is, the Gators are playing a much less intimidating Miami squad – the RedHawks from Ohio, who finished 1-11 last year.

Last year was uncharacteristic for Oklahoma, which finished a disappointing 8-5. Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford returned for a shot at the national championship

Unlike the typical Week 1 match up, Wisconsin will be facing a bit of a challenge when it travels to Las Vegas to play a pesky UNLV team that finished 5-7

While New Mexico coach Mike Locksley continues to make headlines by bringing in high profile transfers – athlete Lamaar Thomas from Ohio State and wide receiver Deon Long from West Virginia, among others – he has yet to actually be successful as a head coach

TCU versus Oregon State is another case similar to Boise State, where a team has been criticized in the past for not playing a tough enough schedule to merit a BCS bowl game or an opportunity to play for the national championship. This year, TCU is challenging itself, playing a Top 25 team

Few teams had a better first nine weeks of the season last year than Iowa, who came out of the gates with a 9-0 record and found itself in the national championship game discussion.

Despite being a road game for Texas, roughly 85 percent of the crowd in Houston at Rice University will be wearing burnt orange. A reasonable three hour drive from Austin, Longhorns fans will pack the stadium to the point where the only reminder that it the game is not being held in Austin is the size of the stadium

One of the most intriguing match ups of the first week in college football, UConn travels to Michigan as a slight underdog, a feat that 10 years ago would have been unheard of. This is shaping up to be a potentially special year for UConn, as the Huskies return 17 starters, including junior running back Jordan Todman, who carried 235 times for 1,188 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore

Returning eight offensive starters from last year’s national championship team is good news for Alabama, and terrible news for San Jose State. The Spartans finished 2009 with a disappointing 2-10 record, but return 15 starters. Alabama’s running back duo of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram

This won’t be the USC team that you’re used to seeing. With former head coach Pete Carroll now calling the shots in Seattle for the NFL’s Seahawks and former

Miami gets its first chance to show the nation why it is an ACC championship contender when it plays Florida A&M in Week

Last year was a special one for Pittsburgh, who finished 10-3 with a bid in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Panthers return five starters, two of whom are the most important to the team’s success: running back Dion Lewis and wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin

Despite reaching its fifth consecutive BCS bowl game in 2009, last year’s 11-2 Ohio State team disappointed some who thought that it could have been a legitimate title contender. The Buckeyes return just about everybody on offense – 10 of 11 starters – including quarterback Terrelle Pryor

The best 2 teams made the Super Bowl. Two months ago this was the match up that everyone wanted, then people started to talk about San Diego, Dallas, Baltimore or whatever team played one good game. The same people that said that the Colts wouldn’t recover from resting Peyton Manning are the same ones that are saying the Colts can’t lose this week.

For sports fans, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best days of the year. For bettors, it can be not only entertaining, but profitable as well. This year’s Super Bowl predictably pitted the New Orleans Saints against the Indianapolis Colts. Through 14 weeks of the NFL season, these two teams combined for an unconscious 26-0 record, before both teams clinched home field advantage for the playoffs and rested their starters.

The Saints started to play like they did earlier in the year last week, and the Viking defense helped us hit our under bet, as well as side–total parlay bet. The defensive ends got off the ball so fast it seemed like were in the backfield before Tony Romo was. The Saints will find a way to score some points here, the question is, can Brett Favre match Drew Brees stride for stride

Maybe it’s time give the Jets a little credit and start to take them seriously or maybe not. This team is made up of a bunch of no name players, with a rookie quarterback, rookie coach, and one great corner back. It just goes to show you how important coaching is in football.

Another rematch, but it isn’t because Arizona really didn’t show up to play last week. In general we like Green Bay but not in this spot. Arizona is the defending NFC Champion, they are playing at home and will find a way to win this game. Aaron Rogers and company will have many days in the sun

Of all the games this weekend, this is the one that is the toughest to figure out. The Ravens have been playing exceptional football as of late, and could go all the way. That being said, the Patriots have been playing terrible football the last few weeks but are still the Patriots

It seems almost like Vegas and the online sports books planned week 17 to be a set-up for a huge pay day this week. This is the second game in a row that is going to have stupid people looking back at last week’s game and betting the wrong team. The Eagles did need that game last week, but once thing got out of hand, they stopped playing in the second half.

No more messing around here. No more worrying about what team is resting their players and who will be eliminated with a loss and all of all that other nonsense. It's time for real football, the NFL playoffs and the pursuit of being a world champion. Traditionally the dogs do very well on wild card weekend, and then the favorites win big a week later.

The point spread may be close, but this game will not. Alabama and Texas both got through their seasons with undefeated schedules, but Texas didn’t have to get through a Florida, Virginia Tech, Mississippi, South Carolina, or LSU

One of the best mid major teams this year, Central Michigan would like to send off senior quarterback Dan LeFevour on a high note. The passer threw for 234 yards per game and 27 touchdowns to 6 interceptions in leading the Chippewas to an 11-2 season.

Few people thought that Georgia Tech would be in a BCS bowl game just two years after hiring head coach Paul Johnson, but his tricky run option offense has other teams confused and the Yellow Jackets plowing through opponents.

In a battle of the mid major football teams, the Fiesta Bowl pits Texas Christian against Boise State. Both teams are undefeated, combining for a 25-0 record, having blown out most of their opponents. A poor strength of schedule due to a weak conference

With a public relations disaster causing serious problems at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders are extremely unfocused heading into their January bowl game. Head coach Mike Leach was dismissed due to abusing a wide receiver on the team

East Carolina must appreciate another opportunity to win a Liberty Bowl. After leading 16-3 in last year’s Liberty Bowl, the Pirates lost 25-19 to Kentucky.

With nine wins under their belt, Oklahoma State is looking for its first 10 win season since head coach Mike Gundy was a quarterback on the team. A win in the Cotton Bowl would compensate for a painful 27-0 shut out loss against Oklahoma in the season finale

Both South Carolina and UCONN enter this game with a 7-5 record and a losing record in conference play. The Gamecocks play in a much tougher SEC conference, while Connecticut dealt with the death of a teammate early in the season, which served as a distraction. Though UCONN won its last three games, topping Notre Dame, Syracuse and South Florida, the Huskies will have their hands full

South Florida has been distracted since the end of their season because of an off the field incident between head coach Jim Leavitt and player Joel Miller. The Bulls could have come out and beaten Northern Illinois by 17 points, otherwise. As it stands, South Florida may come out with a bang

With emotions running high on both sides of the ball, one team (Florida) will benefit greatly. The other will suffer an embarrassing loss on New Year’s Day. Cincinnati is playing without former head coach Brian Kelly, who led the Bearcats to significant success in recent years

It is rare to see Ohio State as an underdog in a January bowl game. After all, head coach Jim Tressel typically enjoys a Big Ten Championship to go along with either a National Championship game or a Rose Bowl victory

Outside of a pair of conference losses, Penn State ran through the rest of its schedule, winning every single game by double digits. LSU would be 9-1 if it had not had played against No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Alabama, but the Tigers showed they could win some big games

With 44 years under his belt, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will get one last chance to leave his post on a positive note. The Seminoles (6-6) have steadily declined from their reign of terror in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but still manage

Northwestern and Auburn took distinctly different paths en route to the Outback Bowl. The Wildcats won their last three games, including two against ranked opponents – wins at No. 8 Iowa and against No. 17 Wisconsin – while Auburn lost five of its last seven games. All in all, it was a successful season for Northwestern

While Air Force may be honored to play in the Armed Forces Bowl, the Falcons have a poor track record at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, compiling an 0-6 record over the last handful of years. Air Force is just 7-5 this season, their first non 10 win season since 2005 when the Falcons were 6-6.

When Oklahoma and Stanford meet in the Sun Bowl, it will be a cross roads of two different teams who have had completely different seasons. Behind the stellar play of Heisman finalist running back Toby Gerhart, Stanford had its best season in eight years, finishing 8-4 with a No. 19 ranking

Though coach Lane Kiffin has done a good job creating some buzz around his Tennessee program in his first year, the Volunteers are just 7-5, with losses to UCLA, Auburn and Mississippi. Those three games were big losses in the year, and while the Vols lost to No. 1 Florida and No. 1 Alabama

The Texas Bowl may be one of the more interesting bowl games to watch this season, as it pits one of the nation’s top passing offenses (Missouri) against one of the nation’s top rushing offenses (Navy). Yet somehow, these two teams have not met in nearly 50 years. Many expected Missouri to have a down year

More impressive than Minnesota’s third trip to the Insight Bowl in four years is Iowa State’s turn around in the last year. The Cyclones were 2-10 in 2008 after starting the season 2-0. Iowa State is now 6-6 and, though they lost their rivalry game against Iowa as well as both of their games against ranked opponents

Nebraska was this close to a BCS bowl game. A heart breaking 13-12 loss to Texas on a miracle field goal kept the Cornhuskers away from a big time bowl berth. They now face off against Arizona, a team that lost two games by a field goal this season to prevent them from a 10-2 season

Bowling Green wide receiver Freddie Barnes may be the only reason to watch this game. The Falcons wide out is just five catches away from holding the NCAA’s all time mark for receptions in a season, with 142. Barnes is Bowling Green’s biggest threat, hauling in 158 yards per game and reaching the end zone 14 times

After starting off the season 5-0, it looked like Wisconsin was going to be the team to beat in the Big 10. However, a pair of losses to Ohio State and Iowa quickly put into perspective who the players were in the conference

Temple coach Al Golden is one of the most coveted big time head coaching prospects in the near future, after taking the Owls to their first bowl game in 30 years. Golden turned the program around quickly after inheriting poor facilities and a practically non existent fan base

Though neither Texas A&M nor Georgia had what would qualify as a good year, both teams have put up lots of points and allowed even more points throughout the season. Georgia did themselves a disservice in the middle of the season when the Bulldogs lost three out of four games

We hate to say I told you so, but I told you that the Vikings were overrated all year, and I think after a second embarrassing loss on national TV, I proved my point. Favre is done, was done 4 years ago, and as far as fighting with the coach about coming out of the game, that’s B.S

Your eyes are not deceiving you, and this is not December 2006, when these teams met in the Music City Bowl last time. Instead, it is the same match up, but with all new players, although Kentucky is trying to repeat their 28-20 win from the ’06 game.

Again we have a match up of teams that played very similar games last week. However, the difference is that one of these teams won a close fought boring game, and the other lost. The Giants win on Monday night eliminates Atlanta from the playoffs this year while Buffalo was eliminated when they signed Terrell Owens in the offseason.

The Browns have started to play surprisingly better the last few weeks. It is hard to believe that they like Eric Mangini enough to try to save his job. There is however a lot of talent on this team, that hasn’t performed up to their potential

Boy did the Saints really change the playoff picture with their loss to Dallas last week. Not only did it give life to the Cowboys, it showed that any team still might win the NFC. As a matter of fact these are our most likely teams to go to the Super bowl now. The Eagles, Saints, Giants, Cardinals, Cowboys, Packers and the Vikings in that order to win it all. Not quite the way the seeds are right now

The Eagles have been playing great as of late, and we grade them at the highest we have graded them in years. Donovan finally has some playmakers and they get Brian Westbrook back this week