Mark Cuban would be good for baseball, depending on the team

Mark Cuban recently stated that he has been asked by many Dodger fans to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers even though the Dodgers have not been put up for sale despite the ugly divorce between Frank and Jamie McCourt. And you know what, while he’ll likely never own a MLB franchise because the current owners will never allow it, he really would be a great owner for a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cuban has expressed interesting in buying his hometown Pirates and I think it would be something great for baseball. The man clearly loves to win and will spend money when he deems it necessary for his team to succeed, just look at the Dallas Mavericks. Before Cuban purchased the Mavs, they had a winning percentage of .400 and a 21-32 record in the playoffs. From the year he bought the franchise in 2000 and up to 2006, the Mavericks were winning 69% of its games and reaching the playoffs every season and even getting to the NBA Finals. Cuban also provided many new features to not only fans to increase attendance but to also the facilities his new team would use in hope to increase winning.

To the fan’s seat, Cuban added an Internet connection -- easier to send an e-mail. Cuban’s e-mail address can easily be accessed by glancing at the massive, one-of-kind scoreboard. Dangling 35 feet above the playing floor (it could hold 75 Suburban-sized vehicles), it has 8 sides. Each side has a HDTV (high definition) screen that projects an image 400 per cent clearer than a traditional television. These clearer than life images can be downloaded and taken home. Of course, the businessman-owner had a reason for the HDTV projection -- his newest technology investment found him the owner of the only HD television network. With the network in place Cuban is only waiting for manufactures of TV’s to catch up. For those who have the newest in television, Directv’s channel 199 broadcasts Cuban’s shows.

For the women he ordered more restrooms built to eliminate lines. It’s impossible to spend money standing in line -- in and out to the concession stand. Cuban also offers females the only classroom in the NBA. It hosts NBA Basketball 101 for Women. Held in the arena, it features a compete tour and a dinner. Then the invitees are broken down into small groups for a detailed two-hour class. Cuban used his past college bartending experience to make sure the 750 kegs of beer used for home games were computer programmed to insure that a concession spigot never slows down. The 150,000 square foot roof is supported only at the building’s four corners so no fan will have an obstructed view. Since the arena is also used for hockey, concerts and other venues, a unique hydraulic retractable seating system was installed. After a circus performance is concluded the arena is re-programmed for a basketball game and the floor area and seating are totally reconfigured in a brief period. Time is money.

For the team Cuban ordered a private practice gym to be built 30 feet underground and a first-class locker room. He designed each player’s locker to include an entertainment center complete with satellite feed, and Internet access.

He installed DVD and VHS players along with a Sony PlayStation, stereo receiver, and a television. Each player was given a laptop computer.

He built a nearby state-of-the-art television control room. They continually digitize game tapes to produce CD’s. The coaching staff and players are provided with custom produced works of their own play, or an opponents’. Players state they "can look at a move a particular guy makes, or a play a team runs, by just popping a tape or disc in".

Final cost of the arena - $420 million. In Cuban’s view, going first class takes a little extra money.

-HoopsHype Article


So if Cuban would buy a team like the Pirates, a team with great tradition but stuck with ownership not inclined to win any time soon, he would likely be able to supply the resources to turn the team around and get them back to the promise land that is the MLB post-season.

I understand how much the current owners don’t want Cuban in their exclusive club due to the antics that he displays at NBA games courtside but for a group of men who really care about the bottom line, Cuban purchasing the Pirates would do wonders for their pocketbooks. Bringing a winner to a city that hasn’t experienced a winning season in 17 years would certainly increase attendance and increase media coverage and in turn increase revenue that is shared by the MLB owners. As long as the right team is put up for sale, the owners need to ask themselves if they can live with the antics of a Mark Cuban to earn the extra revenue they will receive through the revenue sharing system that Major League Baseball has established.

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 11

Here’s the top 25 for the week, the analysis has a Big Ten flare to it as the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth is on the line this weekend in Columbus:

1. Florida (9-0) (1)
2. Texas (9-0) (2)
3. Alabama (9-0) (3)
4. TCU (9-0) (5)
5. Cincinnati (9-0) (6)
6. Boise State (9-0) (7)
7. Georgia Tech (9-1) (11)
8. Ohio State (8-2) (14): The Buckeyes have become the team to beat in the Big Ten, a big test remains this weekend with Iowa coming to town.
9. LSU (7-2) (9)
10. USC (7-2) (12)
11. Iowa (9-1) (4): Heartbreaking loss for the Hawkeyes, but they still control their own destiny and must fight adversity again this week against Ohio State without quarterback Ricky Stanzi.
12. Pittsburgh (8-1) (13)
13. Arizona (6-2) (16)
14. Oregon (7-2) (8)
15. Miami (7-2) (18)
16. Houston (8-1) (17)
17. Utah (8-1) (15)
18. Penn State (8-2) (10): Many questioned how good Penn State was this year thanks to their nonconference schedule being about as difficult as playing in the North Suburban Conference and in their two tests of the season they come out short.
19. Oklahoma State (7-2) (22)
20. Wisconsin (7-2) (21)
21. Virginia Tech (6-3) (23)
22. BYU (7-2) (NR)
23. West Virginia (7-2) (NR)
24. Oregon State (6-3) (NR)
25. Stanford (6-3) (NR)

Dropping out: California (19), Notre Dame (20), Oklahoma (24), South Florida (25)

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams In European Football

Another week of European Soccer Rankings! In honor of me having exams and basketball games, I have not really given any analysis of my own here, but I will be sure to make the Weekend Soccer Preview extra special.

Blaine: Another week, another round of unforgettable Champions League matches. This week saw a batch of relatively expected results, but with a few upsets thrown in for good measure. The most interesting result in the opinion of yours truly was Bayern Munich 0-2 Bordeaux. This match more or less proved that Bordeaux is a legitimate European power and they their early run of good form wasn’t really a fluke. While Bayern is far from the Bayern of years’ past, a win at Allianz Arena is always impressive. FK Rubin Kazan continued their magical Champions League run with a draw vs. Barcelona (oddsmakers had Kazan as a +540), and have consequently moved up on my (and presumably Tom’s) rankings. Kazan’s draw however, while impressive, spoke volumes about Barca’s current form, which has them in the midst of a series of thoroughly unimpressive results. Arsenal continued to be a buzz saw against all of their opponents, with back to back 4-1 wins this week over AZ Alkmaar at home and Wolverhampton Wanderers on the road. It would appear that Arsene Wenger has managed to turn his young group of Gunners into a formidable challenge for European and English silverware. The biggest match of the week was undoubtedly Chelsea vs. Manchester United this morning, which ended with a 1-0 win by the Blues at Stamford Bridge. Despite the fact that United played very impressively (I was unable to watch the game due to the fact that I was driving back from Alabama, but I did read in a match report that United seemed to outplay Chelsea for large stretches of the game), Chelsea was able to pull off the win. Another club that continues to impress is AC Milan, who drew vs. Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek then got a fine win away against Lazio this weekend. Fiorentina also appears to have found their groove, as they won 5-2 midweek vs. Debrecen, then scored a 1-0 win at Udinese this morning. This week’s award for most ridiculous match must be Lyon’s 5-5 draw with Marseilles, where 5 goals were scored in the 79th minute or later. Unfortunately I was unable to watch this match given the fact that I was somewhere in Tennessee or Kentucky during it, but it’s not often that one sees a 5-5 draw, especially one with such a thrilling finish. At any rate, this week is a bit of a down week for football with the absence of Champions League matches, but let’s all make the best of it and try and watch some cricket or something.

Rank Team (Nationality) Points
1. Chelsea (Eng) 50
2. Barcelona (Esp) 47
3. Arsenal (Eng) 46
T4. Inter Milan (Ita) 43
T4. Manchester United (Eng) 43
Tom: A mid-week draw to CSKA Moscow in an admittedly unimportant match, and a tough loss to Chelsea drops United a bit in the rankings. Manchester United has yet to truly impress this season as they have yet to have their key players hit top form (and fitness) at the same time, but an international break and a schedule that is easy as pie until a January 30 meeting with Arsenal should help them pull it all back together and get to the top of the table if that is where they are going to end up come May. United will only play one team that is currently higher than 11th in the Premier League table until then, when they host 5th place Aston Villa on December 12.
6. Sevilla FC (Esp) 41
T7. AC Milan (Ita) 36
T7. Real Madrid (Esp) 36
9. Juventus (Ita) 35
10. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) 32
11. Bordeaux (Fra) 27
12. Fiorentina (Ita) 23
Blaine: After a miserable October that consisted of 1 win, 2 draws, and 2 losses, Fiorentina is in the midst of an undefeated, untied November, with 3 wins in 3 matches. With an attack led by a healthy Alberto Gilardino and a (presumably) drug-free Adrian Mutu, Fiorentina find themselves in 4th place in Serie A, only 1 point behind 3rd and 3 points behind 2nd. With a fairly easy home match this week vs. Parma, Fiorentina can rest most of their starters in anticipation of a huge match against Inter Milan at the San Siro in 2 weeks. Should Fiorentina be able to pull off the win there, it will put them in legitimate contention for a Scudetto.
13. Lyon (Fra) 22
Blaine: With the departure of Juninho and Karim Benzema this past summer, my expectations for Lyon were quite low, even in the relatively uncompetitive French Ligue 1. They’ve looked extremely good so far though, with their marquee result being a 2-1 win vs. Liverpool a few weeks back, and a respectable 1-1 draw with them earlier this week. They also beat Fiorentina 1-0 in the Champions League back in September, and have simply looked really impressive in both European and domestic play. With 24 points from 12 games so far in Ligue 1, Lyon finds themselves in 2nd place, 1 point behind Bordeaux. Lyon and Bordeaux are yet to play this season, and their 2 matches may be what decide the champion of Ligue 1.
14. FK Rubin Kazan (Rus) 21
T15. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) 17
T15.Werder Bremen (Ger) 17
T17. CSKA Moscow (Rus) 16
T17. Twente Enschede (Ned) 16
Tom: Me and Blaine both have vaulted the Dutch teams in our rankings this week. I was fortunate enough to watch the Feyenoord Rotterdam-AZ Alkmaar match this morning and the Dutch play attractive, attacking football. Decent European performances and good domestic form will see some of these teams keeping a permanent spot in these rankings.
19. Manchester City (Eng) 14
20. Schalke 04 (Ger) 11
21. Hamburg SV (Ger) 10
T22. Fenerbahce (Tur) 9
T22. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) 9
T22. Valencia (Esp) 9
25. Ajax Amsterdam (Ned) 6

Also Receiving Votes: PSV Eindhoven (Ned) 5, Benfica (Por) 3, Marseille (Fra) 3, Sampdoria (Ita) 2, Genoa (Ita) 1

Here is how the voters voted:

Rank	Tom	Blaine
1	Chelsea	Chelsea
2	Barcelona	Arsenal
3	Inter Milan	Barcelona
4	Arsenal	Manchester United
5	Manchester United	Sevilla
6	Sevilla	Inter Milan
7	Real Madrid	Juventus
8	AC Milan	AC Milan
9	Bayer Leverkusen	Real Madrid
10	Juventus	CSKA Moscow
11	Bordeaux	Bayer Leverkusen
12	Lyon	FK Rubin Kazan
13	Werder Bremen	Tottenham Hotspur
14	Fiorentina	Bordeaux
15	Schalke 04	Fiorentina
16	Hamburg SV	Twente Enschede
17	Valencia	Shakhtar Donetsk
18	Manchester City	Lyon
19	FK Rubin Kazan	Fenerbahce
20	Twente Enschede	Manchester City
21	PSV Eindhoven	Ajax Amsterdam
22	Tottenham Hotspur	Werder Bremen
23	Benfica	Marseille
24	Fenerbahce	Sampdoria
25	Ajax Amsterdam	Genoa

Next 5 in for Tom, in order from shortest to longest name: Braga, Marseille, Sampdoria, Olympiakos, Dynamo Kyiv

Next 5 in for Blaine, in reverse alphabetical order: Napoli, Dynamo Kiev, Celtic, Braga, Bari

Week Preview
Virtually no soccer this week. World Cup Playoffs this weekend which will be HUGE!!!! This week we do have the second leg of the Spanish Copa del Rey 4th round, meaning we get to see if Real Madrid can dig out of their stunning 4 goal hole they dug themselves in against Alcorcon. Cheers!

Teaching Some Lessons

There are some people involved with sports that from time to time need to be sat down and explained certain things so they don’t continue to go out there and make fools of themselves, here are a few examples:

If you haven’t heard by now, Brandon Spikes has suspended himself for the entire game tomorrow against Vanderbilt. His actions against Georgia clearly warranted at least a 1 game suspension if not 3, so I congratulate Spikes for doing this to himself because his coach and his conference felt they did not have to. Unfortunately, Spikes is suspending himself for the wrong reason. He said he’s doing it as a way to avoid being a distraction for his team. While there is some truth to that, he doesn’t seem to believe that he did anything wrong and he’s just doing this to shut the media up so the Gators can focus on beating Vanderbilt this weekend. If Spikes were to say that he was suspending himself for the entire game because he knows what he did was wrong and he was deeply regretful for what he did then I’d be more supportive of this self-induced suspension.


Some of you might not have seen this yet, but last night, BYU and New Mexico were playing in a women’s soccer game and all of sudden thanks to Elizabeth Lambert, an MMA fight took place. Lambert took an elbow to the midsection during the match and then took it upon herself to inflict as much pain on the rest of the BYU women’s team as one person could do. She rightfully has been suspended indefinitely, but my main problem here is how no referee in the entire match saw any of her actions that were worthy of a red card. All she received was a yellow, and when you watch the replay of all the things she did, she clearly deserved a handful of red cards but instead the officials in the match turned their back to all those actions.


Last night the Cleveland LeBron’s took on the Chicago Bulls in Cleveland and when it came down to the last shot for the Cavs, LeBron was called upon to win the game and he drove and was stopped by Luol Deng and Joakim Noah of the Bulls. James took major exception to the fact that no foul was called as he drove to the hoop. James should really stay silent, why is it that superstars are constantly looking for calls to go their ways, they get enough calls as it is. If you’re the best player in a league, shouldn’t you embrace the challenge that teams are going to double-team you and possibly cause you to take a difficult shot where contact is involved? As a superstar, especially with the body of Lebron James who could be an NFL tight end, you should know contact is coming and not complain about it and put the basket in the hoop.

Weekend Soccer Preview

Weekend Soccer Preview and Champions League Review
As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern. Click on the league name to see the league table.

Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)
11:00 ET Sunday (English Premier League)
(1) Chelsea v (2) Manchester United
This is without a doubt the match of the week in European football. Both teams are coming off of draws mid-week that clinched them a spot in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, and the squads are separated by a mere two points at the top of the table. Chelsea is on top form at home in the Premier League this season, going 5-0-0 while outscoring opponents 15-1, including wins over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester United has only taken 9 points from its 5 road games, and will still be without defender Rio Ferdinand, who is out with a calf injury. United will need the rest of the heretofore rather shaky defense to step it up and stop the attack of Drogba, Anelka, and the strong Chelsea midfield. Look for a 4-5-1 from Sir Alex with Giggs, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Valencia left to right in the midfield and Rooney as the lone striker up top. This gives United the best chance to overpower the Chelsea midfield and go for goal. This could morph into a 4-3-3 with the addition of Berbatov for a mid, with Rooney moving to a wing if United want to play more of an attacking game. Chelsea will go with their usual diamond midfield with Essien and some combination of Ballack, Lampard, Joe Cole, and Deco, with Drogba and Anelka as strikers. If Chelsea are on form, United would be happy to come out of this match with a point.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United. It pains me as a United fan to not predict a win but Chelsea is too strong of a team at home for me to say otherwise.

Other Games Between Two Ranked Teams
6:00 ET Sunday (Russian Premier League)
(17) CSKA Moscow v (21) FK Rubin Kazan
There are only three games remaining on the schedule for the Russian Premier League, and this is a vital one. Both clubs have massive matchups next week as well, when Rubin Kazan hosts third place Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow visits second place Spartak Moscow. Here is what the top 6 look like as of now:
FK Rubin Kazan 56 (+36 GD)
Spartak Moscow 55 (+31 GD)
Zenit St. Petersburg 47 (+18 GD)
FC Moscow 47 (+14 GD)
CSKA Moscow 46 (+16 GD)
Lokomotiv Moscow 45 (+8 GD)
Interestingly, these are six of the seven teams in the 16-team Russian Premier League that boast a positive goal differential. The seventh team is 13th placed Spartak Nalchik, who has a +1 goal differential on a 6-10-11 record. In any case, Rubin Kazan and Spartak Moscow have all but clinched the top two spots and a place in the UEFA Champions League group stages next season. Third place gets a spot in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round, and Zenit St. Petersburg holds on to that spot by a thread. Fourth and fifth place each get spots in the Europa League. Currently Lokomotiv Moscow is on the outside looking in, but they end with FK Akmar Perm’, Dinamo Moscow, and FC Khimki, two of which are in the bottom three of the league. Look for these last 3 rounds to be hard fought as teams try to find their place in Europe.

Top of the Table Clashes
11:00 ET Sunday (English Premier League)
(1) Chelsea v (2) Manchester United
10:30 ET Sunday (Dutch Eredivisie)
Twente Enschede v (24) Ajax Amsterdam
Not actually a top of the table clash, but outside of the Premiership, there are absolutely none. I checked every single league I could, from Serie B to the Swedish Allsvenskanliga. Twente is in first with 32 points from 12 games, and Ajax sits back in third on 29 points, with PSV in the middle with 30 points. These are two high-scoring, attack-oriented clubs. Twente is averaging 2.17 goals per game, while Ajax is averaging a stunning 3.33 goals per game with the aforementioned second best goal differential in Europe, outscoring their opponents 2.5 goals per game. Look for another goal fest in the Netherlands.

Game between Two Teams whose names are just impossible to pronounce
12:00 ET Sunday (Ukranian Premier League)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk v Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
We can also look forward to the matchup between Dnipro forward Volodymyr Homenyuk and Kryvbas defender Vitaliy Komarnitskyy, and the return of Kryvbas midfielder Vyacheslav Serdyuk to his mother club, as Dnipro loaned him out to Kryvbas for this season.

English Premier League
10:00 ET Saturday
Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers
Blackburn Rovers v Portsmouth
This is a battle of two teams who sit in the relegation zone. Blackburn is 18th with 10 points and Portsmouth is in last place with 7 points. Though these games are hardly of any interest in terms of quality of play, they are vital for the teams involved. Three points from this game may save the winner from dropping to the Championship at the end of the season.
(13) Manchester City v Burnley
(16) Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland
12:30 ET Saturday
Wolverhampton Wanderers v (T4) Arsenal
8:30 ET Sunday
Hull City v Stoke City
10:00 ET Sunday
West Ham United v Everton
Wigan Athletic v Fulham
11:00 ET Sunday
(1) Chelsea v (2) Manchester United
15:00 ET Monday
Liverpool v Birmingham City

Scottish Premier League
10:00 ET Saturday
Rangers v St. Mirren
7:45 ET Sunday
Falkirk v Celtic

Spain’s La Liga
12:00 ET Saturday
Getafe v Deportivo La Coruna
14:00 ET Saturday
(3) Barcelona v Mallorca
16:00 ET Saturday
Atletico Madrid v (7) Real Madrid
This is "El Derbi Madrileno." Historically it has been a battle between the upper class (Real Madrid) and working class (Atletico Madrid), though Real Madrid is certainly more well supported due to their success year after year. Real Madrid leads the series 77-35 (31 draws), and Atletico Madrid has not won one of these derbies since the 1999-2000 season when they defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at the Berbeneu. Since then, it has been 9 wins for Real Madrid and 4 draws, the last coming this past season when they drew 1-1 at the Berbeneu. Atletico Madrid sits in the relegation zone of La Liga, so it may be more of the same for "Los colochoneros".
13:00 ET Sunday
(T25) Valencia v Real Zaragoza
15:00 ET Sunday
(T4) Sevilla FC v Villarreal

Italy’s Serie A
12:00 ET Saturday
Catania v Napoli
14:45 ET Saturday
Atalanta v (9) Juventus
9:00 ET Sunday
Bari v Livorno
Cagliari v (T14) Sampdoria
Lazio v (11) AC Milan
Udinese v (T14) Fiorentina
14:45 ET Sunday
(T4) Inter Milan v AS Roma

German Bundesliga
14:30 ET Friday
(10) Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt
9:30 ET Saturday
Bayern Munich v (T18) Schalke 04
TSG Hoffenheim v VfL Wolfsburg
9:30 ET Sunday
Hannover 96 v (20) Hamburg SV
11:30 ET Sunday
(T22) Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund

French Ligue 1
13:00 ET Saturday
AS Monaco v Grenoble
Le Mans v AJ Auxerre
Valenciennes v Montpellier
11:00 ET Sunday
Lille v (8) Bordeaux
15:00 ET Sunday
(12) Lyon v Marseille

Dutch Eredivisie
8:30 ET Sunday
ADO Den Haag v PSV Eindhoven
AZ Alkmaar v Feyenoord Rotterdam
10:30 ET Sunday
Twente Enschede v (24) Ajax Amsterdam

Portuguese Liga
16:15 ET Saturday
Guimaraes v Braga
13:00 ET Sunday
Maritimo v (T22) FC Porto
15:15 ET Sunday
Rio Ave v Sporting Lisbon
15:15 ET Monday
Benfica v Naval 1 Maio

Russian Premier League
9:00 ET Saturday
PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov v Spartak Moscow
6:00 ET Sunday
(17) CSKA Moscow v (21) FK Rubin Kazan
8:45 ET Sunday
Zenit St. Petersburg v Terek Grozny

Turkish Super League
13:00 ET Saturday
Trabzonspor v Besiktas
7:00 ET Sunday
(T25) Fenerbahce v Ankaraspor
13:00 ET Sunday
Diyarbakirspor v Galatasaray

Greek Super League
12:00 ET Saturday
(T18) Olympiakos v Iraklis
12:00 ET Sunday
Levadiakos v Panathinaikos

Ukranian Premier League
8:00 AM Sunday
Zakarpattya Uzhhorod v Dynamo Kyiv
9:00 AM Sunday
Shakhtar Donetsk v Metalurh Zaporizhya

MLS Conference Semi-finals (Second Leg)
Result from Thursday:
Columbus 2-3 Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake wins 4-2 on aggregate. Good riddance Columbus!!!!
19:30 ET Saturday
Chicago Fire v New England
New England won first leg 2-1.
14:00 ET Sunday
Houston v Seattle Sounders FC
First leg was a 0-0 draw.
18:30 ET Sunday
Los Angeles v Chivas USA
First leg was a 2-2 draw.

Champions League Summary
Chelsea, FC Porto and Sevilla FC have officially clinched spots in the Round of 16, and Bordeaux, Manchester United, Lyon, and Arsenal are all a single point away from clinching a spot in the next round. Liverpool’s draw at Lyon leaves them at third in Group E with 4 points, behind Lyon and Fiorentina who are on 10 and 9 points respectively. However, all is not lost for Liverpool. If Lyon win at Fiorentina and Liverpool win at Debrecen in the next matchday, Liverpool would host Fiorentina on the final matchday, and a win there would put them through to the knockout stages. It was another wacky matchday for Group F, with Inter Milan winning at Dynamo Kiev 2-1 and Barcelona drawing Rubin Kazan 0-0 in Russia. Inter is on top of the group with 6 points, Barcelona and Rubin Kazan have 5 (Barcelona leads on goal differential) and Dynamo Kiev is in fourth with 4 points. Barcelona is still in very real danger of not moving on, as they still host a strong Inter Milan side and have to travel to Ukraine to face Dynamo Kiev. For full Champions League tables, click here.

Week 10 College Football Picks

#23 Virginia Tech over East Carolina

#7 Boise State over Louisiana Tech

#1 Florida over Vanderbilt: Apparently Urban Meyer feels that Vandy will give his team a more difficult time that most believe. Why else would he only suspend his best defensive player for only a half? (Brandon Spikes has since suspended himself for the entire game to avoid being a distraction.) With or without Spikes, the Gators should roll.

#2 Texas over UCF

#9 LSU over #3 Alabama: Alabama just hasn’t wowed me yet and for all the crap that people talk about the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Crimson Tide has been just as impressive as the Hawkeyes. LSU finds a way to win by stopping Mark Ingram.

#4 Iowa over Northwestern

#5 Cincinnati over Connecticut

#6 TCU over San Diego State

#8 Oregon over Stanford

#10 Georgia Tech over Wake Forest

#11 Penn State over #16 Ohio State: This is a big game in determining the Big Ten Champion. Penn State needs to win and
hopes Ohio State beats Iowa and Ohio State needs to win the rest of the season. Penn State is at home, they are playing better, and they have senior leadership at the quarterback position. Those factors will lead to the Nittany Lions to another victory and leave the Buckeyes to Capital One Bowl.

#12 USC over Arizona State

#13 Pittsburgh over Syracuse

#14 Utah over New Mexico

#15 Houston over Tulsa

#17 Miami over Virginia

#18 Arizona over Washington State

#19 Oklahoma State over Iowa State

#20 California over Oregon State

#21 Wisconsin over Indiana

#22 Notre Dame over Navy

Nebraska over #24 Oklahoma

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 10

Not much change in the Top 10 except USC dropping out, we now have the 7 undefeated schools in the Top 7:

1. Florida (1)
2. Texas (3): They dominated Oklahoma State on Saturday night and have become the first of the “Big 3” to really start playing like a National Title contender.
3. Alabama (2)
4. Iowa (4)
5. TCU (6)
6. Cincinnati (7)
7. Boise State (8)
8. Oregon (9): The dismantling the Ducks did of the Men of Troy was something to be seen, unfortunately their loss to Boise State keeps them from soaring up the rankings. They’re a dangerous team with an outside shot at the National Championship Game as the best 1-loss team in the nation.
9. LSU (10)
10. Penn State (11)
11. Georgia Tech (12)
12. USC (5)
13. Pittsburgh (15)
14. Ohio State (16): A huge matchup for the Buckeyes this weekend as they travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State. If Ohio State pulls out a win there will certainly be talk of them beating Iowa in two weeks and then going to the Rose Bowl instead of the Hawkeyes.
15. Utah (18)
16. Arizona (17): The Wildcats definitely hold their fate in their own hands with games still against Cal, Oregon, and USC.
17. Houston (19)
18. Miami (21)
19. California (25)
20. Notre Dame (22): A Notre Dame rout keeps the door open on a possible BCS Bowl for the Irish as the BCS would likely take a 2-loss Notre Dame squad over a Non-AQ School, however unfair that may seem.
21. Wisconsin (NR): Probably a little overrated but the Badgers are a good team and will probably being playing on January 1st come Bowl Season.
22. Oklahoma State (14)
23. Virginia Tech (13)
24. Oklahoma (NR)
25. South Florida (NR)

Dropping out: West Virginia (20), South Carolina (23), Idaho (24)