College Football Quick Picks: Week 5

So we need a big week this time around and there's a very solid slate of games starting with an interesting Thursday night match up. I will give fairly careful consideration this time around. I'll at least take more than the thirty-seconds per game I took last week.


Colorado @ West Virginia

This sounds like a cool match up when you read it, but these two teams are certainly falling short of their collective reputations. I watched Colorado look completely incompetent against Toledo a few weeks ago and while they seem to have righted the ship a bit, there's bad trouble in Boulder. By the same token, the Mountaineers are reeling a bit after a tough loss at Auburn in their last outing. I think they've found a solid QB in Jarrett Brown and they'll really dig deep in the playbook tonight.

West Virginia Wins


Virginia @ North Carolina

This one worries me. Neither team has any sort of offense whatsoever. the Cavaliers rank 113th in total yards while North Carolina is 106th. The final score in this one will probably be 10-6, and Carolina has a much better defense than the 'Hoos. What worries me is UVA considers UNC to be their "true" rival, probably because it's the only rival they can consistently beat. Since I was born in 1985 UVA is 18-5 against Carolina. With that said, this UVA team is really, really bad. This one will be close, no thanks to Al Groh.

North Carolina Wins


No. 4 LSU @ No. 18 Georgia

This is a very interesting match up. LSU is ranked a little too highly for my tastes. They have an excellent defense but I think their offense has some room for improvement. Georgia is flying under the radar somewhat as quarterback Joe Cox and wideout A.J. Green have developed a nice little rhythm. Home field is crucial and I like the hedges in this one by just a little bit.

Georgia Wins


No. 7 USC @ No. 24 California

After Cal thoroughly embarrassed themselves (and me for picking them) last week, I have a hard time justifying picking them again. Is that reason enough to pick against them? No, not really. I like Cal a lot. They have a classic stadium from 1923 that is still standing despite being built directly on top of the Hayward Fault (the fault line runs almost exactly from goalpost to goalpost). A 1998 seismic study considered the building and "appreciable life hazard" in the event of an earthquake. There's also a fine view of Strawberry Canyon from the stadium, which is just an awesome name. Man I like Cal.

USC Wins


No. 8 Oklahoma @ No. 18 Miami

After being thoroughly dressed down last weekend in Blacksburg, the media lovefest for Miami has died down to a whisper. The thing is, they're still good, they simply ran into a buzzsaw last time out. Oklahoma will still be without Sam Bradford, and while Landry Jones has played terrific for a freshman, he hasn't done it against any opponents of note. I like Miami to rebound at home in south Florida.

Miami Wins


Auburn @ Tennessee

Auburn has been impressive on offense and Tennessee has not. I actually like Lane Kiffin for some reason, but I don't think this first season is going to go particularly well. It hasn't hurt his recruiting though.

Auburn Wins


UCLA @ Stanford

This should be a good game. I like both of these teams, but I think Stanford has a few more weapons to work with (first time I've ever said that). It's shaping up to be a big season for the Cardinal.

Stanford Wins

My Old Kentucky Slime

When someone says they hate the coach of a team, someone like Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, it really means they fear and respect them. When I say I hate John Calipari, I really mean I hate him.

Calipari is quite possibly the slimiest, shadiest character in the slimiest and shadiest of all collegiate sports, men's basketball.

Recent allegations about NBA Rookie of the year Derrick Rose's SAT scores and improper benefits to Rose's brother are just the tip of the iceberg.

Now, new allegations of impropriety have come forth regarding the SAT scores of another player on the 2007-2008 Memphis team, Robert Dozier.

It is now being reported that he was denied admission at the University of Georgia based on inconsistencies in his SAT scores. Dozier's initial SAT score was invalidated by the company that grades them (something that in and of itself is very rare) after he scored 540 points lower the second time he took the test.

Dozier initially committed to Memphis in high school, then changed his pledge to Georgia, where admissions officials were immediately concerned with his SAT scores.

In a letter to university president Michael Adams, the faculty admissions review board issued a "strong deny" is this case.

"Of greatest concern is the gross inconsistency in his testing record," the committee wrote in its report. "His [SAT verbal score of 590] would place him in the 76th percentile nationally, while his [SAT math score of 670] places him in the 89th percentile. This raises a serious red flag, since his PSAT from October 2000 places him in the 4th percentile nationally in both areas. Such a remarkable improvement in testing abilities in the span of nine months is highly improbable, particularly for a student with a C-minus record in average college prep courses in high school."

That doesn't sound good at all. The NCAA will meet with Memphis officials Saturday regarding the Derrick Rose case, while the Dozier matter will not be included in those particular hearings.

Some might be shocked at all of these allegations swirling around the Memphis program, but they shouldn't be. If the NCAA chooses to vacate Memphis' 2008 record 38 wins and National Championship game appearance, it will be the second Calipari-led program to be punished in that fashion.

In 1996, the NCAA vacated Calipari's Final Four appearance at UMass (the school's first) after it was revealed that Naismith player of the year Marcus Camby was found to have received roughly $28,000 from sports agents. Calipari was of course cleared of any wrongdoing.

The latest rash of allegations at Memphis are far from shocking. Calipari isn't just one of the best recruiters in college hoops because he's a nice guy, it's because he's willing to play the games respectable coaches aren't.

Case in point, recent high profile commitment John Wall will play at Kentucky where he will battle for playing time with the other handful of high-major prospects Calipari brought in. The smart choice for Wall would seem to be attending North Carolina, where there was a scholarship open and an open slot at point guard with Ty Lawson going to the NBA.

It makes sense to go to the best program in the country where your position is available right? Well, john Wall has a handler who said, "I would absolutely not support Wall going to North Carolina."

Why?

Because Roy Williams has a reputation of not dealing with people like him and the handler knew he'd get cut out of the deal.

Clearly, I've been railing against John Calipari, but what I'm really angry about is the state of college basketball recruiting. Are there programs that do things the right way out there? Certainly. But when as a head coach you KNOW there are guys doing this (and trust me they know) you've got to ask yourself why even bother doing things the right way?

The NCAA needs to get it together and crack down on the handlers and the AAU garbage and start letting these young punks who are only in it for the money start going pro straight out of high school again. Of course they'll need the NBA's help on that, but this forced amateurism will only continue to lead to dirty programs and even dirtier coaches.

Goin' Down In Florida

TALLAHASSEE- Eric and I successfully made the lengthy trek from Blacksburg to the state capitol of Florida yesterday. The trip took us somewhere around 11 hours, though we were delayed with several wrong turns near the end of the journey.

I didn't think we would ever get out of Georgia. The bulk of the trip went through the peach state, and somewhere amongst the cotton fields and tall Georgia pines I nearly lost my mind with road weariness.

But as I pointed out, we made it. Today we plan to explore Florida State a bit and get a fix on Doak Campbell Stadium. We've set up headquarters not too far away and we'll probably wander over in a bit.

As Muddy Waters told us on the way down, "Yeah I be goin' down in Florida/Where the sun shines damn near every day."

Well today it's cloudy and overcast, but we'll do some scouting none the less.


RANDOM

I noticed a political sign when we were nearing our destination for Peter Boulware. Sure enough, it was the same Boulware who starred at linebacker for the Seminoles years ago and is still the Baltimore Ravens all-time leader in sacks. Apparently Boulware is running for the Florida house as a Republican. He won the Republican primary with 84.1 percent of the vote.

All 'Dawgs Go to Heaven

There’s something delightfully southern about having a live animal for a mascot. LSU has Mike the Tiger, Tennessee has their blue tick hound Smokey, and perhaps the most famous of all live mascots is UGA, the white English Bulldog who prowls the sidelines between the hedges at Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia.

Sadly, UGA VI, passed away last Friday and was interred Monday afternoon at the traditional burial place for all Georgia mascots, a marble memorial inside Sanford Stadium.

Now I’m no Georgia fan, especially after the Hokie-Bulldog debacle in the 2006 Peach Bowl (I’ll never refer to it by the sponsor’s name) and I’ll only root for the ‘Dawgs if it’s convenient for my team, but UGA represents a fine tradition indeed.

Owned by Savannah attorney Frank W. “Sonny” Seiler, whose family has owned the line of UGA’s dating back to 1956 when the mascot became a regular at football games, UGA has become a proud symbol of the university and a full-fledged celebrity.

“People pet him so much his head gets sore,” Seiler once said of his prized bulldogs. “He’s like a politician who shakes too many hands.”

UGA V (the most recent UGA’s father) was in the motion picture “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” portraying his father and was the same UGA who jumped at Auburn receiver Robert Baker during a game in 1996 (shown above). His father before him, UGA IV was the first live mascot invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation, when he accompanied Herschel Walker to the Downtown Athletic Club in 1982 dressed for the occasion in a tuxedo.

UGA VI, whose full name is “UGA V’s Whatchagot Loran?” (more on that later) leaves behind an impressive legacy as well. He leaves his post after compiling the best record of any UGA with 87 wins and 27 losses. Including 2 Sugar Bowl wins (2003 & 2008) and 2 SEC Championships (2002 & 2005).

Perhaps the best eulogy was given by Georgia athletics director Damon Evans who said of UGA, “UGA VI was a damn good mascot and a damn good dog.”

Now how delightfully southern does that sound?



Now for the name explanation. The voice of Georgia football is Larry Munson, a professional fan essentially who refers to the team as "we" and openly roots on the 'Dawgs while maintaining a strangely pessimistic view on things. Whenever he sends it to his sideline reporter Loran Smith he says, "Whatchagot Loran?"

For a classic sample of Larry Munson in action, click on the link below to him describing young Herschel Walker.

http://larrymunson.com/audio/UGA_UT_1980.MP3