Rebounding like Dwight Howard...

USC again started off slow this week at home against Oregon, but the game changed after Mark Sanchez found Damian Willaims on 4th-and-2 for a 34 yard touchdown pass to tie the game as the Trojans rebounded from being upset by Oregon State, 44-10. The USC defense had trouble getting the Duck offense off the field while having their first offensive drive stall at the 4 yard line and Sanchez fumbling a snap, which led to an Matt Evensen field goal. Penalties, penalties, penalties. I don't know if it's a lack of focus or what, but 13 penalties is waaaay too much for any team, especially and elite team like the Trojans.

But after flipping a switch, USC scored the game's final 41 points, including the final 24 of the first half to kill the will of Oregon. A fumble by Oregon late in the first half led to a Sanchez 11 yard TD pass to Patrick Turner which essentally put the game out of reach. Nice to see Mitch Mustain get an extensive look in the second half, as he threw for 111 yards and a 59 yard pass to David Ausberry, who also got some nice playing time in. The defense followed suit of the offense, as they forced 7 punts and 2 turnovers on Oregon's final 11 drives (the other drives ended at the half and on downs). Special teams play was led by David Buehler, who nailed 3 field goals, 5 point after attempts, and booted 6 touchbacks on kickoffs. On to the Pac-10 rankings:

1. USC (3-1 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) - Please, please, please no more Oregon State games. Please. No more games to look ahead to until maybe the Notre Dame matchup. Arizona State may have lost three straight games, but SC needs to stay the course, as going up against Dennis Erickson is always dangerous, and Rudy Carpenter has the skill to lead the Sun Devils to the upset. But the only way the Trojans lose is if they are looking ahead to.... Washington State.
2. California (4-1, 2-0) - That Maryland loss didn't look that bad after the Terps upset Clemson last week... until they got shut out by Virginia. Ouch. Second place in the Pac-10 should be decided by the matchup between the Golden Bears and Arizona. Cal got lucky this week by finding that Nate Longshore provided the hot hand, but they really need Jahvid Best to be healthy for the game against Arizona. The Bears have a bye to get healthy and find out if Longshore or Kevin Riley will provide Cal's best chance to keep the ball moving towards a Pac-10 championship.
3. Arizona (4-1, 2-0) - The other undefeated team in conference play. They took care of business against Washington, and now head to Palo Alto to see if they can continue their hot start. The Wildcats need to get their wins in now, as after their game against the Cardinal, they host Cal and USC in back-to-back weeks. Not saying they need to win both games, but if they are embarrassed in both, watch out for a collapse down the stretch. But right now, things are looking up for Mike Stoops and co.
4. Oregon (4-2, 2-1) - The Ducks can thank Oregon State for this ass-kicking. No way the Trojans were going to lose two games in a row, and Pete Carroll and co. made sure of that. Oregon got off to a fast start, but collapsed at the end of the first half as USC scored 10 points in the final minute of the second quarter. The Ducks should be able to rebound next week against UCLA at home before their bye week, which will hopefully help them get back one of their quarterbacks.
5. Oregon State (2-3, 1-1) - Called the Utah game, kinda/sorta, though the Utes received a gift on their two-point conversion. But the Beavers also had terrible clock/game management on their final drive, which left waaaaay too much time on the clock for Utah to drive into field goal range for the win. I have a feeling with the weaker bottom half of the conference, the Beavers win over the Trojans will keep them in the 4-6 range for the rest of the year. The Utah game was not a bad loss, as the Utes should remain undefeated until their game against BYU. The Beavers host Washington State next week, which will get them back to .500 on the year, before travelling to Washington to get over .500 on the season (please, please, please Mike Riley...)
6. Stanford (3-3, 2-1) - Tavita Prichard is not the answer at QB, but then again, the Cardinal may not have their answer at QB on their roster this season. Terrible performance against Notre Dame overshadowed by the fact that Stanford only lost by a touchdown. All of these crappy teams giving the Irish hope; please stop now. Thanks. Big test against Arizona next week before a game at UCLA to determine which of those two teams enters the bottom part of the rankings.
7. Arizona State (2-3, 1-1) - The Sun Devils are limping into their game at USC next week. Hard to see Arizona State beating the Trojans in the Coliseum, but also, um, nevermind (Stanford ugh). Four game losing streaks are great ways to free fall on any rankings. All started from the UNLV game, which took a lot of the confidence from the Sun Devils.
8. UCLA (2-3, 1-1) - Closed their 3 game homestand strong, but should fall flat next week in Eugene, where the Ducks won't be happy after being destroyed by the Trojans. A win's a win, but Tennessee has not looked good since their loss on Labor Day, and Washington State is, well, Washington State.
9. Aw screw it....
10. Washington (0-5, 0-3), and Washington State (1-5, 0-3). Both teams are waiting for the Apple Cup for their next win. Until one of these teams shows signs of life, they will both be #10 in the rankings (tied for last, not tied for 9th, get it right....) Washington was terrible against Arizona, and will continue to struggle with Jake Locker out. And Wazzu is, well, Wazzu. Ugh.

And for the top 25:

1. Oklahoma (5-0)
2. Louisiana State (4-0)
3. Texas (5-0)
4. Alabama (6-0)
5. Missouri (5-0)
6. Penn State (6-0)
7. Brigham Young (5-0)
8. Texas Tech (5-0)
9. USC (3-1)
10. Georgia (4-1)
11. Florida (4-1)
12. Vanderbilt (5-0)
13. Ohio State (5-1)
14. Utah (6-0)
15. Kansas (4-1)
16. Boise State (4-0)
17. South Florida (5-1)
18. Auburn (4-2)
19. Tulsa (5-0)
20. Ball State (6-0)
21. Northwestern (5-0)
22. Oklahoma State (5-0)
23. Virginia Tech (5-1)
24. Michigan State (5-1)
25. Wake Forest (3-1)

Sleep walking in Corvalis

So this isn't the first time that USC has lost. But this was the most shocking. A lot of people have said that the only team the Trojans would lose to is themselves. But on Thursday night, Oregon State took USC to the woodshed in a way that no team has since Pete Carroll's first year. The Beavers dominated both sides of the ball, creating huge holes for Jacquizz Rodgers to run through while forcing Mark Sanchez to throw under pressure and prevent USC from getting any momentum going with the run game. Usually USC loses because of turnovers and dumb penalties. This time, it was just being outcoached. The Trojans made no adjustments on defense to stop the Beavers' run game and could not get pressure on Oregon State QB Lyle Moevao all night. Oh well, so much for National Championship aspirations. There's no way a one loss USC team (best case scenario, mind you) goes to Miami over even a two loss SEC or Big 12 team. Those leagues are stacked right now. Anyway, here's thand e weekly Pac-10 rankings:

1. USC (2-1, 0-1) - They are still the best team in the conference, talentwise. There's no way the Trojans should have been pushed around like they were in Corvalis. Hopefully they can get back on track against Oregon and their 11th string QB. Carroll always says the Rose Bowl is USC's goal every year, but this seemed like the year like the Trojans were going to run the table.
2. California (3-1, 1-0) - Cal rebounded well against Colorado State and looks to be back on the right track. If they beat Arizona State next week, they should be back in the driver's seat for the conference title.
3. Oregon (4-1, 2-0) - Yeah, they beat up Wazzu today, but USC should be fired up for the game next week in the Coliseum. Oregon should be ranked after all of the upsets today, and having their 5th string QB in there should help them as the Trojans will probably be a little more relaxed and not able to gameplan for him as much. Seriously, the Ducks do have a good chance of being the first team in a while to knock off USC in two consecutive years.
4. Arizona (3-1, 1-0) - Drops a spot due to the bye and Oregon dominating Wazzu. But they should get win #4 next week against Washington and will be well on their way to being bowl bound.
5. Stanford (3-2, 2-1) - Riding high into their game against Notre Dame next week. Good win over a Washington team that desperately needed to get one.
6. Oregon State (2-2, 1-1) - Hopefully the Beavers can carry the momentum of the upset to finish strong again this year. Though huge letdown game against Utah looms on Thursday again.
   
7. Arizona State (2-2, 1-0) - Two game losing streak doesn't bode well, and neither does a road trip to Berekely.
8. UCLA (1-3, 0-1) - Fresno State made the Bruins pay for their fumble in the red zone, as after recovering the fumble, the Bulldogs never gave the ball back.UCLA continues to look scrappy, and if they are within striking distance in the fourth quarter, they are a very dangerous team. UCLA should close their three game homestand with a win over Wazzu, but the Bruins also shouldn't have beaten Tennessee or lost by 59 to BYU, so we'll see what happens.
9. Washington (0-4, 0-2) - The Cougs may have a win, but at least the Huskies are, for the most part, competitive in all of their games. Though it is hard to find a game where Washington will be favored to win the rest of the season.
   
10. Washington State (1-4, 0-2) - The Portland State game got them in the win column, but Wazzu has lost their four games by an average of 41.2 points per game, with the big ones coming in Pac-10 play. Ouch.

And the reshuffled top 25...

1. Oklahoma (4-0)
2. Louisiana State (4-0)
3. Alabama (5-0)
4. Texas (4-0)
5. Missouri (4-0)
6. Penn State (5-0)
7. Brigham Young (4-0)
8. South Florida (5-0)
9. Texas Tech (4-0)
10. Georgia (4-1)
    
11. Florida (3-1)
12. USC (2-1)
13. Auburn (4-1)
14. Ohio State (4-1)
15. Utah (5-0)
16. Kansas (3-1)
17. Vanderbilt (4-0)
18. Wisconsin (3-1)
19. Connecticut (5-0)
20. Boise State (3-0)
21. Oregon (4-1)
    
22. Tulsa (4-0)
23. Ball State (5-0)
24. Northwestern (5-0)
25. Wake Forest (3-1)
    

Pac-10 Ratings - Week 4

Another banner week for the Pac-10 (ugh). At least we weren't swept by the WAC this week (thank you Stanford....), and no one was expecting much from Arizona State after the egg they laid against UNLV. Oregon's loss was unexpected, only because the Ducks rarely lose in Autzen Stadium. Anyway, here are the rankings:

1. USC (2-0 overall, 0-0 Pac-10) - The Trojans had a bye this week, but they need to stay focused as they enter Pac-10 play on Thursday at Oregon State. USC does not have a good history of Pac-10 road openers (2002: L @ Wazzu, 2003: L @ Cal, 2004: W @ Stanford 31-28, 2005: W @ Oregon 45 13, but trailed 13-0, 2006: W @ Wazzu 28-22, 2007: W @ Washington 27-24). USC may be the only team from the Pac-10 ranked when the polls are released tomorrow.
2. California (2-1, 1-0) - Why the jump over Oregon? The Ducks showed that they will struggle with their top QBs being injured. Cal had a misstep at Maryland last week, but they should regroup against Colorado State this week, then host a downtrodden Sun Devil squad. THe Golden Bears look to be the second best team in the Pac-10, which isn't saying much...
3. Arizona (3-1, 1-0) - A misstep by Arizona on Black Saturday (last Saturday...) prevents them from being #2 in the conference, though beating UCLA isn't something to write home about these days. The Wildcats are in good shape to be 5-1 heading into a key matchup against Cal on October 18th before hosting USC the following weekend. A split of these games would be huge for the program, but becoming bowl-eligible, which they should, would be a giant leap for Arizona and provide some job security for Mike Stoops.
4. Oregon (3-1, 1-0) - Leaky defense against Boise State. Down to fourth string QB. Things aren't looking good for the Ducks right now. At least they made the game against the Broncos respectable, but they must avoid any injuries against Washington State next week if they want to have any hope against USC, unless the Trojans are looking ahead to Miami, which they shouldn't, especially after Oregon toppled USC in Eugene last year.
5. Arizona State (2-2, 1-0) - The Sun Devils should still compete for the Pac-10 Championship. It's just that right now, they do not look like the 10 win team from a year ago. Big game at Cal in a couple of weeks to help ASU get back on track, but after losing two straight and unable to live up to the hype, the Sun Devils need to refocus, as things get harder (Cal, USC, Oregon) before they get easier.
6. Stanford (2-2, 1-1) - Stanford really is the 6th best team in this conference... Ugh. Oregon State is probably better than the Cardinal, but the Beavers need to show something before they can be bumped up here. Sluggish win over San Jose State keeps the Farm in the six spot, but its more by default than anything that they are ranked this high. If Stanford can beat Notre Dame next week, the momentum will be huge for them the rest of the way.
7. Oregon State (1-2, 0-1) - Only because UCLA is looking worse by the week. Though the Beavers have two tough tests in the next two weeks against USC and Utah, both Thursday games.
8. UCLA (1-2, 0-1) - That Tennessee game is becoming a distant memory. And also a bookmark for the last time UCLA scored an offensive touchdown. Ouch. Good news is that you can get tickets to the next Bruin game for only $10. Odds are the next game will be against their fourth straight ranked OOC opponent (BYU in Las Vegas Bowl, Tennessee, BYU, Fresno State). After a heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin, and a brawl against Toledo tonight, the Bulldogs will probably look to work some kinks out against the poor Bruins. 4-8 looks like the best case scenario for Rick Neuheisel right about now.
9. Washington State (1-3, 0-1) - Took care of business against Portland State. Now look for their second win to come somewhere between Hawaii and the end of next year.
10. Washington (0-3, 0-1) - The Dawgs need a win over Stanford, cause wins are going to be hard to come by for Washington the rest of the way.

And for the top 25...

1. USC (2-0)
2. Oklahoma (3-0)
3. Florida (3-0)
4. Georgia (4-0)
5. Louisiana State (3-0)
   
6. Missouri (4-0)
7. Texas (3-0)
8. Alabama (4-0)
9. Wisconsin (3-0)
10. Brigham Young (4-0)
11. South Florida (4-0)
12. Texas Tech (4-0)
13. Penn State (4-0)
14. Auburn (3-1)
15. Ohio State (3-1)
16. Wake Forest (3-0)
17. Utah (4-0)
18. Kansas (3-1)
19. Vanderbilt (4-0)
20. Texas Christian (4-0)
21. Clemson (3-1)
22. Boise State (3-0)
23. Connecticut (4-0)
24. Tulsa (3-0)
25. Oregon (3-1)

3 SEC teams in the Top 5? Whoa...

Pac-10 Ratings/Rumblings

Whoa, the Pac-10 can thank USC (and Oregon to some extent) for defending the pride of the conference. After a decent start in out of conference play, the Pac-10 got blistered by the Mountain West conference. Ugh. Here's the rundown of the conference ratings (not standings since 3 teams still haven't played their first conference game yet:

1. USC (2-0 overall, 0-0 Pac-10) - Obviously. Ohio State may not be an elite team when playing outside of the Big Ten, but they are still a big time opponent. And the Trojans' 35-3 drubbing of a team that played in the last two BCS championship games and returned over 20 starters from last year's team is quite a statement. You can say the Buckeyes play in a "weak" conference but remember, USC's losses in the past two years have been to teams that were double digit underdogs. Saturday's win, coupled with a blowout on the road of Virginia keeps the Trojans at the top. The Trojans play Oregon State in a Thursday game, and USC always seems to have trouble in Pac-10 road openers, so they must remain focused, even against a down Oregon State squad.
   
2. Oregon (3-0, 1-0) - The only other undefeated team after the dust settled in Week 3, though it took two overtimes for the Ducks to hold off a mid-level Big Ten team. And now, Oregon is on their third starting quarterback heading into a home game against the tricky Broncos of Boise State. After facing their only test of the season so far, it's safe to say to jury's still out on the Ducks, even after blowout wins over Washington and Utah State. If they get past the Broncos, the Ducks will likely be 5-0 heading into their game at USC.
   
3. California (2-1, 1-0) - Here's where it gets tough in the rankings. The Golden Bears started off the season with a solid win over Michigan State and a 66-3 drubbing of Washington State. RB Jahvid Best was creating Heisman hype. Then Maryland happened. The Terps were in the opposite direction of Cal, with a 7 point win over FCS Delaware and a loss to Middle Tennessee State from the Sun Belt. But the Terps jumped on the Bears, and Cal tried valiantly to make a comeback, but fell short. It goes to show that it's always tough to win on the road, especially on the East Coast, and Maryland is technically a BCS team, so I expect the Golden Bears to rebound against Colorado State in a couple of weeks before hosting Arizona State in a game which looked promising before Saturday.
   
4. Arizona (2-1, 0-0) - Well it was between the Wildcats and Sun Devils. Arizona State is the better team, but had a much worse loss, even though losing to New Mexico isn't something to be proud of either. One of four teams to lose to a MWC foe this week, Arizona clearly could not break the glass ceiling of being a bowl-worthy team. The Wildcats smacked Idaho 70-0 in week one, then beat Toledo 41-16, and was looking to avenge last season's loss to the Lobos to become 3-0 heading into conference play. But no dice. Arizona couldn't live up to the expectations of being the chic pick to win the Pac-10, as a win against New Mexico likely would have put them at #2 in the standings this week. They open Pac-10 play against UCLA next week and could still be 5-1 entering their game against California.
5. Arizona State (2-1, 1-0) - Ugh, they looked flat the entire game. A lot of times when a ranked opponent plays sluggish against an inferior opponent, you always expect the ranked team to pull it out. But UNLV made the big plays late against Arizona State, and took a lot of luster from the Sun Devils' game against Georgia next week. But Arizona State has no one to blame but themselves. The Devils did not look sharp against Northern Arizona in week 1, and took a while to put a scrappy Stanford squad away. But this week, they allowed the Rebels to stay close late in the game, keeping the door open for the upset, and that's exactly what happened. After this tough loss, hard to see the Sun Devils' defending Pac-10 pride against Georgia next week. Things get slightly easier at Cal two weeks after that, then a visit to the Coliseum. Watch out for a 2-4 start for the Devils...
6. Stanford (1-2, 1-1) - At least they haven't lost by 59 points this season.... yet. Though they had no business beating Oregon State in week 1, and they were expected to lose to Arizona State and TCU. A win next week over San Jose State (please Stanford...), and if they can beat the Huskies, the Cardinal should be in good shape for their game against Notre Dame, who still isn't impressing me.
   
7. UCLA (1-1, 0-0) - That win over Tennessee got wiped out and forgotten about after a 59-0 blowout to BYU. Not saying that the Cougars are a bad team, just saying that UCLA played the worst game possible... and I didn't even watch the game! (Versus...) No one was expecting UCLA to win this game, but no one expected Neuheisel, Walker, and Chow to produce the worst loss in almost 80 years for UCLA either. The best thing the Bruins can do is forget about this game and move on, as they host an Arizona team looking to rebound from a tough loss as well, then they host the scrappy Fresno State Bulldogs, who are always looking for a fight...
   
8. Oregon State (1-2, 0-1) - The Beavers should have taken care of business against Stanford to open the season. Now they're staring down a 1-5 start to the season, which would make their trademark strong finishes to the season null and void. Back to back Thursday games against ranked teams (USC and Utah) do not bode well, but at least they handled Hawaii to avoid a potential 0-6 start heading into a game against the Washington schools. Hopefully they can catch the Trojans and Utes looking ahead. That's the only chance they have.
   
9. Washington (0-3, 0-1) - Well both Washington schools are 0-3. But at least the Huskies have something to complain about. Or excuses. Oregon is right now the second best team in the conference. The referees prevented Washington from at least a shot in overtime against BYU. Oklahoma is that good. Wazzu lost to Oklahoma State (< Oklahoma), California (< Oregon), and Baylor (<< BYU). The Huskies might have a chance against Stanford in two weeks, and they avoid the big boys in the Pac-1o til the tail end of the season, so UW might have a chance to string together some wins before Notre Dame, USC, Arizona State, and UCLA in a four game stretch.
   
10. Washington State (0-3, 0-1) - This was easy. At least the Huskies were close against BYU. But the Cougs have been outmatched and outclassed in all of their games this season. Losing by 63 points doesn't help either. If Washington State does not beat Portland State next week, they may not win a game til the Apple Cup or the season finale at Hawaii.

Ugh... My Top 25 after Week 3 (I told myself I was going to wait after Week 4, but oh well...):

1. USC (2-0)
   
2. Oklahoma (3-0)
3. Missouri (3-0)
   
4. Georgia (3-0)
5. Florida (2-0)
   
6. Texas (2-0)
7. Wisconsin (3-0)
8. Louisiana State (2-0)
9. Alabama (3-0)
10. South Florida (3-0)
11. Auburn (3-0)
12. Texas Tech (3-0)
13. Brigham Young (3-0)
14. East Carolina (3-0)
    
15. Ohio State (2-1)
16. Penn State (3-0)
17. Oregon (3-0)
18. Utah (3-0)
19. Wake Forest (2-0)
20. Kansas (2-1)
    
21. Vanderbilt (3-0)
22. Texas Christian (3-0)
    
23. Clemson (2-1)
    
24. West Virginia (1-1)
    
25. Fresno State (1-1)
    

Stuck between a rock and a hard place...

No one reads these right?

*Crickets...

Hello?

Nobody?

Good. Cause I don't know who to talk to about this. Maybe if someone wants to step up and offer some help, that'd be great. Can't be anyone though, as I'm really conflicted right now... I can't even say what it's about. I've never been in this situation before, and I feel like I need to seek an outside opinion on it. Bleh. Argh. awdfawrgafasd. I mean its a pretty messed up situation, and I'm the only one who knows how really complicated it is. I haven't told anyone this, I haven't even spoken aloud to myself about it, but it's lingering around like a stale fart. So I guess this is sort of a cry for help (don't worry, I'm not in any danger or anything...) but there's so much on my mind right now that I need to rehash/debrief/unwind with someone else...

I need a hug...

There can only be one...

The NBA Playoffs! Where amazing happens... sure.

Western Conference 1st Round
Los Angeles Lakers 4, Denver Nuggets 0

Derek Fisher (Lakers) and Marcus Camby (Nuggets)

New Orleans Hornets 4, Dallas Mavericks 1

Jason Kidd (Mavericks) and Chris Paul (Hornets)

San Antonio Spurs 4, Phoenix Suns 1

Manu Ginobili (Spurs) and Steve Nash (Suns)

Utah Jazz 4, Houston Rockets 2

Tracy McGrady (Rockets) and Carlos Boozer (Jazz)

Eastern Conference 1st Round
Boston Celtics 4, Atlanta Hawks 3

Paul Pierce (Celtics) and Mike Bibby (Hawks)

Detroit Pistons 4, Philadelphia 76ers 2

Andre Iguodala (76ers) and Richard Hamilton (Pistons)

Orlando Magic 4, Toronto Raptors 1

Dwight Howard (Magic) and Chris Bosh (Raptors)

Cleveland Cavaliers 4, Washington Wizards 2

Antwan Jamison (Wizards) and Ben Wallace (Cavaliers)

Western Conference Semi-Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 4, Utah Jazz 2

Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Carlos Boozer (Jazz)

San Antonio Spurs 4, New Orleans Hornets 3

Tony Parker (Spurs) and Peja Stojakovic (Hornets)

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Boston Celtics 4, Cleveland Cavaliers 3

Kevin Garnett (Celtics) and LeBron James (Cavaliers)

Detroit Pistons 4, Orlando Magic 1

Dwight Howard (Magic) and Chauncey Billups (Pistons)

Western Conference Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 1, San Antonio Spurs 0

Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Tim Duncan (Spurs)

Eastern Conference Finals
Boston Celtics 1, Detroit Pistons 1

Kevin Garnett (Celtics) and Chauncey Billups (Pistons)

...all building up to:

You Don't Mess with the Zohan vs. Baron Davis

This weekend by the numbers

423 - times Brett and Brandon tried to get me in an accident on the way to the Block at Orange
$23.99 - money spent on dinner and $20 on a Dave and Busters card
1 - epic games of Skeeball played (see below)
1 - orange friendship bracelet redeemed from the ticket store (not gay at all...)
$12.50 - money spent on Iron Man, well worth it
1:00am - time arrived back home after the movie
$23 - money spent on a ticket to Six Flags Magic Mountain
6 - roller coasters rode at Six Flags
1 - set of cat ears won for finishing third in a carnival game
1 - awesome lemur won for winning a whack-a-mole game
100 - top speed hit on the 405 on the way back home
2:30am - time arrived back home after Six Flags
10:00am - time met up for the Society of Aerospace Professionals (SOAP) Pub Crawl
10:30am - time started the crawl
$16 - money spent to register for the crawl (to receive and awesome shirt, badge holder, and sharpie...)
4 - number of pubs we made it to (out of 6)
4 - number of people who started off in our group
2 - number of people who failed to make it to the end
542 - number of times Brett called someone a communist while drunk
1 - number of times one of us threw up in a urinal
6 - number of drinks I had (not including beer)
0 - number of drinks I had before this weekend (not including beer)
4 - games of flip-cup played
0 - games of flip-cup played before this weekend....
1 - long, but awesome weekend all around...


Oh, and that game of Skeeball, where Brandon, Brett, and I played, with second place having to consume one drink and third drinking two. We were going at our own pace until Brandon and I had rolled 8 out of 9 balls, each with a score of 200. Brett was far behind after 7 balls, with a score of 130. On his seventh, Brett rolled a 10, giving him 140 after 8 balls. In this skeeball setup, you could score 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 on any roll, meaning Brett had to roll a 100 to put pressure on Brandon and me. And what do you know, he got to the 100 point hole in the left corner, giving him a total of 240.

Brandon rolled his 9th ball first, scoring 40 points to tie with Brett. But on my final roll, I hit the 50 point hole at the top to claim first! The final scores were:

Shawn 250, Brandon 240, Brett 240

Booya! Brandon and Brett had a roll off to see who finished second, which Brett did. Yeah, it may seem like a lame story, but if you were there, it was totally an epic game.

A question....

well, what do you do when you want something that you can't have? Whether its a new computer, a video game, a girl... what do you do? I think I'm kind of stuck in that situation... and it sucks. A lot.

Finally got that car though... and hopefully moving out of my roach infested apartment soon. Maybe some pictures of the car and all the sporting events I've been to since February 29th. Here's the list:

1. New Orleans Voodoo vs. Los Angeles Avengers (AFL)
2. UCLA Bruins vs. USC Trojans (NCAA Baseball)
3. Stanford Cardinal vs. USC Trojans (NCAA Basketball)
4. UCLA Bruins vs. USC Trojans (Pac-10 Tournament Semi-Finals)
5. Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB Exhibition @ Los Angeles Coliseum)
6. Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
   

It's March Madness!

And the Trojans are matched up against the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. What happened to the BCS schools being matched up against mid-majors in the first round of the NCAA tourney? Two years running, though it's hard to argue with the results from last year, where USC played three BCS schools, including Texas and player of the year Kevin Durant and top seeded North Carolina. This year, the Trojans open up with player of the year candidate, freshman Michael Beasley:





























One of his teammates, redshirt freshman Bill Walker, shown below, is one of O.J. Mayo's good friends.



























Here are the Wildcat team stats from ESPN.com:
Name - Position - Points - Rebounds - Assists

Michael Beasley	F	26.5	12.4	1.2
Bill Walker	F	15.8	6.4	2.0
Jacob Pullen	G	9.8	1.4	3.2
Clent Stewart	G	7.0	3.1	3.2
Blake Young	G	6.1	3.5	1.9
Fred Brown	G	4.2	1.3	0.7
Andre Gilbert	F	4.2	2.6	1.7
Dominique Sutton	F	3.2	2.5	0.6
Ron Anderson	F	3.1	3.5	0.5
Darren Kent	F	2.5	2.4	1.3
Luis Colon	F	1.2	1.1	0.2
James Franklin	G	0.6	0.7	0.6
Chris Merriewether	G	0.6	0.9	0.8

which knowing USC Coach Tim Floyd, we'll be seeing a lot of triangle & 2 defense on Thursday, with G Daniel Hackett probably getting the tougher draw in Beasley with Mayo defending Walker. Hackett had a similar assignment last year against Texas, where he "held" Durant to a "quiet" 30 points, but Beasley may be a harder matchup for the Italian Stallion, who is only 6-5 whereas Beasley checks in at 6-10. If Hackett can do the same job against Beasley as he did on Durant, SC should have a lot of success, especially since Kansas State doesn't have a lot of options outside of Beasley and Walker. Beasley is adept from 3-point range, shooting at a 39% clip, and he also leads the team in rebounding. This should be the most obvious use of the triangle & 2 for Floyd, so he might change up the defense considering that the Wildcats have a few days to prepare for it.

On offense, it's all about balance. Mayo can't score over 30 points if the Trojans want to be successful, as USC needs contributions from Davon Jefferson, Taj Gibson, Dwight Lewis, and any effort off the bench. Gibson can't lay an egg in this one, he needs at least 15 points and 8 rebounds to be a force, though he should expect double teams down low. Here's where Jefferson steps in. He can't hang out at the three point line, instead he needs to establish himself down low to give USC two options in the post and keep the double teams off of Gibson. If Lewis can continue his drives into the paint and hit the occasional jumper, he'll be doing his part. Hackett should concentrate on defending Beasley. And any effort off the bench, whether it be key minutes from Angelo Johnson spelling Hackett or Lewis, and Keith Wilkinson giving Gibson and Jefferson a quick breather while hitting outside shots and grabbing defensive rebounds, will be a plus. USC can't win if only four guys are contributing, no matter how Mayo is performing. If all seven guys can help out, SC should win this one and move on to the second round.

It's all about how the teams finished. USC finished the season winning 6 of their last 7 before their loss to UCLA in the Pac-10 tourney, and went 12-5 in their last 17 games. Kansas State finished 3-6 to end the regular season. All season long, the Wildcats were pretty inconsistent, going from a high of upsetting Kansas on January 30th to dropping the next game to lowly Missouri. Here's a comparison of the two teams:

Kansas State (20-11, 10-6 Big 12)
Key wins: Oklahoma, Kansas (Big 12 Champs), Texas A&M
Key losses: George Mason (Colonial Champs), Oregon, Notre Dame, Xavier, Missouri, Texas

USC (21-11, 11-7 Pac-10)
Key wins: San Diego (WCC Champs), Oklahoma, UCLA (Pac-10 Champs, #1 seed), Stanford
Key losses: Mercer, Kansas (Big 12 Champs, #1 seed), Memphis (C-USA Champs, #1 seed), UCLA (Pac-10 Champs, #1 seed)

Anyway... maybe more later... but my pick to win it all? UCLA, ugh...

USC fans suck...

First time at a USC-UCLA basketball game yesterday for the Pac-10 tournament semi-finals at Staples Center. Have to say, USC fans are TERRIBLE compared to UCLA fans. I first noticed this trend at a USC-UCLA baseball game a couple of weeks back, where their fans were fired up for the game, which was even more impressive since the game was at Dedeaux Field, the Trojans home field. Anyway, at a "neutral" Staples Center, USC fans were outnumbered 65-30, with the last 5 probably being Wazzu or Stanford fans for the following game. But even with the modest number of fans, it was hard to tell we were even there. UCLA fans, I'll give it up to you guys, you were into the game. Even in the first half, where USC dominated, you still did the eight-clap and UCLA spellout while the band played Sons of Westwood and the other song you stole from Cal. Meanwhile, we Trojan fans sat on our hands, cheering once for big plays while our band refused to play Fight On. It sucked.


SoCal Spellout


We Are SC!

Now I'm no spirit leader, but a response to the Bruin eight-clap would have been more SoCal spellouts or a We Are SC chant, even though that's supposed to be reserved for when we're leading at the end of games, but in an environment like last night, in a neutral arena, we needed to be heard. Every time UCLA fans finished their eight-clap, USC fans should have been right there with a Socal spellout or We Are SC chants. Instead, our lame ass response is to add "sucks" whenever the Bruin fans yelled UCLA. Pretty embarrassing. I think we did the SoCal spellout twice all night. Brutal. Screw saving "We are SC" for the end of games, if the team needs a rallying cry, that's it! The band yells "Go SC" all game long, and "U-S-C" is too short, but "We are SC" is perfect. That's what the SC faithful should have done instead of saying "sucks" after Bruin fans said UCLA. I hate Trojan fans...

It's not completely our fault though, as the USC band needs to play Fight On more often. I think they played it three times all game, once when the team came onto the court before the game, once when they came back from halftime, and when there were a few minutes left in the game. Weak sauce. I think the Bruin band played the Cal fight song several times, especially during their key 15-2 run to start the second half, The Trojan band response to our eight point lead in the first half? "All Right Now"? WEAK. If the band can play Fight On over 30 times during a football game, why can't we hear it more than 3 times during a basketball game? And what happened to playing Conquest? It's our freaking battle cry, and we don't get it before basketball games? That's the best part of the pregame routine in football, yet its nowhere to be heard in basketball? What the heck?

While I hate UCLA in general, I do like their fans. They care about ALL of their sports teams, not just the successful ones. They show up to baseball, basketball, football, volleyball in decent numbers compared to SC fans, who are truly bandwagoners. At least most are. I don't really consider myself a bandwagon fan, even though I did start enjoying USC when the football team won the national championship in 2003. Which, coincidently, was my freshman year here. Now while I haven't been to a whole lot of other USC sporting events, I do root for USC when I get a chance to. Freshman year, I went to the USC-Arizona basketball game when Desmon Farmar scored 40 as the Trojans upset a top-10 Wildcat team. I was there the following game when SC lost to lowly Arizona State, but I was there, even though it was quite a trek to get to the Sports Arena. My sophomore year, I went to two road football games. The first was a close one, where the Trojans rallied from a 11 point halftime deficient to win 31-28 against Stanford. The second was another close one, a 29-24 win over UCLA for a trip to the Orange Bowl, where USC won their second national championship in football. When I was in Hawaii for Winter Break, I went to the Rainbow Classic championship, where USC fell to Hawaii 81-78 under interim coach Jim Saia. I also went to a volleyball game between Hawaii and USC that year, though skipped out on basketball cause I lived sooo far away from the Sports Arena that year. Junior year, I went to the epic Rose Bowl game between USC and Texas. Senior year, I was there for the 13-9 debacle against UCLA at the Rose Bowl, as well as going to a handful of basketball games at the Galen Center. And this year, I traveled to Berkeley for the weekender game against Cal, and have gone to several basketball games and my first USC baseball game. This is on top of being at 30 consecutive home football games during my 5 years at USC. So me a bandwagoner? Hardly...

Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) Cartoon

Should be studying, but instead, here's a bunch of Sports Guy cartoons to hold me(you) over...

The Christies


The Big Unit


21 Under


Tailgate


Cell Phone


The Dragon Lady


Smells Like Team Spirit


Gang Tackle


Train Wreck


Hay Fever


Lottery Ticket


Face Off


Halftime Show


Never Happened


The Shoe


Down Goes Brady


Christmas Day


Sunday Morning


The Juice


Tennis Ball


Videos courtesy of uva3021 on youtube: http://youtube.com/profile?user=uva3021

Paul Ogata

Comedian from Hawaii living in LA these days...

Russell Peters

Great show last night, he went a strong 2+ hours at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Here are some clips of his on youtube...


The 45 minutes that made him famous

Some highlights from his Outsourced DVD...











More later?

Kina Grannis, the new Michelle Branch?

You decide... I hope Kina doesn't mind, though go to her Myspace page for more info on her:

http://www.myspace.com/kinagrannis


Message From Your Heart


Good Day LA Appearance


Cambridge


Gotta Digg


Down and Gone (The Blue Song)


Ours to Keep


Bubbly (Colbie Caillat cover)


People


Strong Enough


Breathe Honesty


Stay Just a Little


These Magnet Hearts


After an Afternoon (Jason Mraz Cover)


I'll Be (Edwin McCain Cover)


Too Soon


20,000 Seconds (K's Choice Cover)


Memory


Try


Goodnight

There's a lot more out there... check her out. Fight on Kina!

Giants upset Pats in Super Bowl XLII

Well, after combining for 10 points through three quarters, New England and Jersey/A put on a hell of a fourth quarter. Giants QB Eli Manning, the MVP, threw for two touchdowns in the final frame as the New York defense held Patriots QB Tom Brady and WR Randy Moss in check all game. Giants rookie WR Steve Smith had a huge game, with 5 catches for 50 yards, though he did have a drop which led to a Pats interception. Here's Steve's game in pictures...























Former USC QB Matt Cassel warming up before the game.
























Smith with a catch in the first quarter.

















Smith making a key reception on the game's final drive.



















Smith being showered with confetti after the game.
























Smith celebrating with fans after the game.

But the best part of the big game is the commercials, right? Here are the ones I enjoyed/remembered:


USC '07 grad Kina Grannis won a Doritos competition to have her music featured between the first and second quarters of the game, and boy she didn't disappoint. Probably didn't hurt that she's really cute too. Fight on Kina!



Diet Pepsi Max ad featuring "What is Love" by Haddaway. Great to still see Chris Kattan getting some work in...



I kinda enjoyed this one too...lol Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake hitting on some high school girl ("Hey." "Hey you...").

The worst? Probably those Sales Genie ones. Those weren't totally racist...

Time for some reflection...

January 28th... its the day that my grandfather and one of my closest friends died. Not saying that I wasn't close to my grandpa, but the death of my friend probably hit me harder because of the circumstances around his passing. My grandpa was always in and out of the hospital for various bypasses and other stuff, plus he had lived a long life. He had a stroke on January 21st, 2003, which put him in a week long coma from which he would never wake from. He was removed from live support on January 28th, 2003, and that time of my life was really hard. College applications, recruiting trips, band rehearsals, and varsity basketball were all on my plate, not to mention finishing up my senior year, then that had to happen. But the worse part was that I had a feeling he would pass on the 28th, even as machines were keeping him alive for about a week. See, the year before, we got terrible news that I think changed all of my classmates lives forever.

January 27th, 2002, in the middle of basketball season, running around preparing for college entrance exams, sectionals for band, and of course basketball. It was probably the last day I lived without a feeling of regret. Before that, Greg Gaines had become a pretty close friend of mine. We shared a lot of common interests, the biggest probably being professional wrestling. He was one of the few people I could talk to about wrestling with out getting weird reactions from. He also enjoyed playing Pokemon, something I would pick up at the waaayy too old age of 17 and still played somewhat in college. We were both in band, he played the clarinet, while I was on the trombone. I believe 2001-02 was the first year that he was in Symphonic Band, the A-band of our school, which mean grueling 6-8pm rehearsals, which really put a grind on some of us who just had sports practices from 4-6pm. I remember helping him with his bow tie, it was such a struggle to put on, as his dress shirt collar didn't flip up, rather there were loops in the collar to thread the tie through. But we used to ride the bus home together. Sure, I would take a side track on the same bus he rode just to have someone to talk to, and funny, he was probably the last constant companion I've had on the bus. But we'd talk and enjoy the 20 minute ride from UH Manoa to Ala Moana, where I'd get off and continue on to Waikiki from there while he'd stay on until the bus reached Downtown. I remember he wanted to go to Wake Forest to golf, which many of us thought was a weird choice of school, if only because most of us had not made up our minds on what school to attend, me included. But that day, the 27th, I was late for basketball practice for some reason, probably because I was on the yearbook committee, and I was in such a rush, that I had noticed Greg returning to campus as I was headed for the gym, but did not acknowledge him or say hi or anything. I figured I'd see him the next day. Oh boy...

One of the girls came running into our class the next day, crying about something. The guys figured she was having some kind of boy problems. Well in a way, she was, and so were we. Death is a hard time to handle, whether you are 17 to 70. It's probably easier to face death when it's expected, like in the case with my grandpa, as it seemed to finally be his time to go. But death is unexpected when it happens to a high school junior. It was even more shocking to hear that he had jumped out of his apartment window. To this day, I don't know the entire story of why he did it. It's still hard for me to wrap my mind around that. He didn't seem like the type of person to do that. And I still think, maybe if I had said hi to him the day before. If I had given him a hug once in his life. If I could have been nicer to him. If I could have helped him. Maybe he'd still be here today, maybe playing golf, which was his passion. Maybe he would have went to Wake Forest or another great university and have a great job. Maybe he would be living a great, happy life with someone who he loves and loves him in return.

I don't think I handled his death properly. Then again, I hadn't faced death with a person so close to me yet. Sure, older relatives had passed away, but I always figured it was their time. But at the time, he was probably the closest thing I had to a best friend. And now, I don't know if there's anyone I know who I can call a best friend or who could do the same in return. I remember we used to do Secret Santa for Christmas gifts, and by some luck, we drew each other and he gave me a wrestling calendar while I gave him a couple of wrestling figurines. But I like to remember that I hung out with him a lot at the university Campus Center and the arcade. I didn't go to his home or anything, don't get me wrong, I hadn't been to many of my friend's homes at all. But ever since, I don't think I ever really got close with one or two people, rather I have a lot of acquaintances that I know and can talk to. But there isn't that one person I can really trust with my feelings and I can be really truthful with.

I've been thinking about this question for a while as I see some of my high school classmates having children while others are married. If you had to choose, would you rather be wealthy and have a great job or be with someone who unconditionally loves you? I'm not saying in either position, but I do enjoy my job, probably for the people that I work over the kind of work I do, while I still haven't found a girl in the right situation. Every time I think I'm close, something comes in the way, work, other commitments, etc. Two people on my project are not married and they seem fairly old. I know I'm only 23, but I do not want to end up like them. They may live wonderful lives, but me, I feel like I need to share my life with someone else. Even right now, I feel pretty lonely in my apartment, with no one I know within a 10 mile radius of me. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever find the right one. I felt like I have several times, but it has never panned out. Maybe I need to change my life, and do it fast. Then again, I don't know how to go out and meet people outside of work and school. I've never figured it out, like how all of the girls in high school had a boyfriend not in our class, yet the guys were stuck out of luck. Hmm, maybe I need to have a conversation with someone about this. But again, who do I go to with questions like this? It's a vicious cycle that can't seem to be broken.

I also need to stop building up some girls only to be shot down. Well, not really shot down, just either I run out of time or something better comes along (to them, not to me). I admit, I was intimidated by girls before. Now, not so much, but the more I talk to one, the closer I feel to them, and soon I get attached. Then all I think about is spending more time with the girl, though now if that thought pops into my mind, I try to quickly squash it, knowing its not going to pan out into anything that I imagine. I try to be around the girl as much as possible, but now again, I've learned to stop obsessing with being around her and try to just let things happen. I don't want to go into the specifics, but my mind has not been on work at work recently, just on someone else. It's hard to concentrate sometimes, and I have to go for a walk just to clear my mind.

Well, that was quite a sidetrack. I just needed to vent/release some stress, and I feel like writing is the best way to do it. Blogging allows me to see and reflect from wherever I have internet access, as I can't write by hand, my penmanship is terrible. It doesn't matter, no one reads this anyway. What do I need? I need a nice long hug...

Lindsay Soto!

Um, yeah, my (unhealthy) obsession with Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket anchor/reporter Lindsay Soto...

Just like football!

Well, USC can say that in all sports against UCLA so far this year. In fact, USC has either won or split the season series with UCLA in all head-to-head sports so far this year. USC is also the first school to have won a Women's national championship in soccer, reach the final four in Women's volleyball, and for the football team to play in a BCS game. The Trojans have a dominating 37.5-10 lead over the Westwood Bruins after sweeping them in basketball last weekend. It was a great win by the men's team, who somehow pulled away from UCLA in the final minutes with a 9-0 run, capped by Davon Jefferson posterizing Kevin Love for a three point play:























Here's the clip:


USC has rolled off four straight wins after a dismal 0-3 start in conference play. The team looks a lot more confident, with O.J. Mayo not jacking up wild shots, Daniel Hackett as the glue of the offense, Taj Gibson staying out of foul trouble, Dwight Lewis stepping up on the offensive end, and Davon Jefferson growing out of Mayo's shadow. The only worry about the team is the same that I had last year, the lack of depth, which really shone bright in the North Carolina game, when Gibson picked up his fourth foul, the Tar Heels took the game over. This year, Coach Tim Floyd is constantly using 7-8 players per game, with the starters playing at least 30 minutes per game, with Mayo closer to 36. It's not really Floyd's fault; Kyle Austin started the season opener before transferring, Kasey Cunningham played with some promise before going down for the season with an injury, Mamadou Diarra looks like another stiff, or a homeless man's Abdoulaye N'diaye, Keith Wilkinson is a poor man's Rory O'Neill, and RouSean Cromwell scoring 0.7 points per game. Angelo Johnson is the only one off the bench that has played in every game and is in for more than 20 minutes per game. Wilkinson is the only reliable post player off the bench, but that's not saying much. It didn't help that Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt left for the draft last year. I can't really blame Nick, but Gabe is slumming in the NBDL right now instead of leading the team as our lone senior. Then again, Pruitt still wouldn't be the solution to our big man problems. One answer would have been this guy:































Here's a clip of the big man in action:


7-7, 360 pound Kenny George. I'm sure he can only play for a few minutes at a time, but anything is better than Cromwell roaming the floor, right? And wouldn't he be giving Kevin Love, Brook/Robin Lopez, and Ryan Anderson fits for years? Oh well.

The Trojans' win streak is at risk this week against the sizzling Chase Buddinger and the Arizona Wildcats and the frisky Jeff Pendergrapf and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Hmm, if these winning ways continue, look for some basketball previews...

Back to the title of the post, "Just like football!" I have a feeling the USC fans started the chant after the end of basketball wins when the team wasn't very good. Now, it's starting to backfire, starting with our loss to Stanford in football. At the end of a thrilling (...) 52-46 loss to the Cardinal, their fans (deservingly) started a "Just like football!" chant, which I'm sure hurt a lot of USC fans. We do deserve that, as I've found we have used that chant when the basketball team beat a weaker team instead of pulling off an upset. I have thought of a few rules to use this chant to not make the fans sound like assholes:

1. The football team pulled off an upset, regardless of the rankings during the basketball season. (E.g., UCLA beat #2 USC 13-9 in football then swept them in basketball last year.)
2. The basketball team pulled off an upset, regardless of the rankings during the football season. (E.g., Arizona beat Washington State 48-20 in football then upset them in basketball 76-64 this year.)
3. The football team won in a National Championship game, regardless of the rankings during the basketball season, with a lasting life of 5 years. (E.g. USC beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl then beat them in basketball in December 2007.)

If there's more I'll post them later. But I like the "We are SC!" chant much better. I get chills when I hear it at the end of huge wins, like in the NCAA Tournament against Arkansas and Texas, as well as the Cal and UCLA wins in football this year. Here's a sample of it:


Anyway... time to do some homework... ugh. Is it even worth it anymore?

Yes please...

Early look at next season's OCC schedules

...of the BCS schools (teams in bold do not have complete schedules, more on that later):

Atlantic Coast Conference
Boston College - vs. Kent State (@ Cleveland), vs. Rhode Island (FCS), vs. Notre Dame, Central Florida
Clemson - vs. Alabama (@ Atlanta), vs. Citadel (FCS), vs. South Carolina State (FCS), vs. South Carolina
Florida State - vs. Colorado, vs. Florida, vs. Western Carolina (FCS), vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga (FCS)
Maryland - vs. Delaware (FCS), @ Middle Tennessee, vs. California, vs. Eastern Michigan
North Carolina State - @ South Carolina, vs. South Florida, vs. William & Mary (FCS), vs. East Carolina
Wake Forest - @ Baylor, vs. Mississippi, vs. Navy, vs. Vanderbilt
Duke - vs. James Madison (FCS), Northwestern, Navy, @ Vanderbilt
Georgia Tech - vs. Jacksonville State (FCS), Mississippi State, @ Georgia, TBA
Miami (Florida) - Charleston Southern (FCS), @ Florida, @ Texas A&M, vs. Central Florida
North Carolina - vs. McNeese State (FCS), @ Rutgers, vs. Connecticut, vs. Notre Dame
Virginia - vs. Southern California, @ Connecticut, vs. East Carolina, vs. Richmond (FCS)
Virginia Tech - vs. East Carolina @ Charlotte, vs. Furman (FCS), @ Nebraska, TBA
Percentage of FCS teams - 13/46 (28.3%)

Big East Conference
Cincinnati - vs. Eastern Kentucky (FCS), @ Oklahoma, vs. Miami (Ohio), @ Akron, @ Marshall, @ Hawaii (6 games!)
Connecticut - vs. Hofstra (FCS), @ Temple, vs. Virginia, vs. Baylor, @ North Carolina
Louisville - vs. Kentucky, vs. Kansas State, vs. Middle Tennessee, vs. Tennessee Tech (FCS), TBA
Pittsburgh - vs. Bowling Green, vs. Iowa, @ Navy, @ Notre Dame, vs. Buffalo
Rutgers - @ Navy, vs. North Carolina, vs. Army, TBA, TBA
South Florida - vs. Tennessee-Martin (FCS), @ Central Florida, vs. Kansas, @ Florida International, @ North Carolina State
Syracuse - @ Northwestern, vs. Akron, vs. Penn State, @ Notre Dame, TBA
West Virginia - vs. Auburn, vs. Marshall, @ Colorado, vs. Villanova (FCS), @ East Carolina
Percentage of FCS teams - 5/37 (13.5%)

Big Ten Conference
Illinois - vs. Missouri (@ St. Louis), vs. Eastern Illinois (FCS), vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, TBA
Indiana - vs. Ball State, vs. Murray State (FCS), vs. Western Kentucky (FCS trans.), Central Michigan
Iowa - vs. Maine (FCS), vs. Florida International, vs. Iowa State, @ Pittsburgh
Michigan - vs. Utah, vs. Miami (Ohio), @ Notre dame, vs. Toledo
Michigan State - @ California, vs. Eastern Michigan, vs. Florida Atlantic, vs. Notre Dame
Minnesota - vs. Northern Illinois, @ Bowling Green, vs. Montana State (FCS), vs. Florida Atlantic
Northwestern - vs. Syracuse, @ Duke, vs. Southern Illinois (FCS), vs. Ohio
Ohio State - vs. Youngstown State (FCS), vs. Ohio, @ Southern California, vs. Troy
Penn State - vs. Coastal Carolina (FCS), vs. Oregon State, @ Syracuse, vs. Temple
Purdue - vs. Northern Colorado (FCS), vs. Oregon, vs. Central Michigan, @ Notre Dame
Wisconsin - vs. Akron, vs. Marshall, @ Fresno State, TBA
Percentage of FCS teams - 8/42 (19.0%)

Big 12 Conference
Colorado - vs. Colorado State @ Denver, vs. Eastern Washington, @ Florida State, vs. West Virginia
Iowa State - vs. South Dakota State (FCS), vs. Kent State, @ Iowa, @ Nevada-Las Vegas
Kansas - vs. Florida International, vs. Louisiana Tech, @ South Florida, vs. Sam Houston State (FCS)
Kansas State - vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, vs. Fresno State, @ Louisville, vs. North Texas
Missouri - vs. Illinois (@ St. Louis), vs. SE Missouri State (FCS), vs. Nevada, vs. Buffalo
Nebraska - vs. Western Michigan, vs. San Jose State, vs. New Mexico State, vs. Virginia Tech
Baylor - vs. Wake Forest, vs. Northwestern State (FCS), vs. Washington State, @ Connecticut
Oklahoma - vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga (FCS), vs. Cincinnati, @ Washington, vs. Texas Christian
Oklahoma State - vs. Washington State (@ Seattle), vs. Houston, vs. Missouri State (FCS), vs. Troy
Texas - vs. Florida Atlantic, @ Texas-El Paso, vs. Arkansas, vs. Rice
Texas A&M - vs. Arkansas State, @ New Mexico, vs. Miami (Florida), vs. Army
Texas Tech - vs. Tulsa, @ Nevada, vs. Southern Methodist, vs. Massachusetts (FCS)
Percentage of FCS teams - 7/48 (14.6%)

Pacific 10 Conference
Arizona - vs. Idaho, vs. Toledo, @ New Mexico
Arizona State - vs. Northern Arizona (FCS), vs. Nevada-Las Vegas, vs. Georgia
California - vs. Michigan State, @ Maryland, vs. Colorado State
Oregon - vs. Utah State, @ Purdue, vs. Boise State
Oregon State - @ Penn State, vs. Hawaii, @ Utah
USC - @ Virginia, vs. Ohio State, vs. Notre Dame
Stanford - @ Texas Christian, vs. San Jose State, @ Notre Dame
UCLA - vs. Fresno State, vs. Tennessee, @ Brigham Young
Washington - vs. Brigham Young, vs. Oklahoma, vs. Notre Dame
Washington State - vs. Oklahoma State (@ Seattle), @ Baylor, vs. Portland State (FCS), @ Hawaii
Percentage of FCS teams - 2/31 (6.4%)

Southeastern Conference
Florida - vs. Hawaii, vs. Miami (Florida), vs. The Citadel (FCS), @ Florida State
Georgia - vs. Georgia Southern (FCS), vs. Central Michigan, @ Arizona State, vs. Georgia Tech
Kentucky - @ Louisville, vs. Norfolk State (FCS), vs. Akron, vs. Temple
South Carolina - vs. North Carolina State, @ Vanderbilt, vs. Wofford (FCS), vs. Alabama-Birmingham
Tennessee - vs. Alabama-Birmingham, @ UCLA, vs. Northern Illinois, vs. Wyoming
Vanderbilt - @ Miami (Ohio), vs. Duke, vs. Rice, @ Wake Forest
Alabama - vs. Clemson (@ Atlanta), vs. Tulane, vs. Western Kentucky (FCS trans), vs. Arkansas State
Arkansas - vs. Western Illinois (FCS), @ Texas, vs. Utah State, TBA
Auburn - vs. Louisiana-Monroe, @ West Virginia, vs. Southern Mississippi, vs. Tennessee-Martin (FCS)
Louisiana State - vs. North Texas, vs. Troy, vs. Tulane, TBA
Mississippi - vs. Memphis, @ Wake Forest, vs. Samford (FCS), vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Mississippi State - @ Louisiana Tech - vs. Southeast Louisiana (FCS), @ Georgia Tech, vs. Middle Tennessee
Percentage of FBS teams - 8/42 (19.0%)

And for help with filling out those TBAs without the use of FBS teams...maybe later when the ACC and Big East regular season schedules are finalized...

And for ten OOC games to watch for...

1. 9/13 - Ohio State @ USC
2. 9/6 - Auburn @ West Virginia
3. 9/20 - Georgia @ Arizona State
4. 9/6 - Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
5. 9/6 - Tennessee @ UCLA
6. 9/13 - Arkansas @ Texas
7. 8/30 - USC @ Virginia
8. 8/30 - Alabama vs. Clemson @ Atlanta
9. 8/30 - Illinois vs. Missouri @ St. Louis
10. 9/27 - Virginia Tech @ Nebraska