Does Anybody Want to a Top-Three Ranking?

Among my fatal flaws apparently is that I'm a compulsive liar. Here I am, two days' worth of college football stuff, and my titles lie about the date it was posted. I'm clearly a terrible person. I'll post the Thursday Tailgate a little later today - even though it's clearly Friday.

Anyways, a quick bit about last night's game, and then we can get on with life: What a win for Utah! Who'd have thought TCU could fall so far?
OK, seriously, the game that people actually realized was happening: I'm most upset about last night's result because I know that it will cause everyone and their brother to trot out the "overrated" tag and claim that we all got caught up in the hype. Is it true? Certainly possible, but I'm not sold yet. Drop the "South" from this team's name, and they don't get nearly the disrespect they've endured. I'm no legendary speaker, but I do have a dream that one day college football watchers will judge teams based not on the name on the front of the jersey, but the way they play while representing that name.

So where does South Florida go from here? Realistically, the BCS, likely anywhere other than Pasadena. The rest of their schedule plays out very nicely for USF all things considered. Their two toughest games left (Louisville and Cincinnati) are both at home, and UConn, Syracuse and Pitt shouldn't really scare anyone on the road. Don't think for a second that just because the Bulls lost on the road to Rutgers in a game where Greg Schiano had to pull out every trick in the book means that we were all taken for fools. They might not be a top-three team, but they're better than most anyone would've thought they'd be this year.

The Right Stuff

Just read an interesting article from Mike Lupica about The Boss. I agree with much of what he writes and have this to add: From a fans perspective, Steinbrenner is the best owner in professional sports, period, bar none. The reason? At the end of the day, he wants to win and will do literally whatever it takes to do so. He'll plunk down $200 mil without blinking an eye, because he believes it gives him a better baseball team. Yeah, occasionally big contract guys don't pan out, but it's no longer because The Boss thinks he knows baseball better than anyone else. He lets his baseball people run things and signs the paychecks it takes to win.

As a side note, how did this article happen? As a Yankees fan, I take pride in the fact that winning is the only goal. IT'S PROFESSIONAL SPORTS!!! There aren't any participation trophies here. Fans shell out hundreds of dollars a game to watch millionaire athletes play games they did as children, living vicariously at times through their favorite players. And Pearlman thinks the fans no longer enjoy watching the Yankees because the process is no longer fun? Please. If that's your viewpoint, you're a Mets fan.

Yes, there's pressure. I don't feel the Yankees are successful unless they had a legitimate shot at a World Series title each year. Shouldn't that be what it's all about? Am I missing something here? Should I hop on I-95 and go watch Miguel Tejada botch a couple of grounders and glide through plays because he knows the Orioles are going nowhere? Is this somehow more fun because for a fan, because you get to experience more joy when the Orioles finally win a title? I don't know. I was pretty pleased in 1996. And 1998. And 1999. And 2000. Silly me, but I haven't been quite as happy since then.

I guess what it boils down to is, would you rather start thinking in June about what prospects your team will pick up in a midseason salary dump, or would you rather start creating your normal October schedule, because your team is going to play seven months every season?

BOG

Title Talk
Is it just me, or does anyone else smell a potential Boston College vs. South Florida BCS title tilt? South Florida's toughest remaining game might be this coming Saturday at Rutgers, depending on how much love you want to give Cincinnatti. Boston College, meanwhile, has some tough games remaining in the ACC, but at the moment looks head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. I think Ohio State has too many tough matches left to say they'll escape without a loss, despite probably being the best of these three squads. It could come down to how much love BC and USF get from BCS voters, as neither team plays in a true power conference.

A match made in heaven
Does anything more need to be said? This could be like The Mighty Ducks, just in reverse. Get ready for a possibly magical season out of this club.