CFB
Obviously, my last post is outdated. ND and Alabama should be a good game (assuming Georgia doesn’t win).
College Football Top 8
These are the rankings, in my opinion:
1. Kansas St. - A strong schedule and undefeated season thus far puts them here.
2. Alabama - A team that looked invincible two weeks ago, now has one loss. Their tough schedule and excellent performances put them here. If they had played (and beat) more ranked teams, this ranking would be more justified.
3. Oregon - Potent offense and dominating performances have been a hallmark of this team. A downside has been a weak schedule, which puts them behind Alabama.
4. Notre Dame - They had a schedule that, at the beginning of the season, looked insanely tough, and would definitely warrant a spot in the championship game, if they managed to go undefeated. Things have changed, as many of Notre Dame’s opponents have fell in the rankings, giving them a weaker schedule.
5. Texas A&M - A strong schedule and consistently good play, even in losing bids, pushes them up the rankings (of course, with help from their victory over Alabama). Their two losses total 8 points - 24-19 to LSU and 20-17 to Florida. More dominating performances, particularly on the offensive side, along with above average defense, places them above Florida, despite their loss to them.
6. Florida - Their overall performance is better than that of Georgia’s, despite losing to them (by 8 points) in their only loss.
7. LSU - Their two losses, totaling 12 points, are not as bad as Georgia’s one loss.
8. Georgia’s one blowout loss (35-7 loss to S. Carolina) is worse than A&M’s and LSU’s two losses, putting them behind A&M, Florida, and LSU.
BCS Rankings Projection
for Nov. 11, 2012:
1. Kansas St.
2. Oregon
3. Notre Dame
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
College Football Top 4
USC’s willingness to win and their evaluation on the value of beating Notre Dame will determine the winner of that game. USC played well against Oregon. If that USC plays Notre Dame, expect an 11-1 Notre Dame and shattered BCS title hopes.
Upset alert for Kansas State: TCU has an above average chance of pulling out the upset, though Kansas State remains the favorite to win. It will need to involve good performances on both sides of the ball for TCU to win, which it is capable of doing. The injury to Klein may also play a factor. Texas, at the end of the season, can pull out the victory against K-State if their offense is hot. This upset would involve a shootout, as you shouldn’t expect much from the Texas defense.
Alabama better come to play hard against Texas A&M. That is a team that lost by only 5 points to LSU and by a field goal to Florida (only two losses).
Oregon is on cruise control. They may play UCLA in the conference championship game, but I don’t expect an upset there.
The Thunder, not the Lakers, are the top dog in the West. The Spurs have a shot at beating them in the postseason this go around, assuming that the Thunder will not have as much momentum as they did trying to get to their first Finals.
Happy Halloween.
(via self-ownership)
Giants fan Don Martini spent two years and $20,000 building this 20-foot-by-17-foot replica of old Giants Stadium.
Via http://bit.ly/VgrX1m
With the courtyard construction complete, Zesper finally found respite from the maddening, messy view.
(Photo: Zubin Shroff; Dwell)
Price Gouging Laws Hurt Storm Victims
Art Carden last year explaining perfectly how important market mechanisms are in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The government does more harm than good when it steps in to punish price gougers by prohibiting the market from working.
I’ve come to think that there is an iron law of intervention: if you want to make a problem worse, pass a law to fix it. Price controls create shortages: when the price isn’t allowed to rise to coordinate the wants of buyers with the wants of sellers, shortages result. The cruel irony is that any “benefit” for those we are trying to help is frittered away because people who aren’t allowed to pay for something with their money will pay for it with their time. Passing a law doesn’t change what someone is willing to pay, but it changes how they pay.
Some Sports Thoughts
- The Dallas Cowboys are a good team and capable of beating any other team in the league. Their problem is consistency, not only from game to game, but from drive to drive. I will not be surprised if they beat the Atlanta Falcons (and definitely won’t be surprised if they lose).
- I didn’t read the entire article, but arresting people for gambling on youth football games seems silly and is a waste of police resources. http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8568724/nine-south-florida-youth-football-coaches-face-gambling-charges
- The NBA season starts tonight. Heat vs. Celtics and Lakers vs. Mavs (minus Dirk) are a couple of games to look forward to tonight.
