The Sports Section

Another week down, and the BCS keeps getting crazier and crazier. It’s almost for sure that we’ll have one SEC team in the title game now, though. Let’s look at some match-ups going into rivalry week.

First, we have #1 Notre Dame heading to my neck of the woods to try to win the Battle For The Jeweled Shillelagh. Although Dame must be feeling good about lighting up their #1 sign on campus for the first time since 1993 and knowing the Matt Barkley will be out next weekend due to his injury, they still have to win to secure their spot in the National Championship Game.

Then we have #2 Alabama in the Iron Bowl against Auburn. Auburn may not be that great this year, but they always get it up for the Tide, and they could very well mess up Bama’s plans with a win this weekend.

Georgia Tech, this year’s apparent ACC Coastal Division winner, heads to #3 Georgia for some Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. This game is as important to Georgia as the Iron Bowl is to Alabama, because if they both win, this will set up the SEC Championship game, and unless both of these teams have a loss then, this almost assures the winner their spot in the Title Game.

#5 Oregon will play in the Civil War against #15 Oregon State, hoping that they win, so in the off-chance that everybody above them loses, they can get back in the title hunt. There will be tons more rivalry games this weekend, too, but the rest won’t have National Title implications.

Let’s look at that picture for a minute. If #1 Notre Dame beats USC, they will be in the title game against the winner of the SEC Championship game. If they lose to USC and #4 Florida beats #10 Florida State, then it will be the Gators vs the winner of the SEC. If USC and the Seminoles both win, then it will be the SEC winner vs #5 Oregon, and if USC, FSU, Oregon lose and Kansas State beats Texas, then it will be the winner of the SEC Title Game vs whoever the BCS chooses between Kansas State and Notre Dame. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess, but we have to hold on until the weekend to find out who gets their shot and who will take home parting gifts!

On to the NFL this week. We have Robert Griffin III, who has somehow managed to go 14-15 for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns without a single turnover all game long. Granted, he was playing the Eagles, and I am pretty sure Andy Reid is just seeing what he can get away with before he’s canned, but that’s still pretty impressive in the Pros.

On the opposite side of that coin, San Diego’s Rivers has 43 turnovers in 26 games. Ouch! There’s another coach that should probably be getting the axe pretty soon. Matt Ryan threw 5 interceptions and no touchdowns and still managed to win the game. Rivers didn’t get that luxury, but he was playing a much better defense, seeing as Denver has made opponents go 0 for 26 on 3rd down conversions over the last 3 games. They do seem to have lost Willis McGahee for the season, though, as it has been confirmed that he has messed up his knee again.

Also hurt this week is still Roethlisberger, and now Leftwich is hurt as well, so Charlie Batch will be starting at QB this week. Tough break, Steelers fans, and Merry Christmas, Charlie Batch.

On the other side of the ball, Ed Reed will be suspended for a game over hits to the head and neck, even though this last hit was completely unintentional. Recievers have started lowering their heads when they make a catch now just to draw the penalty, so something needs to be reviewed in this policy, but as it is, this suspension will cost Reed the game’s payday of $423,529. That’s a heck of a hit!

New England may have lost Gronkowski for a while with a broken forearm, Brandon Meriweather is out for the season, and Cotchery is now on the injury list. There’s a lot of hurt going around, and we’re even seeing it on Monday Night Football. Both starting quarterbacks are out, so this is a backup vs backup scenario.

Most of us had Chicago’s defense pegged as awesome, but it sure hasn’t looked like it tonight. The Bears have a tied record with the Packers now (7-3), but it’s still looking like those two, Baltimore, Houston, Denver, New York (Giants), the Falcons and the 49ers still lead their divisions, but nobody has clinched yet.

We’re getting into the meat of the schedule now, and we’re going to see some great games in the upcoming weeks as teams try to claw their way into the playoffs. Let’s keep watching and see who gets the trophies and who gets first pick in next year’s draft!

-Tony

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