Trav's Thoughts

Before we get to the NFL stuff, I have just a few notes on yesterday's college action.

What a great game between Washington State and Washington! Momentum swung back and forth all evening. Cougar QB Alex Brink threw a TD pass with under a minute to play to put WSU ahead 42-35. Husky QB Jake Locker had a couple throws into the end zone to try and tie, but threw an interception on the final play.


In another fantastic game, Tennessee beat Kentucky 52-50 after 4 overtimes. So now UT will play LSU in the SEC Championship game. Funny how people were calling for Coach Fulmer's head earlier in the season. He's got an SEC Championship in his grasp now.

The pain for Irish fans finally came to an end today with Notre Dame's win at Stanford. The Irish finished the season with two wins in a row. It's something positive to take into spring practice next year. I've heard that the Irish incoming freshman class is rated in the top 3 in the country. We'll have to wait and see how that works out. For now, I join all Irish fans in wishing the best of futures for Tom Zbikowski, Trevor Laws, Maurice Crum, and the rest of the seniors.



The BCS is a mess. I mean that in a good way. Here are the results for this weekend:

1 LSU lost to Arkansas
2 Kansas lost to 4 Missouri
3 West Virginia beat 20 Connecticut
4 Missouri beat 2 Kansas
5 Ohio State - idle
6 Arizona State lost to 11 USC
7 Georgia beat Georgia Tech
8 Virginia Tech beat 16 Virginia
9 Oregon lost to UCLA
10 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State

Kansas gamely charged back against Missouri, but they just ran out of time and couldn't overcome the large deficit the Tigers built off turnovers and penalties. So now there is one unbeaten team left and it's Hawaii at 11-0. The Rainbow Warriors host Washington next Saturday. You know, you can only play the teams that will play you. Hawaii is in the WAC, so that's who they have to play. And if they can't get any other top level programs to play them in non-conference games, then they play who they can. And if they beat everyone in front of them, why should they be shut out of the money? I'm just saying.



Three outstanding teams took care of business on Thanksgiving Day. Green Bay beat Detroit, Dallas destroyed the Jets, and the Colts finally got organized and shut down Atlanta. Indy starts getting some of its wounded players back next weekend. The experience the back up players have gotten over the last month may serve them well. I'd like to see a full strength Indianapolis take on New England again...but there's still a long way to go.

It's no secret that Raider fans hate to lose. We've had to endure a lot of it recently and we're getting grumpy. But if there's one team over any other that we hate to lose to most, it's Kansas City. It's probably going to happen again too. My Raiders have been competitive recently, but just can't seem to get over the hump. We'll have to flip a coin for the 42" Plasma because the Raider game is on CBS opposite Pam's Seahawks on FOX. What? I'm a gentleman, and I would gladly give Pam anything she asked for, but we're talking about football here.

Speaking of Pam's Seahawks, they played well last week and should have no trouble with St Louis. Seattle's trouble comes when they step out of the NFC West and play real football teams with good players. I'm being harsh, but I haven't been impressed with this team all season. They are average, and very lucky to be playing in one of the worst divisions in football. They'll win the NFC West because none of the other teams are any good either.

SF actually beat Arizona way back at the beginning of the season. Since then, the 49ers have gotten progressively worse while the Cardinals have gotten a little better. Arizona actually has an opportunity to challenge Seattle for the NFC West. It isn't likely, but it is possible. Neither team has a difficult schedule down the stretch, and they face each other in Seattle on Dec 9.

I got back into double digits with picks last week:

Week 1 = 12-4
Week 2 = 11-5
Week 3 = 10-6
Week 4 = 8-6
Week 5 = 9-5
Week 6 = 7-6
Week 7 = 10-4
Week 8 = 10-3
Week 9 = 9-5
Week 10 = 7-7
Week 11 = 10-6

So now I'm 103-57 on the season, 64%. I need another big week and I'm already off to a 3-0 start from the Thanksgiving games. I've gone pretty standard this week, staying away from upsets as much as possible and going with what I think is the better team. Well, I couldn't pick Kansas City over Oakland...you can scroll back up for a reminder as to why I won't do that.

Packers over Lions
Cowboys over Jets
Colts over Falcons
Seahawks over Rams
Giants over Vikings
Browns over Texans
Bucs over Redskins
Titans over Bengals
Saints over Panthers
Jaguars over Bills
Raiders over Chiefs
Cardinals over 49ers
Bears over Broncos
Chargers over Ravens
Patriots over Eagles
Steelers over Dolphins

I might have some observations throughout the day. Don't forget to check out Turnbaby Talks on Blog Talk Radio at 8pm.