Trav's Thoughts

Mr Tucker has been very vocal all day. Now that all the leaves have been blown off the trees, he can see a bunch of new things out the back window. He runs over to the couch to tell us about what he's seeing, then he runs back over to look some more.

There's a chance we might have houseguests again in January and February. The folks are saying they want to take them on the trip down to Arizona. But we're going to try and talk them out of it. Mom says the boys spend a lot of time hanging out in the motor home. They enjoy being in it so she thinks they should be fine on a real trip. She has harnesses for each of them so they can take them for controlled walks outside. So we'll see.

Yup...college basketball season is underway. For those of you who know anything about college hoops, you'll understand when I say how unusual it is that the 'Zags actually played some defense against UC Riverside. Gonzaga hasn't been known as a very good defensive team for the last few years. It's refreshing that they seem to have made a commitment to it.



The only thing that is clear about this college football season is that nothing will be clear until all the games have been played. Every week I listen to the talking head state who will be in the BCS Championship game. And every week it seems like one of the teams they select gets beat. So I am now going into wait and see mode.

Here's how the BCS Top 10 did:

1 LSU (9-1) beat Mississippi
2 Oregon (8-1) lost to Arizona
3 Kansas (10-0) beat Iowa State
4 Oklahoma (9-1) lost to Texas Tech
5 Missouri (9-1) beat Kansas State
6 West Virginia (8-1) beat #22 Cincinnati
7 Ohio State (10-1) beat Michigan
8 Arizona State (9-1) idle
9 Georgia (8-2) beat #23 Kentucky
10 Virginia Tech (8-2) beat Miami

Tennessee rallied for 16 points in the 4th quarter to beat rival Vanderbilt today. I don't know if Coach Fulmer will be back to coach the Vols next season...the alumni haven't been behind him for awhile now. But the late comeback and victory helps UT keep pace with Georgia in the SEC East. I'm looking forward to some Hoochie smack talk going back and forth between my gals Dixie and Turn leading up to the big game between UT and Kentucky next Saturday. Heehee!

Irish fans finally get their second victory dance today! I told you hope springs eternal. Seniors should get to win their final home game. Notre Dame seniors have been through quite a bit of turmoil and it's good to see them win at home. Now we'll see if they can close out the season with a win against Stanford next Saturday, and feel good about themselves until spring practice.

UW got the win today over Cal behind good enough from back up QB Carl Bonnell. But it was the outstanding work of running backs Louis Rankin and Brandon Johnson that led the Huskies. Rankin, a senior, rushed for 224 yards, while freshman Johnson added 121. UW hosts in state rival Washington State next Saturday in the annual Apple Bowl. Then the Huskies end the season at undefeated Hawaii.

The Buckeyes beat Michigan today for the 4th year in a row and the 6th time in the last 7 years. OSU wins the Big 10 Championship, and will likely play in the Rose Bowl. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is expected to announce his retirement on Monday.