Trav's Thoughts

Congratulations to the Yankees! They beat the Phillies 7-3 in game 6 Wednesday to win the World Series 4 games to 2. Andy Pettitte got the win for NY, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in 5 plus innings. Hideki Matsui went 3 for 4, including a home run and a double, and knocked in 6 runs.

Matsui was named the MVP for the series. This is the Yankees' 27th championship as a franchise, not only the most in baseball but also the most in all of professional sports. Four Yankee players won their 5th titles...Derek Jeter, Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera.

And my pal Vinny is a happy man!

I have tremendous respect for how difficult it is to develop a winning program at a service academy. So my hat is off to Navy, as they beat Notre Dame today at South Bend for the consecutive time. Two years ago, the Midshipmen ended a 43 game losing streak with a 46-44 OT win at The Stadium. Yesterday, they dominated the Irish.

Vince Murray rushed for 158 yards and a TD on 14 carries for Navy. Ricky Dobbs rushed for 102 yards and a TD on 31 carries. Dobbs also threw for 58 yards, most of that on a 52 yard TD pass. He only completed 2 passes in 3 attempts, since Navy runs the Wishbone offense and really didn't need to throw much against the Irish because they couldn't stop the run. Navy outgained ND 348 yards to 60 on the ground.

Jimmy Clausen threw for 452 yards and 2 TDs on 37 of 51. But he also threw a costly interception as the Irish were driving for a score, and he was sacked for a safety, which was ultimately the difference in the final score. Golden Tate caught 9 passes for 132 yards and a TD. Michael Floyd returned to the field after 7 weeks out with a broken collarbone. He caught 10 passes for 141 yards and a TD, but he also failed to read an audible by Clausen and had a pass bounce off his back for Clausen's interception.

The Irish also fumbled twice. They were simply outplayed by Navy. The Midshipmen earned a bowl bid with the win, while Notre Dame lost any chance of consideration for a BCS bowl. The Irish will likely still get a bowl invitation, but the climb back to national relevance in a championship sense still isn't happening.

Notre Dame travels to #13 Pittsburgh next week.

Congratulations to my pal Katherine. Her Bruins beat our Huskies today to earn their first win in the Pac-10 this season. UW was driving late for the possible winning score, but CB Rahim Moore intercepted QB Jake Locker's pass with just over a minute to play to preserve the 24-23 win.

Kevin Prince was having a stellar game until he went down with an injury. He threw for 212 yards and a TD on 13 of 17. Kevin Craft replaced him and threw for 159 yards and a TD on 10 of 14. The Bruins overcame 5 turnovers to hang on for the win.

For the Huskies, Chris Polk rushed for 132 yards on 15 carries. Locker threw for 235 yards and 2 TDs on 23 of 40, but he threw that late interception while attempting to drive UW to a possible winning score.

Washington travels to Oregon State next week.

Here are the results for the BCS Top 12:

1 Florida (9-0,7-0) beat Vanderbilt 27-3. Tim Tebow threw for 208 yards and a TD on 15 of 20.
2 Texas (9-0,5-0) beat UCF 35-3. Colt McCoy threw for 470 yards and 2 TDs on 33 of 42. Jordan Shipley caught 11 passes for 273 yards and a TD.
3 Alabama (9-0,6-0) beat #9 LSU 24-15. Greg McElroy threw for 276 yards and 2 TDs on 19 of 34. Mark Ingram rushed for 144 yards on 22 carries.
4 Iowa (9-1,5-1) lost 17-10 for Northwestern. Northwestern forced 4 turnovers.
5 Cicinnati (9-0,5-0) beat Connecticut 47-45. Zach Collaros threw for 480 yards and a TD on 29 of 37 and rushed for 75 yards and 2 TDs on 13 carries. For UConn, Jordan Todman rushed for 162 yards and 4 TDs on 26 carries.
6 TCU (9-0,5-0) beat San Diego State 55-12. Andy Dalton threw for 239 yards and 2 TDs on 14 of 20.
7 Boise State (9-0) beat Louisiana Tech 45-35. Kellen Moore threw for 354 yards and 3 TDs on 28 of 41. Jeremy Avery rushed for 146 yards and a TD on 25 yards.
8 Oregon (7-2,5-1) lost 51-42 to Stanford. Toby Gerhart rushed for 223 yards and 3 TDs on 38 carries. Andrew Luck threw for 251 yards and 2 TDs on 12 of 20. For Oregon, Jeremiah Masoli threw for 334 yards and 3 TDs on 21 of 37 and rushed for 55 yards and a TD on 10 carries, while LaMichael James rushed for 125 yards and a TD on 18 carries.
9 LSU (7-2,4-2) lost 24-15 to #3 Alabama.
10 Georgia Tech (9-1,6-1) beat Wake Forest 30-27 in OT. Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 189 yards and a TD on 3 carries.
11 Penn State (8-2,4-2) lost 24-7 to #16 Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor threw for 125 yards and 2 TDs on 8 of 17, and rushed for 50 yards and a TD on 5 carries.
12 USC (7-2,4-2) beat Arizona State 14-9. Will Harris returned an interception 55 yards for a TD.

Last week I called out Iowa as a team from the Big 10 deserving of consideration for the BCS championship game, should any of the top teams falter. Well, the luck of the Hawkeyes ran out this week. They couldn't overcome the loss of QB Ricky Stanzi to injury, and lost 17-10 to Northwestern.

Now the question becomes...could an undefeated #5 Cincinnati from the Big East, #6 TCU from the MWC, or #7 Boise State from the WAC be selected to play in the BCS title game over a possible one loss team from the SEC or Big 12?

The way things are headed, we're still looking at #1 Florida playing #3 Alabama for the SEC championship, with the winner emerging undefeated to play a likely undefeated #2 Texas. Texas doesn't have another ranked team on its schedule, although there are potential rivalry trip ups at Baylor and at Texas A&M. Florida has potential trip ups at South Carolina and against Florida State, while Alabama has the big rivalry game at Auburn.

Everybody play the games, and lets see what happens.