Iowa vs. Minnesota
Hawkeyes vs. Golden Gophers
The number 22 Golden Gophers of Minnesota are no longer in the ranks of the nation's unbeaten masses, but they are still off to their best start in 12 years. Two games ago, Minnesota was beaten at home by, then-number 10, Michigan State, but rebounded to a victory against Ohio State 68-59 last Saturday. But now the Gophers will set off on an odyssey of which they are unfamiliar with: the road.
Unbelievably at this point in the season, Minnesota (13-1, 1-1) has played only one road game at Colorado State on November 22nd, a 72-71 victory. Thursday night they will travel to rival Iowa for their first road conference game and they will feature a team that has not lost at home in nine tries.
You would have to look hard in the Minnesota records to find a season when they started this well. That is because the last time that they did, 15-1 at the start of 1996-97, the records were expunged because of NCAA sanctions, which wiped a Final Four appearance off of the books.
The Gophers are residents of the Top 25 for the first time since 2002. They have done it with a balance offensive attack which scores 73.1 points per game, but the production is spread around because Minnesota has only one player in the top 25 scorers within the Big Ten. Lawrence Westbrook is the lone representative with 13 points per contest.
The Iowa Hawkeyes's promising start has been derailed by alternating wins and losses over their last five games. They will look to win two straight for the first time in about a month after beating Indiana 65-60 last Saturday. The Hawkeyes (11-4) remained perfect at home by defeating the Hoosiers. At home, Iowa is holding opponents to a mere 50.6 points and 37.7 percent shooting. On the season, both home and away, Iowa is holding opponents to 55.9 points per game, good for a place in the top 10 in the country.
Minnesota is technically 2-0 on the road this season, having also beaten, then-number nine, Louisville at the neutral site of Glendale, Arizona on December 20th. A season ago, the Gophers were 4-8 on the road last season and have dropped their last four and seven of eight at Iowa.
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Mavericks vs. Knicks
Dallas -8 vs. New York
A once promising season for the New York Knicks now resembles many of their seasons of the last decade. The NBA and fans of the Knicks hopeful of a renaissance in Madison Square Garden may have spoke to soon as New York has dropped eight out of their last ten.
Some hope was reborn with New York (13-20) defeated Boston on Sunday, but the fact that the Celtics have been losing to everyone lately and the Knicks followed that victory with a devastating loss to the doormat of the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 107-99, on Tuesday. Any hope was deflated.
Thursday the Knicks can attempt their next rise from the ashes as they travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks. It will be quite the uphill battle for New York who has not won in eight trips to Dallas, their last road win was in 1999. The Mavericks (21-13) also look to wrap up the two-game season sweep, having beaten the Knicks at MSG 124-114 in overtime on November 16th. A victory Thursday will give the Mavericks nine straight victories over the Knicks and victories in 14 of the last 15 matchups between the teams.
Dallas continues their stretch against some of the weaker teams in the league and while they have been victorious in most games, they have struggled, including overcoming double-digit deficits in wins over Minnesota and Philadelphia and a 20 point loss to the cellar dwelling Memphis Grizzlies.
Tuesday the Dallas Mavericks rebounded with a 107-102 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Dirk Nowitzki blocked a shot and nailed the game winner with under a minute to play. Dallas has now 11-2 in their last 13 home games. Still Dallas had to go on an 11-1 run to come back and win.
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Blackhawks vs. Avalanche
Chicago -165 vs. Colorado
If it were not for the pesky Detroit Red Wings, the Chicago Blackhawks would be the talk of hockey. Before facing the defending Stanley Cup Champions two out of three days in a home-and-home series, including New Years Day's Winter Classic held in Wrigley Field, the Blackhawks had won nine straight games. Detroit handed them a two-game losing streak for the first time since the end of November and put some distance between them and the rising Hawks.
Chicago had been dominant since the beginning of December, going 12-3. All three losses were to, you guessed it, the Detroit Red Wings.
Since the home-and-home against the Wings, Chicago (22-8-7) has taken their frustration out on two teams, the first place Calgary Flames and the Phoenix Coyotes.
They especially took it to the Coyotes in their last game on Tuesday. The Blackhawks built up an insurmountable 4-0 lead five minutes into the first period. Jonathan Towes would then add two goals en route to a 6-0 decimation.
The victory gave the Blackhawks a positive start to their three game road trip, which will continue Thursday night in Denver when they face the Avalanche. Once again Chicago will be without leading scorer Patrick Kane who was injured in the December 30th loss at Joe Louis Arena. He is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury, but is expected to sit out one more contest before returning in Nashville on Saturday.
Injuries are nothing new for Colorado (20-19-1). Joe Sakic has not played since November and looks to be out until March as he underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a herniated disk. Another of their top centers, Paul Stastny, is out until the end of February because of a fractured forearm suffered on December 23rd.
The injuries have forced Coach Tony Granato into moving personnel around. Granato moved Wojtek Wolski to center from his usual spot on the wing in their last game at Nashville. The bold move paid off as the Colorado Avalanche snapped a three-game skid and won 2-1.
Chicago has won both meetings this season, 6-2 in the United Center on November 3rd and 4-3 at the Pepsi Center on December 12th. The Blackhawks have won five out of the last six over the Avalanche.
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Red Wings vs. Stars
Detroit -260 vs. Dallas
The second rematch of the season of last spring's Western Conference Final will take place in Joe Louis Arena Thursday night as the Detroit Red Wings look to avenge a loss earlier this season to the Dallas Stars.
The rematch is not what is seemed in May. While the Red Wings (27-7-5) are on their usual winning clip, the Stars (17-16-5) have sunk to the bottom of their division. The two rivals sit separated by twenty points in the conference standings.
Detroit is on pace for 124 points but have been winning games in much different ways than it was a year ago and in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. A year ago, the Wings have up the league's fewest goals, at 2.82 per game. But injuries and lackluster play from Chris Osgood has helped balloon that mark and pushed Detroit to the middle of the pack in GAA.
The bright spot in net for the Red Wings has been backup Ty Conklin who has gone 6-1-1 with a 1.86 GAA since December 18th. Conklin became the answer to the future trivia question of being a starting goalie in each of the first three regular-season outdoor hockey games. After beating Chicago 6-4 on New Years Day, the goaltender improved his record to 2-1 outdoors.
Currently the Stars are only one point above last place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division, but a big victory over a good team can turn around their season quite quickly. Despite their troubles this year, Dallas is only four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
They have played well of late, going 6-2-1 in their last nine contests, including a shootout victory in Vancouver in their last game Sunday night.
Marty Turco is quite familiar to Joe Louis Arena. He played college hockey just up the road in Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan and regularly took part in CCHA games in Detroit's hockey venue. Turco has not fared well at Joe Louis Arena since becoming a pro, winning only once, in Game 5 of the conference final. Overall Turco has posted a 3-10-0 record and a 2.78 GAA in his career against Detroit, including a 3-1 home victory on December 12th.
Detroit won the first three games of the Western Conference Final last spring before taking the series in six. The Red Wings took three of the four regular season matchups last year.
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Florida vs. Oklahoma
Gators -3 1/2 vs. Sooners
Controversy and the BCS seem to go together like cookies and milk. Once again there is an outcry over Oklahoma getting the nod with an identical record as Texas, even though the Longhorns beat the Sooners. If head-to-head matchups do not count, why bother playing the games is the sentiment of many college football fans, particular located around Austin, Texas.
But the game is what it is and it is still a terrific matchup of traditional college football powers meeting for the first time ever as Florida meets up with Oklahoma in Miami on Thursday, January 6th.
Two Heisman Trophy winners will match up as this year's winner Sam Bradford will take on runner-up and last year's winner Tim Tebow. Bradford was tops in the country with 48 touchdown passes against only six picks. Tebow was almost equally as solid with 2515 yards, 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He also rushed for 12 scores on the ground.
The Gators will be attempting to win their second title in three seasons and third overall title, while the Sooners are looking for their eight national title and first since 2000. The team made the championship game in 2004 and 2005, losing both times.
The controversy surrounding Oklahoma's placement in this game takes a hit when it is shown that the Sooners (12-1) scored 58 points or more in each of its last six games, including posting 65 on the former number two team in the nation, Texas Tech. That stretch of offensive fireworks has not been seen since Tulsa had a similar run in 1919.
Florida (12-1) weathered an early head-scratching loss to Ole Miss to win their final nine games and dispatched number one and undefeated Alabama in the SEC championship game.
For the Sooners to claim victory, they will have to weather the Gators homefield advantage. While roughly 330 miles separates Gaineville and Dolphins Stadium, with all apologies to the Seminoles and Hurricanes, Florida is Gatorcountry, at least for this past decade. Making more comforting surroundings is the fact that the Gators have 13 players from or near Miami. A year ago, Ohio State was unable to weather the home-state advantage LSU held in the Superdome, roughly 76 miles from Baton Rouge.
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Tulsa vs. Ball State
Golden Hurricane -2 1/2 vs. Cardinals
The bowl season unofficially wraps up with the GMAC Bowl on Tuesday, January 6th in Mobile, Alabama as the Ball State Cardinals take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. This is the last "bowl game" before the BSC Championship game to be held in Miami two days later and one of the teams, Ball State, has as many losses as both teams in the championship game.
Even if they won out, Ball State (12-1) would not have been in the national title picture and perhaps not even in a BCS game. All those questions were moot when the Cardinals were destroyed in the Mid-American Championship Game held December 5th in Detroit. Ball State literally fumbled away their chance at a better bowl game when they let go of the ball four times, two of which were ran back for scores and the other two were turned into touchdowns in a 42-24 loss to Buffalo which dropped the Cardinals ten spots to number 22.
Star quarterback Nate Davis had a lousy game throwing an interception and was a part of all four fumbles. Davis has decided to stick around for another season after throwing for 3446 yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
While one key member of the best Ball State team in decades is sticking around, the head man, coach Brady Hoke is gone. Hoke accepted the position of head coach at San Diego State and chose not to be on the sidelines for the GMAC Bowl. A interim coach for the game has not yet been announced.
David Johnson had an equally outstanding season at quarterback for Tulsa (10-3). Both quarterbacks involved in this game rank in the top 10 in passing efficiency. The Golden Hurricane were runners-up in the Conference USA this season, having lost the title game to East Carolina on December 6th.
This is the first meeting between the programs.
Tulsa is playing in their fourth straight bowl game, winning last year's GMAC Bowl 63-7 over Bowling Green. That was the largest margin of a victory in a bowl game ever. This will be Ball State's second straight postseason contest, but they have not fared well in bowl games. They have yet to win one in six attempts, including last year's 52-30 loss to Rutgers in the International Bowl.
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Texas vs. Ohio State
Longhorns -8 vs. Buckeyes
The bowl championship series resumes Monday night, January 5th with a good matchup of the nation's tenth and third team as Ohio State takes on Texas in the Fiesta Bowl to be held in Glendale, Arizona in a matchup of angry teams with some things to prove.
Ohio State (10-2) is the only 2-loss team in a BCS bowl this season and will be trying to reclaim its good name on a national stage. The Buckeyes struggles in the last two BSC title games are well documented, as was their throttling at the hands of USC, 35-3, earlier this season.
Meanwhile Texas (11-1) could not have done more to be included in the BCS title game. They beat one of the teams involved (Oklahoma), and have an identical record, but still are on the outside looking in. The only blemish on their record was an epic contest which saw the lead see-saw in the last five minutes of the game and saw Texas Tech ultimately claim the game 33-32.
Nonetheless, the Texas Longhorns will prepare for a battle with the Buckeyes with their Heisman Trophy runner-up Colt McCoy under center. McCoy set school records with 3445 yards, 32 touchdowns and a 77.6 completion percentage. He also led the team with 576 yards and 10 scores on the ground.
Despite many people not wanting the Buckeyes in this game due to recent performances, they hold the lead, along with USC and Oklahoma, for most BCS bowl appearances with seven.
The turning point in Ohio State's season came when coach Jim Tressel made a change at quarterback after their embarrassment in Los Angeles. Terrelle Pryor took over the starting reins and helped the Buckeyes to an 8-1 finish. The freshman completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 1158 yards and 12 touchdowns. He only threw four interceptions during his starting role. Pryor also ran for 424 yards and five touchdowns.
While both teams are geared for offensive fireworks, this may turnout to be a defensive struggle as both teams were in the top 20 in scored defense.
The two teams recently played a memorable home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006 with the road team winning both contests, Texas in '05, Ohio State in '06.
The Buckeyes are 18-21 in all-time bowl games while the Longhorns are 23-21-2.
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California vs. Miami
Golden Bears -8 vs. Hurricanes
Miami was flying high and ranked for the first time in a number of years as they won their fifth in a row over Virginia Tech on November 13. With a 7-3 record and two games remaining, the Hurricanes were looking for possibly a New Years Day bowl game. Perhaps they were looking too hard because they dropped their final two games to Georgia Tech and North Carolina State, both on the road, by an average of nearly 15 points. Miami finished 7-5 and is headed to the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco to take on the California Golden Bears on December 27.
Meanwhile, at 6-4, California's season looked in peril prior to their final two games of the season. They had lost any shot at the PAC-10 title and were facing opponents whose seasons could be defined by an upset of the Bears. But Cal crushed their final two opponents, Stanford and Washington, by an average of 31 points to finish at 8-4 and be allowed the ability to take the short trip to San Francisco for their sixth straight postseason appearance.
Jahvid Best was vital to the Bears throttling of their Pac-10 opponents by rushing for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-16 win against the Cardinal. If that performance was not enough the sophomore running back set a school record in the final game of the season with 311 rushing yards and four scores to help the Beats whip the Huskies 48-7.
With its proximity to Berkeley, this game will have the look and feel of a Cal home game, which is a distinct advantage for the Bears who won all seven of their home games this year. Miami was a so-so 3-3.
The Hurricanes season ending skid cost them a chance at the ACC title game. Their defense, in particular, let them down as they allowed a combined 691 yards in the final two losses. This flew directly in the face of the type of defense Miami boasted all season. Through their first seven games, the Hurricanes allowed only two opponents to rush for 100 yards, yet Georgia Tech ran for 472 yards in a 41-23 victory over Miami and NC State ran for a troubling 219 yards on the ground in a 38-28 win for the Wolfpack.
Still the Miami Hurricanes have to be happy with the turnaround they achieved from last year's disappointing 5-7 season. This will be Miami's 23rd postseason appearance in 26 seasons and 32nd bowl game overall. They have a 18-13 record and won their last bowl game, the MPC Computers Bowl, on New Years Eve 2006 over Nevada. California has been to 18 bowl games, going 9-8-1. In their five straight bowl appearances prior to this season, the Bears have gone 4-1, including last season's victory over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The teams have not met since a home-and-home series over two years in 1989 and 1990 with Miami claming both games. Prior to that, they had met once before, back in 1964, which was Cal's only win in the short series.
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Florida State vs. Wisconsin
Seminoles -5 1/2 vs. Badgers
A few years back an American television network produced some low-budget pieces involving rabid animals, out of control cars and other wacky activities and behavior. These shows were usually called, "When Animals Attack" or a reasonable facsimile. If someone produces a movie about this past year's University of Wisconsin season, it should be named, "When Good Seasons Go Wrong."
On September 27, the 3-0 Badgers visited Ann Arbor to take on the hapless Wolverines. They raced out to an 18-0 lead and put on cruise control until Michigan began climbing back into the game late in the third quarter. The end result was a stunning 27-25 loss when a holding call erased a game-tying two-point conversion. The game seemed to demoralize Wisconsin as they dropped their next four and five out of the following six.
The week following the Michigan loss, the Badgers faced off against the Buckeyes in Columbus and once again watched a late lead evaporate into a loss. Over one month later, on November 1, as Wisconsin tried to build on their first victory since September 13 the week before, the Badgers once again blew a late fourth quarter lead and watched the Spartans kick a game-winning field goal in East Lansing.
Yet coach Brett Bielema was able to get his players to play hard down the stretch to win three straight, become bowl eligible and achieve a 7-5 season, something unthinkable during the Badger's losing skid. Their reward for the turnaround is a December 27th trip to Orlando to take on Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl.
The Seminoles (8-4) was the opposite of the Badgers. Florida State played well the first half of the season but stumbled their way down the stretch, landing in this bowl game. Florida State is now appearing in their third-straight non-January 1st (or later) bowl game after 15 straight years of going to January 1st (or later) Bowl games. The good news for Florida State, however, they now own the longest bowl streak at 27, after Michigan's lousy season broke their streak of 33.
These teams have never met before.
This will be Wisconsin's 20th bowl game. They have gone 10-9 in the previous 19, including last season's Outback Bowl loss to Tennessee. This will be Florida State's 37th postseason affair, having gone 20-14-2. They were defeated by Kentucky in last season's Music City Bowl.
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West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Mountaineers -1 1/2 vs. Tar Heels
North Carolina is beautiful this time of year, but Miami after New Years is even better. While both West Virginia and North Carolina can celebrate solid seasons by playing each other in the Meineke Bowl on December 27, they both know it could have been so much more.
Both teams went 2-2 in their last four contests which prevented them from residing at the top of their conferences, where they both sat before the final stretch of the season. If they would have held on, the teams would have met in the Orange Bowl.
For West Virginia (8-4), the losses were particularly tough. After winning five straight from September 27-November 1, the Mountaineers losses and wins to their conference foes the final four games of the year. They lost a second straight year to their rivals from Pittsburgh and also dropped a contest to Rutgers. Both of those losses were by a combined seven points.
Nonetheless the Mountaineers had a solid season in a transition year which saw Bill Stewart replace Rich Rodriguez as head coach. Stewart, a native of West Virginia, was named interim head coach when Rodriguez left for Ann Arbor prior to last season's Fiesta Bowl. Stewart led his team to a 48-28 upset of Oklahoma, a participant in this year's national championship game. One day after the victory, Stewart lost the "interim" tag in his title.
North Carolina (8-4) was 7-2 after nine games and they were not defeating patsies by any means, having posted victories over Connecticut, Boston College and Georgia Tech, all Top 25 teams. Each of those games, they won by 22.6 points. After their .500 stretch run, which included a final game victory over archrival Duke, the Tar Heels tied Miami for third in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Still it was quite a turnaround for Butch Davis' team, who finished 4-8 a season ago.
These teams have met only once, in the 1997 Gator Bowl, with North Carolina winning 20-13 to finish their season 11-1 under then head coach Mack Brown.
This will be North Carolina's 26th bowl game, but first since the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl. The Tar Heels will be looking for their first victory since they beat Auburn in the 2001 Peach Bowl. They have a 12-13 bowl record. West Virginia is 12-15 in their previous bowl games and have won three straight.
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Central Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic
Chippewas -7 vs. Owls
They had them right where they wanted them. Central Michigan, champions of the Mid-American Conference two years running was playing the team that wanted their title, in the snow, in Mount Pleasant. Yet the, then, undefeated Ball State Cardinals weathered both the winter storm and the Chippewa storm en route to a 34-21 victory. The loss sealed CMU's fate within their conference. They would not repeat as champions, but circumstances came into play that sent Central to their third straight Motor City Bowl. They will take on legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger and Florida Atlantic at Ford Field in Detroit the day after Christmas.
When Buffalo handed Ball State a devastating loss in the MAC Championship Game, also played in Detroit, it muddied up the MAC bowl picture. Throughout it's 12-year history, the Motor City Bowl has usually been the reward for the champion of the conference. But even though Buffalo won the MAC Championship, it made much more sense for them to head a few miles north to Toronto for the International Bowl on January 3rd. This opened up the door for Ball State to head to the Motor City Bowl, but the MAC and the bowl game decided to allow the Cardinals to have a better matchup with Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl to be held in Mobile, Alabama on January 6, so the door swung open for the Chippewas (8-4).
CMU enjoyed its fourth straight winning season and earned a third straight trip to a bowl game, even though its regular season ended in the disappointment of Ball State and an upset loss to Eastern Michigan on the final game of the regular season. The Central Michigan Chippewas will attempt to avoid a three-game losing streak for the first time since October 2004.
Much was expected of Schnellenberger and the Owls this season after winning the Sun Belt Conference last year, but a devastating 1-5 start seemed to seal their fate. But the team responded by winning five of their last six games. During the stretch Florida Atlantic averaged 35 points and defeated Florida International 57-50 in overtime to win their final game and become bowl eligible.
The bowl game may be one of the more entertaining early bowl games because both teams feature potent offenses. Dan LeFevour and Central are ranked third in the MAC with 253.1 passing yards and 24th in the nation with 427.1 yards per contest. The Owls' Rusty Smith led his conference with 2918 yards and 22 scores.
This will be the first all-time meeting between the schools.
This will be CMU's fifth bowl appearance, having gone 1-3 in previous appearances, including last year's last second 51-48 loss to Purdue in last year's Motor City Bowl. FAU went to their first bowl game last season and beat Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl. Coach Schnellenberger is 5-0 all-time in bowl games with FAU, Miami and Louisville.
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TCU vs. Boise State
Horned Frogs -3 vs. Broncos
The best of the early bowl games will take place on Christmas Eve-Eve, Tuesday night, December 23, as number 11 TCU will take on number nine Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.
Two seasons ago, Boise State (12-0) was the BCS buster. In arguably one of the best BCS games in the last few years, the Broncos used a number of trick plays to upset the old guard of college football, Oklahoma a few seasons ago. Boise State did not receive the amount of love they should have probably been shown for the entertainment value they would bring to the BCS games, frequently full of blowouts and mismatches and will, instead go to San Diego for an early bowl game.
Boise State did everything they could to try to nab a BCS berth this season. They won all 12 of their games by an average of 27.2 points, but saw Utah get the coveted, non-BSC conference spot in the Sugar Bowl. The Broncos had a shot to land in the Fiesta Bowl, but the game decided to pick Ohio State instead, despite being ranked lower.
The Broncos will face a worthy opponent in TCU (10-2) who won double-digit games in the regular season largely on the backs of their second-ranked defense in the nation. The Horned Frogs only lost to number two Oklahoma and number 10 Utah along the way. TCU will look to use their stellar defense to stop Boise State's 12th-ranked offense which yields 39.4 points per game.
The Frogs meanwhile are holding opponents to 10.9 points per contest, second only to Southern California's 7.8 points per game. Their offense if none to shabby either. They have five players with 400 yards rushing and hold onto the ball longer than anyone in the nation at 34:50. These factors will be critical in beating Boise State.
The teams have met only once before, also in a bowl game. The Boise State upset the 19th-ranked TCU 34-31 in the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl.
This will be the Broncos ninth bowl appearance, having won five of those. The Horned Frogs will appear in their 25th bowl game. In the previous 24, they have gone 10-13-1.
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Bears vs. Packers
Chicago -4 vs. Green Bay
One of the best rivalries will be renewed this Monday in Chicago as the Green Bay Packers play the Chicago Bears.
Green Bay (5-9) has been eliminated from postseason play and has not won in a month. Their last victory came against Chicago when they totally dominated the Bears 37-3 on November 16 at Lambeau Field. The game was not the turning point in the season that Green Bay had hoped. After the victory, the Packers evened their record at 5-5 and were still very much in the thick of the NFC North Division race. Since then they have lost four straight contests in excruciating fashion.
Immediately following the Bears game, the Packers engaged the Saints in a close battle with much scoring throughout the first-half. But New Orleans blew it open in the second-half and claimed victory 51-29. The next three weeks, the Packers have lost each game by no more than four points.
Chicago (8-6) has had a solid season after dropping to last in the division last season after their Super Bowl season of 2006, however the Bears do not control their own destiny. The Minnesota Vikings have had a very solid second-half and sit in an advantageous position over Chicago. Win just one of their final two games and the Vikings will clinch the division no matter what the Bears do.
Either way Chicago must win and they should be ready to avenge that loss to a Green Bay team searching for answers.
Even if the Bears fail to make the playoffs, they know they will be able to compete with the Vikings in the future as far as talented and young running backs is concerned. Matt Forte is the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award, won last year by Minnesota's Adrian Peterson. Forte needs 69 yards in his last two contests to surpass the Bears' highest rookie running back yardage total of 1183 set by Anthony Thomas in 2001.
Before the season the Packers back Ryan Grant was seen to be in elite company with Peterson, but he has had a tough season. However, he did have his best game against Chicago with 145 yards. Grant loves playing the Bears, as he has garnered 100 yards or more in both of his career starts against them.
Even with the loss earlier this season, the Bears have won six of the last nine over the Packers, but have held home field very well in the series, having split the last four at Soldier Field.
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Arizona vs. BYU
Wildcats -3 vs. Cougars
Despite only two wins, BYU finds itself in a bowl game on the first day of bowl season-again. The Las Vegas Bowl is one of the four bowl games set for Saturday, the first day of the bowl season and BYU (10-2) finds itself in the game for the fourth straight time, this time facing Arizona (7-5).
Perhaps with only two losses, the Cougars deserved better, however their losses were costly ones. The first came to TCU on October 16. The unranked Frogs handled the Cougars easily, winning 32-7. The loss dropped BYU from number eight, their highest ranking all season. Finally with a chance to make a statement against archrival Utah, the Cougars fell on their face, losing 48-24 on November 22. The Utes were ranked number eight at the time and are now on the greener pastures, while BYU is in the familiar surroundings of Sin City.
Las Vegas is certainly a great place to visit and the Cougars have won their last two trips into Sam Boyd Stadium for the bowl game. For their opponents, Arizona, they are ecstatic to be there. The Wildcats enjoyed their first winning season since 1998 and capped a good regular season with a victory over archrival Arizona State on December 6. This will be the first bowl game for the program since they beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl following the 1998 season to capture a 12-1 record.
The game should be a high-octane gun-slinging affair which befits the western style of Las Vegas. Both teams have great signal callers able to sling the ball. Max Hall leads BYU and helped the team climb to 19th in the nation is scoring with 35.3 points per game and 17th with total offense at 448.8 yards per contest. The Wildcats Willie Tuitama had a stellar year in the pass happy Pac-10 by finishing second in the conference with 2763 yards and 21 scores.
Arizona actually has quite a stellar defense with 302.1 yards given up, but have struggled away from home. In their five road games, they have given up 30.6 points per game, while at home they have limited opponents to 14.7 points.
It is a rarity for two teams to have played each other many times compete in a postseason contest, but this will be the third straight season that BYU and Arizona have met with the teams splitting the pair. This will be the 22nd game between the programs which used to reside in the Western Athletic Conference.
The two game winning streak in the Las Vegas Bowl followed a four-game bowl losing streak for BYU. The Cougars have attended 26 bowl games and has gone 9-16-1 in those contests. This will be the Wildcats' 14th bowl game and have won five and tied one of the previous 13.
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Dolphins vs. Chiefs
Miami -3 1/2 vs. Kansas City
Remember in grade school when you had a crush on the girl a few desks over? You would stare at her and then when she happened to look in your direction, you would peel your eyes away as fast as possible. As Kansas City welcomes Miami in for their Week 16 contest, perhaps the Chiefs will be eyeing the Dolphins longingly, only to look away when their gaze is met.
The Chiefs (2-12) have been caught in the doldrums all season long, but they only have to look at their opponents to see that fortunes in the NFL can change quite rapidly. The Dolphins (9-5) needed a lucky brake to avoid going 0-16 last season and finished 1-15. They had a shakeup in the organization that shipped out first-year coach Cam Cameron and brought in Bill Parcells to take over the organization and his handpicked coach Tony Sparano. The team now has shot a playoff berth and even an outside chance at clinching the AFC East crown, something unthinkable just 12 months before.
Kansas City will be undergoing a similar off-season makeover. Long term President and General Manager Carl Peterson has announced he will be stepping down after this season which will bring in a new regime and a new age of Kansas City football. Peterson built the Chiefs into perennial contenders when he arrived in the city prior to the 1989 season. He inherited a Chiefs squad that went 4-11 in both years prior to his arrival. He turned the team into a 8-7-1 squad his first year and watched them make the postseason six straight times. The good teams fell apart mid-way through this decade and resulted in his departure.
Kansas City's future is bright with their strong draft last spring, but Miami's future is now. If they win their next two games and the Jets lose both games (the two teams met in the regular season finale), the Dolphins win the division. Last week Miami beat San Francisco 14-9 at home.
The teams have not met since 2006 when the Dolphins won at home.
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Steelers vs. Titans
Pittsburgh -2 vs. Tennessee
For teams that have the playoffs and a first-round bye clinched, this game between Pittsburgh and Tennessee does not have the impact it may have had had the Steelers not clinched the AFC South and a first-round bye in the playoffs after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens 13-9 in a big road victory last week. But this game still has a tremendous impact and will decide whether the AFC playoffs will go through frigid Heinz Field in Pittsburgh or through the Music City of Nashville.
Moreover, the Tennessee Titans (12-2) want to prove they are still the power they appeared to be when they started the season 10-0, but have only gone .500 since with wins against winless Detroit and hapless Cleveland and losses to possible playoff team the New York Jets and last week to division rival Houston.
Home field seemed a foregone conclusion nearly a month ago, but Tennessee's struggles have opened the door for Pittsburgh (11-3), winners of five straight, to possibly steel away the Titans' coveted prize.
Tennessee's stellar defensive play has eroded in recent weeks and that was seen when the Texans' Andre Johnson racked up 207 yards and a touchdown en route to a 13-12 upset victory over Tennessee. A bad day was made worse as the Titans saw their defensive leader, tackle Albert Haynesworth rolling around on the field in pain. The All-Pro had sprained his MCL and will miss the Titan's remaining two games. With a bye in the first week of the postseason, Haynesworth is hopeful to return for the team's first playoff game in the divisional round.
While Tennessee's defense has betrayed them in recent weeks, Pittsburgh's defense has led them on the brink of home field advantage. The Steelers won a controversial replay and turned a late 9-6 deficit to Baltimore into a 13-9 victory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lead the NFL in rush defense, pass defense and total defense and is on pace to be first the first team to finish first in all three of those categories since the 1991 Eagles. The Steelers also lead in scoring defense at a paltry 13.7 points per contest.
Even more history making is the fact that no opponent to face Pittsburgh this season has eclipsed 300 yards and no one has done that since the 1973 Rams.
The interesting thing about home field for these teams is that they may not want that distinction. In 2000, the year after the Titans lost the Super Bowl to the Rams by one-yard, they finished 13-3 and were preparing to have the AFC playoffs go through Nashville until they lost in their first game. The Steelers have even more pain as the top AFC seed, clinching it in 1994, 2001 and 2004 but lost the AFC championship game at home each season. They won the Super Bowl following the 2005 season as a wild-card team, playing three road games before winning Super Bowl XL in Detroit.
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Devils vs. Senators
New Jersey Devils -150 vs. Ottawa Senators
Losers of four of their last five contests, the Ottawa Senators have underwent subtle changes. Earlier this season Ottawa's top scores Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza were put on one line together and the offense flowed. It flowed so well, in fact, that the line was affectionately dubbed the "Pizza Line" because fans were receiving free pizza on a regular basis due to the Senators' goal output, largely due to the actions of the three goal scores on the line.
But as old pizza tends to do, the line has become to grow stale. In the last four games, in which the team has gone 1-3-1, Ottawa (11-13-5) has scored four goals and coach Craig Hartsburg has decided to dole out the scorers to other lines to attempt to boost his teams offense. The new look Senators will travel to New Jersey to play the surging Devils (17-9-3), winners of 7 of their last ten.
During Ottawa's latest slump, team scoring leader Heatley and Spezza have failed to notch a point and Alfredsson has only contribute a goal. Ottawa scored one goal, while Martin Gerber allowed four against the Thrashers Tuesday night. Gerber has started three of the past four games, but will be replaced by Alex Auld in New Jersey.
Replacing goaltenders is not a luxury in New Jersey, rather a necessity. The Devils were predicted to drop like a rock in the standings upon Martin Brodeur's departure from the team due to a torn bicep early last month, but they have done just the opposite. Scott Clemmensen has filled his predessor's shoes-er skates-quite admirably. Clemmensen is 9-1-1 in his last 11 games and has won five of his last six starts. Kevin Weekes was initially going to be New Jersey's stop-gap solution, but Clemmensen's strong play has promoted him to number one while the team awaits the return of Brodeur.
Helping Clemmensen is an offense that has scored 21 times in the last five games. Wednesday night at Buffalo, the Devils won 5-3 behind Patrik Elias' two assists. Elias has nine goals and 23 points over his past 14 games.
New Jersey has won five of seven versus Ottawa at home. The teams split their four meeting a season ago.
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Lakers vs. Heat
Los Angeles -7 1/2 vs. Miami
Winning has become so regular in Los Angeles that the Lakers even manage to win when some of their top players are sick. Tuesday night Lamar Odom was suffering from an upper respiratory infection but still managed to eclipse his season high of 17 points and 12 boards to help his team edge the New York Knicks 116-114 at the Staples Center. Odom was pressed into service after Pau Gasol was at home watching the game on television due to strep throat.
Odom is feeling better and will play when the Lakers (21-3) set out on a four-game eastern road trip starting Friday night in Miami. Gasol did not practice on the off days and his return against the Heat is questionable. With or without their star center, Los Angeles will look for their fifth straight victory and 15th in their last 17 games.
Injuries have not hampered the Heat's best players this season, but that has not stopped Miami (12-12) from struggling, especially lately. Miami looks to snap a three-game losing streak against L.A. after they lost to the Bucks 98-83 at home. Dwayne Wade struggled mightily Monday night, making only five of his 16 shots from the field, finished with a pedestrian 15 points.
Wade was not the only Heat star to sputter against Milwaukee. Udonis Haslem only netted two points and is averaging a miniscule 5.3 points and 31.6 percent shooting over the last three games.
The Lakers swept the two-game season series a year ago and have won four out of the last five over the Heat. Los Angeles has also won three straight in Miami, the Heat's last win came in 2004.
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Nuggets vs. Cavaliers
Denver -1 vs. Cleveland
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing so well this season that they are gaining fans wearing the opponent's jerseys in the stands. As the Cavaliers wrapped up their 20th victory in 22 games Wednesday in Minnesota, the beleaguered Timberwolf faithful watched their team lose their 11th game in a row, they remaining fans gave James a standing ovation for his performance in the 93-70 victory for his team. James was being lauded for his 32-point game.
No one expects a similar scene from a contending team, especially from the Denver Nuggets fans who have seen James and the Cavs as a sort of rival since James and the Nuggets Carmelo Anthony came into the league in the same 2003 draft class.
Two of the NBA's red hot teams will clash Friday night in the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets (17-8) look to rebound from a 108-96 road loss to Houston and look to avoid losing two games in a row for the first time since Chauncey Billups joined their squad. The loss in Houston snapped Denver's four-game winning streak, but the club has still won eight of their last 10 and is 16-5 since the trade which brought Billups back to his hometown.
While Denver is hot, no one has been hotter than Cleveland (21-4), who saw their 11-game upswing broken by Atlanta last Saturday. They will attempt to start another streak tonight when they play Denver, a team they have already beaten once this season 110-99 in a November 13th game in Cleveland.
The Cavs have emerged as the NBA's best defensive team by allowing a mere 89.2 points per contest while the Nuggets defense has steadily improved since Billups' arrival. A season ago, Denver allowed 107 points per game, second from last in the league. This season they have shaved a hearty nine points off their average and have held opponents to 42.7 percent shooting, leaving them third in the NBA behind Boston and Cleveland.
The Nuggets had a lapse in their stellar defense when they allowed the Rockets to score 108 points in their 108-96 setback Tuesday night. Anthony netted 22 points for Denver, while Billups was held to 8.
Cleveland has not fared well in Denver, losing three straight there. Their last victory in the Pepsi Center came in 2004.
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Fresno State vs. Colorado State
Bulldogs -2 1/2 vs. Rams
Bowl season kicks off in style this Saturday as four contests dot the usually barren post-regular season day. The second bowl of the season will kick off at 2:30 in Albuquerque as Fresno State will take on Colorado State in the New Mexico Bowl.
Fresno State (7-5) will likely welcome the early bowl game because it will allow them to erase the stinging memories of their last game played three weeks ago when they were torched 61-10 by Boise State. The Bulldogs allowed the most points in 12 years on this day and limp into the postseason the losers of three of their last five regular season contests.
Following the season, Fresno State almost lost their coach as Pat Hill interviewed for the open spot as the University of Washington headman. The job went to Steve Sarkisian instead and Hill will resume his place on the Bulldog's sidelines.
Much heralded Tom Brandstater had a disappointing senior year under center for the Bulldogs, but will still finish a strong career in the valley. Brandstater finished the regular season with 2478 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, which was down from 2654 yards, 15 touchdowns and only five picks a year before.
Colorado State (6-6) greets the postseason for the first time since the 2004 season when they lost to Navy in the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl. They have not won a bowl game since the 2001 New Orleans Bowl, a 45-20 victory over North Texas. The Rams got here by winning its final two games to become bowl-eligible. No one saw Colorado State clawing their way into postseason play after losing five of seven from September 27 through November 8.
It is rare for teams familiar to each other to meet in bowl games, but these schools have met 11 times in the regular season with Colorado State holding the slight 6-5 edge by winning the last two matchups, most recently a 35-23 Rams' victory on September 30, 2006.
Colorado State has played in 11 bowl games in their history, winning four and losing seven while Fresno State is 10-7 in their previous bowl games.
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Wake Forest vs. Navy
Demon Deacons -3 vs. Midshipmen
Believe it or not, bowl season is upon us and the official kickoff of this season is with the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in Washington. The game is slated to kickoff at 11am Eastern time Saturday morning and it will also kickoff a day of early college bowl games.
This bowl game will feature a rare rematch from the regular season as Navy (9-4) looks to defeat Wake Forest (7-5) again. On September 27, the Midshipmen walked into Winston-Salem and claimed a grueling 24-17 victory. This win was noteworthy for Navy because not only did they give Wake Forest its first loss of the season (3-0 at the time), it also marked the first time since Navy has beaten a ranked team since 1985.
The Navy loss was a crushing defeat for Wake Forest which never looked the same after. The game prior, the Demon Deacons displayed outstanding defense as they shut down Florida State in Tallahassee 12-3. With the Navy loss, Wake Forest sputtered to a 4-5 finish, but was able to win their final game, 23-10, over Vanderbilt.
As harsh as the loss for the Demon Deacons was, the win had as great of an impact on the Midshipmen's season. Navy had come into that game after allowing 76 points in losses to Duke and Ball State, but was able to dominate defensively against Wake Forest. With that victory, Navy was able to win five of its final seven games, including crushing defeats of Northern Illinois and arch-rival Army by a combined 50-0.
In addition to their strong defense down the stretch, Navy boasted the top rushing attack in the nation with 298.3 yards behind the phenomenal duo of Shun White and Eric Kettani. White finished with 1021 yards and eight scores while Kettani contributed 932 yards and four touchdowns on just 176 carries. Kettani's best game was against Wake Forest when he dashed for a career-high 175 yards.
Despite the loss earlier this season, the Demon Deacons hold a 6-3 lead in the series against the Midshipmen. Wake Forest had their four-game winning streak in the series snapped with Navy's win earlier this season.
This will be Wake Forest's ninth bowl game, having gone 5-3 in the previous eight, including last season's 24-10 win over Connecticut in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Navy is 6-7-1 in their previous 14 bowl games. This bowl will be Navy's sixth straight bowl game, their longest stretch ever. They lost last season's Poinsettia Bowl 35-32 to Utah.
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Trail Blazers vs. Suns
Portland -4 1/2 vs. Phoenix
The fans in Portland may hold current Suns' coach Terry Porter in high esteem, but he will be vilified if his team can continue its winning ways by beating the hometown hero Trail Blazers Thursday night.
Porter helped the Blazers to two NBA finals appearances in his 10 seasons in the Rose Garden. He now will step into those surroundings as the suddenly surging Suns (15-10) look for their third straight win and fifth win in six games. It was a special few nights for Porter as Monday night his Suns spoiled the return of Mike D'Antoni by beating the visiting New York Knicks 111-103 in Phoenix. Then Tuesday he was honored in the Rose Garden as Portland retired his number 30 while the fans gave him a standing ovation.
While that is a great honor, Porter may be more proud of his team's recent play. Steve Nash scored 21 points as the Suns topped 110 points for the fourth straight games. This is quite an offensive turnaround for a team who averaged 99.9 points per contest through the first 20 games of the season in the transition from D'Antonio's high flying offense to Porter's more balanced attack. The win over the Knicks was all the more impressive considering Shaquille O'Neal was out of the lineup for the second straight game due to a death in his family. O'Neal is expected back for Portland.
Perhaps the legend of Porter helped the Blazers (16-10) in their destruction of Sacramento 109-77 on the night in which the former player was honored. Brandon Roy netted 29 and followed up his career-best game of 38 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Joel Przybilla grabbed 14 rebounds in the game and Portland led in that category 59-38. That is Portland's highest board total since a December 2004 contest against Boston.
The Portland Trail Blazers will look to beat the Phoenix Suns for the first time in 10 games Thursday night.
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Magic vs. Spurs
Orlando -2 1/2 vs. San Antonio
With or without Dwight Howard, the Magic continue to win. Orlando has not started a season this hot since 1994-95, when they started 22-5 and made it all the way to the NBA Finals, the only appearance for the nearly 20-year old team. Nonetheless, they will be very happy to have their All-Pro forward back for tonight's home game with San Antonio.
The game with the Spurs opens a four-game home stand for the Southeast Division attic dweller Magic (19-6). Howard has missed the last two games for Orlando with a knee injury, but the Magic won both, including their last game, 109-98 at Golden State Monday night. Rashard Lewis picked up the pace without Howard by scoring 21 points, five assists and eight rebounds while Jameer Nelson ruled the court with 32 points in the win over the Warriors.
The NBA's renaissance story this season has been the San Antonio Spurs (15-9). Hampered by injuries and bad play, the perennial power sputtered out of the gate at 0-3 and lost five of its first seven. As players have come back from injuries and slowly regained form, the Spurs have regained theirs, winning 10 of their last 14. They lost their last time out to New Orleans largely because of they misfired on 17 of their final 21 shots and only hit at a 38.3 percent clip from the field.
The loss to the Hornets halted the Spurs six-game winning streak, but they look to get on track against the Magic, a team they have had a lot of success against over the years. San Antonio has beaten Orlando in 10 of the last 13 games and have won the last three straight, including both games last season. The Magic have not beaten the Spurs in Orlando since April 2006.
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Canadians vs. Flyers
Montreal -120 vs. Philadelphia
Last season the Montreal Canadiens were riding high and were the odds on favorite to win the Eastern Conference. That was until they ran headlong into the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. History somewhat repeated itself just over a month ago when the Canadiens, playing well, lost a home game to the struggling Flyers 2-1. Philadelphia then excelled on their longest winning streak of the season, six, while Montreal has not been the same since.
The Flyers (17-7-6) have quite an impressive record when you take into account that they were the last team in the NHL to record a victory when they started the season (0-3-3). Since that November 15 victory over Montreal, the Flyers lead the league with a 12-1-2 record.
Tuesday night they whipped the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 and claimed their fifth victory in a row. With a victory tonight against the Canadiens, the Flyers will match their longest streak. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each recorded a goal and two assists. Philadelphia's Captain, Richards, has been the key factor in the Flyers rise from the ashes by recording seven goals and eight assists.
The Canadiens (16-9-5) lost their third in a row, 3-2, in Carolina. Montreal committed a season-high 11 penalties which led to all three of the Hurricane goals. If Montreal loses to Philadelphia, they will be saddled with their first four-game skid since February 2007.
Montreal is looking to change their luck by starting backup Jaroslav Halak in net, who has a 2.27 goals against average. Starter Carey Price has been out for four games with a lower body injury. He will face the Flyers backup goalie, Antero Niittymaki. Flyers starter Martin Biron will miss his second straight game as he recovers from the flu.
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Pistons vs. Sixers
Detroit -8 vs. Philadelphia
The Philadelphia 76ers organization simply must have the Detroit Pistons firmly residing in their head. The Pistons have been responsible for a handful of recent playoff exits for the Sixers, they stole their coach, Larry Brown, who promptly won an NBA championship in his first year in Detroit and now the Pistons have perhaps the most iconic Philadelphia basketball player in two decades on their roster.
Allen Iverson has played against Philadelphia while in Denver, but this game may be more meaningful now that he is a member of an Eastern Conference Rival. The 76ers drafted Iverson as the first pick in the 1996 draft and watched him grow into a bona-fide star. He took the sagging franchise back up to some of its former glory and won the Eastern Conference in the 2000-01 season. Philadelphia traded Iverson in 2006 as they fortunes began to once again sag.
There will be no better way for Philadelphia to start excising Detroit out of its mind than beating them on the road tonight when the teams meet up at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Pistons (11-6) have been a streaky team since acquiring Iverson on November 3. They lost their first two with Iverson in the lineup. They then won four of five, including a road victory over the previously undefeated Lakers, but are now currently in a funk in which they have dropped three of their last five. Detroit hopes their effort against San Antonio a few nights back will put them back on the right track. The Pistons beat back a Spurs halftime lead and held them to only 32 second half points to get the road win 89-77.
Philadelphia may yearn for the golden days of Iverson as they will be missing their new franchise player, Elton Brand, for tonight's game with a strained hamstring. Brand suffered the injury in Wednesday's 114-103 loss to the Lakers.
This will be the first meeting of the season between the 76ers and Pistons. The teams split their four regular season games a year ago, with both teams winning on each others' court once. They also met in the first round of the postseason last year with the 76ers claiming two of the first three games only to watch the Pistons win three straight to take the series in six games.
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USC vs. UCLA
Trojans -32 1/2 vs. Bruins
In addition to being a perennial football powerhouse, the University of Southern California is also a fine academic institution. As USC sees their national championship hopes crumble before their eyes despite crushing opponent after opponent, there is little doubt that on a dark and forgotten corner of the Los Angeles campus, coach Pete Carroll is instructing an elite group of chemists, physicists and brainiacs on how to build a time machine. With that time machine Carroll could go back into time and right the wrong of the early season loss to Oregon State.
Sadly for Trojan fans, in 2008 time travel is not possible (at least that's what our government tells us) so USC will have to focus on the present and gear up for their cross-town rival UCLA. Barring a collapse of the teams ahead of them in their various conference title games, on New Years Day, USC will be playing in the they will be playing at Saturday, the Rose Bowl.
USC (10-1, 7-1) has plenty to be proud of this season. With only one hiccup, they have totally dominated nearly every opponent on their schedule, most recently last week against Notre Dame 38-3 at the Coliseum. Thanks to Oregon destroying Oregon State last week, USC can clinch a share of the Pac-10 for the seventh straight season with a victory over hapless UCLA (4-7, 3-5).
Since the September 25 loss, the Trojans have won eight straight by an average of 33.1 points. Only once during the stretch was the margin of victory seven points or less, 17-10 Arizona.
UCLA has had a tough season, but in rivalry week, anything is possible. The Bruins have been dominated by the Trojans ever since Carroll came to Los Angeles. Carroll is 6-1 against UCLA and USC has won eight of the last ten overall. This was after a decade of dominance for UCLA when they won seven out of 10 in the 1990's.
Two years ago in 2006, UCLA finally posted a 13-9 victory over their cross-town rivals for the first time since 1998. That game pushed the then number two USC out of the BCS title game.
UCLA actually has a tougher defense than their record would indicate. Last week's 34-9 throttling at Arizona State was the product of a poor offense rather than the defense. The Sun Devils' defense scored all four of the teams' touchdowns. The Bruins held ASU's offense to 122 yards and two field goals.
An interesting wrinkle to the rivalry materialized this week when Carroll announced his intention for the Trojans to wear their home jerseys inside the Rose Bowl. The practice of both UCLA and USC wearing their colored home jerseys in their games was commonplace until the early 1980's. If USC wears their cardinal-colored jersey while UCLA wears their standard home "true blue" jerseys, USC could face a penalty to open the game and would lose one time out in each half. Carroll stated he was not disrespecting UCLA by surrendering two timeouts and said he spoke with first-year Bruins' coach Rick Neuheisel, who was receptive to the tradition.
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Connecticut vs. Pittsburgh
Huskies -2 1/2 vs. Panthers
Wrapping up Big East play the Pittsburgh Panthers will travel to East Hartford to take on Connecticut Saturday afternoon. This game will no doubt feature a ground game that could rival a precise military assault as both teams boast a prolific rushing game.
For Pittsburgh, a road victory to wrap up the season would mark the first time in 26 years that they will finish the regular season with nine victories. Panthers' running back LeSean McCoy will be key in being victorious over the struggling Huskies from Connecticut. U-Conn boasts an explosive weapon of their own in back Donald Brown.
While his team has been inconsistent down the stretch by alternating wins and losses, Brown has been fantastic and leads the nation with 148.5 yards per game on the ground. Not to be outdone, McCoy is first in the nation in scoring with 10.9 points per game and not too far behind Brown with 118.9 yards per game, good for fourth in the country.
During the Huskies (7-3, 3-3) inconsistent stretch in which they have gone 2-4, including two weeks ago when they lost their last game to South Florida 17-13, Brown has rumbled for 727 yards and five scores. The junior has 1633 yards and 16 scores on the season.
Meanwhile Pitt (8-3, 4-2) has won three of their last four, including last week's win over arch-rival West Virginia 19-15. In that game McCoy ran for 183 yards, which is a career high. He scored twice running his total touchdowns to 20 on 1308 yards.
U-Conn has won two in a row and three of the four games played in the series, including both of its home games in 2004 and 2006. The Panthers only win came in 2005 at home in Pittsburgh.
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Connecticut vs. Pittsburgh
Huskies -2 1/2 vs. Panthers
Wrapping up Big East play the Pittsburgh Panthers will travel to East Hartford to take on Connecticut Saturday afternoon. This game will no doubt feature a ground game that could rival a precise military assault as both teams boast a prolific rushing game.
For Pittsburgh, a road victory to wrap up the season would mark the first time in 26 years that they will finish the regular season with nine victories. Panthers' running back LeSean McCoy will be key in being victorious over the struggling Huskies from Connecticut. U-Conn boasts an explosive weapon of their own in back Donald Brown.
While his team has been inconsistent down the stretch by alternating wins and losses, Brown has been fantastic and leads the nation with 148.5 yards per game on the ground. Not to be outdone, McCoy is first in the nation in scoring with 10.9 points per game and not too far behind Brown with 118.9 yards per game, good for fourth in the country.
During the Huskies (7-3, 3-3) inconsistent stretch in which they have gone 2-4, including two weeks ago when they lost their last game to South Florida 17-13, Brown has rumbled for 727 yards and five scores. The junior has 1633 yards and 16 scores on the season.
Meanwhile Pitt (8-3, 4-2) has won three of their last four, including last week's win over arch-rival West Virginia 19-15. In that game McCoy ran for 183 yards, which is a career high. He scored twice running his total touchdowns to 20 on 1308 yards.
U-Conn has won two in a row and three of the four games played in the series, including both of its home games in 2004 and 2006. The Panthers only win came in 2005 at home in Pittsburgh.
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Nuggets vs. Spurs
Denver -4 vs. San Antonio
Just how good can the Denver Nuggets get? The team seems to be jelling and winning in better and more complete ways every game and it seems their prized commodity has finally arrived.
When the Nuggets made the trade for Chauncey Billups, they expected the perennial All-Star who lead Detroit to the 2004 championship and was named Finals MVP that season. For the first month, they did not see that Billups. But his presence made the difference in turning a 1-3 team into a 13-6 team. Now in the midst of a three-game winning streak, Billups has clearly arrived and has been the best player for the Nuggets during the stretch.
Denver just destroyed the Raptors 132-93 Tuesday. Billups had 24 points and 14 assists in the rout. Billups is averaging 26.3 points per contest in the three-game winning streak in wins over Toronto, Houston and Minnesota. Carmelo Anthony contributed 23 against Toronto as well.
While the Nuggets enjoyed the ride in their last game, the Spurs (9-8), who visit Denver Thursday night, could not have played any worse in their last game Tuesday night. The Spurs lead at half time by five, but collapsed in the second half, scoring 32 and falling 89-77 to Detroit at home.
Manu Ginobili returned to the starting lineup for the first time this season but the rust was clearly a factor as he only netted 13. Tim Duncan has 23 and Tony Parker contributed 18 in the losing effort.
The teams met November 19 in a game also played in the Pepsi Center. Denver won that contest 91-81 and has won three of the last four.
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Chargers vs. Raiders
San Diego -9 vs. Oakland
The San Diego Chargers' season just does not seem to be getting any better. Most pundits thought that the core of the Chargers was aging and that their last best chance at a championship would be this season and now it does not even look like they will make the playoffs. San Diego (4-8) has lost three straight and six of the last eight. Now they will play host to the Oakland Raiders at home, who always seem to bring a rowdy crowd of Raidernation in with them to San Diego. Being booed at home is probably not what the Chargers need right now. The AFC West teams meet up in Qualcomm Stadium Thursday night.
San Diego will try to avoid clinching their first losing season in five years and their first loss to Oakland in that same amount of time. The Chargers still have a slim chance at reaching the playoffs. Their hopes are firmly resting on Denver freefalling within the division, but if the Broncos dominating performance on the road against a surging Jets team is any indication, this does not seem likely. It will be all for naught if the Chargers lose and the Broncos beat Kansas City. With that scenario, Denver will clinch the division with three games left to play.
Simply put San Diego must win out and Denver must not win more than one of their remaining games for the Chargers to have a shot. Those two teams play in the last game of the season.
Oakland (3-9) may be hopeful that San Diego will have their eyes in the offseason because of their long-shot postseason chances. They need something to hold on to as they have dropped 10 straight games to San Diego and only one of the last seven losses have been decided by less than 10 points.
Both teams come in after home losses, San Diego to Atlanta and Oakland to Kansas City. The Chargers won the first meeting between the divisional rivals this season, 28-18, on September 28.
A victory Thursday would give the Chargers the longest winning streak of any team in the 48-year old series. The Raiders won 10 straight from 1972-77 during their glory years. A loss for the Oakland Raiders would put them in the illustrious company with Tampa Bay (1983-94) and Detroit (2001-06) as they only organizations to suffer 10 or more losses in six consecutive seasons.
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Navy vs. Army
Midshipmen -11 vs. Black Knights
The historic Army-Navy game will take place this Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. The game used to be "THE" game of the year, but as the military academies emphasis on sports waned in the mid to late 1960's, the significance of the game on a national championship standpoint lessened. But the power, pageantry and significance of the game is still palpable.
Saturday's meeting will be the 108th meeting in the series. Historically the rivalry has been extremely tight. Navy holds a slight 52-49-7 edge, largely because of the Midshipmen's recent success of winning six straight and nine out of the last 11. The Black Knights last won in 2001 in the old Veterans' Stadium.
Navy (7-4) appear headed for a bowl game and were nationally ranked until they were beaten by their old rival Notre Dame on November 15. After a 10 day break, they returned to dominate Northern Illinois in their building 16-0 on November 25. Navy continues to use a stellar defensive squad to offset the number one ranked rushing offense.
Shun White and Eric Kettani have been the best 1-2 punch in college football this season. White has gained 873 yards and seven touchdowns and Kettani has contributed 807 yards and three scores as a full-back. In the Northern Illinois victory, it was Kettani's show as he gained all 92 yards and a touchdown while White only garnered one carry.
Army (3-8) has lost three straight and four of their last five. The Knights took last week off after a 30-3 throttling at the hands of Rutgers on November 22. Many predicted a better season for Army as they were facing a softer than usual schedule, but they have fallen into the trap they have been stuck in for the better part of a decade.
As with many arch-rivals, a bad season can be partially forgiven by winning the last game of the season versus your bitter rival. This will definitely be the case for Army if they can pull the upset this week.
Army will be considered the home team at the neutral site game at Lincoln Financial Field.
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Ball State vs. Buffalo U
Cardinals -14 1/2 vs. Bulls
By now everyone knows about the phenomenal season that the Ball State Cardinals have achieved. However, if one was to ask a Mid-American Conference pundit before the season to pick which was more likely that Ball State would go undefeated all the way to the MAC Championship game or that Buffalo would win the East and go to that same game in Detroit, it's a safe bet that pundit would pick Ball State's seemingly unpredictable season over Buffalo's.
Buffalo will play for the MAC Championship Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit, while Ball State will play for so much more.
The Bulls (7-5, 5-3) won the school's first division title and clinched the school's first bowl game. The team moved up to Division I-A (now Football Bowl Subdivision) in 1999 and have been pretty awful most of their time there. Over the last 14 games, spanning two seasons, Buffalo has gone 9-5 within the MAC, which is an incredible improvement over the 10 games won in the league in the teams first seven seasons in FBS.
All is not totally rosy for the Buffalo Bulls, however, as they lost last Friday night 24-21 to Kent State. The loss put an end to a five-game winning streak for Buffalo. Much of their success can be attributed to their running attack led by James Starks, who is sixth in the nation with 122.6 yards per game. The junior has now rushed for 1000 yards for a second straight season. Coupled with the pass, the offense is averaging 30.2 points per contest, but will be in for a touch matchup with Ball State's defense which surrenders only 16.7 per game.
While their defense has helped, it has been the offense that has gotten Ball State (12-0, 8-0) here. Winners of the MAC's West division, the Cardinals look to win their first MAC title since 1996. With two more victories the Cardinals will have achieved an undefeated season. That may be the best distinction they will have to claim as a victory over a heavy underdog more than likely will not spur them into a BCS bowl invitation. Under BCS rules, only one non-BCS school is allowed to go to a BCS game and three (Utah, Boise State and TCU) are ranked higher than the 12th ranked Cardinals.
With a win, Ball State's most likely destination is where they will be Friday: Detroit for the Motor City Bowl, while Buffalo will go to another game with MAC tie-ins. If they lose, Buffalo goes to the Motor City Bowl and Ball State will find themselves either in the GMAC or International Bowl.
Buffalo has yet to beat Ball State in four tries and is 0-8 versus ranked opponents since moving up to the FBS in 1999.
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Rutgers vs. Louisville
Scarlet Knights -10 1/2 vs. Cardinals
Rutgers has resurrected its season with five straight victories and looks to make it six in the season finale against Louisville Thursday night. The Cardinals (5-6, 1-5) look to become bowl eligible while the Scarlet Knights (6-5, 4-2) look to make its case for a bowl better by winning and running its record to 7-5.
Rutgers started the season 0-3 and won only once in its first six games before running off their five straight victories. Once left for dead, Rutgers picked on its conference foes to get back into contention. While not a conference foe, the Knights topped a weaker foe in Army 30-3 on November 22. Mike Teel had a solid game under center for the Knights against Army, going 23 for 33 with 359 yards and a touchdown. The senior has had a solid season with 2652 yards and 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
While Rutgers has put a dismal start behind them with a tremendous effort down the stretch, Louisville has achieved just the opposite. Once 5-2, the Cardinals have dropped four straight to drop under .500 for the first time since they lost their first game of the season to Kentucky.
Louisville also has not played since November 22 when they lost to West Virginia 35-21. Behind most of the game, senior quarterback Hunter Cantwell was forced to throw it often. Cantwell put it up 47 times, completing 27 of those for 276 yards with one touchdown but three interceptions.
This will be the fifth time that these teams have met with each team claiming two victories. Louisville won last year 41-38 but have not won in New Jersey against Rutgers, losing the only trip there 28-25 in 2006.
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Rangers vs. Penguins
New York -130 vs. Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh has not been able to duplicate their winning ways from earlier this season in recent weeks. Since beating Buffalo on November 15, the Penguins (14-6-3) have alternated losses and wins ever since. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, the team they have been chasing, the Rangers, have not been winning consistently either. The two top teams within the Atlantic Division will meet up at Madison Square Garden tonight.
New York (17-8-2) had its three game winning streak snapped Sunday with an inexcusable shutout loss to the hapless Florida Panthers in a very listless home effort. Prior to the Rangers modest three game upswing, they had lost two straight.
While Pittsburgh has been rather inconsistent lately, Sidney Crosby has sprung to life. He has shaken off a slow start to catch fire with six goals in the last three contests and earned his second career hat trick in Saturday's 4-1 home victory over New Jersey.
Even though Crosby was struggling, the Pens were flying high because of Evgeni Malkin. The NHL's best with 39 points, Malkin has been on the score sheet, through at least one goal or assist, in 21 of Pittsburgh's 23 games. However, the lethal duo has not excelled in Madison Square Garden. The Penguins have lost six straight there and are 2-7-3 in their last 12 in New York.
New York returned home to play the Panthers Saturday after a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Florida to play the Lightning in Tampa and the opening of a home-and-home set in Miami. In both games the Rangers needed to go to a shootout to claim victory, 3-2 over Tampa Bay and 4-3 over Florida.
The 4-0 loss to Florida forced Henrik Lundqvist from the net after the Panthers scored the third goal. Lundqvist has had an outstanding season by compiling 15 wins, best in the Eastern Conference. He has dominated Pittsburgh with a lifetime 9-4-2 record and 1.89 goals against average.
The Rangers won the first game over the Penguins this season on October 25 in Pittsburgh 3-2 in a shootout.
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UL Lafayette vs. Middle Tennessee
Ragin' Cajuns -5 vs. Blue Raiders
A lot is at stake in tonight's Sun Belt battle between Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana-Lafayette as a potential bowl game is on the line. Chances are good that the winner of this game may gain a bowl berth because other conferences are lacking a plethora of bowl eligible teams.
Middle Tennessee State (5-6, 3-3) comes into this game the winner of three straight. Their most recent win came against North Texas, a 52-13 crushing victory. The Blue Raiders' star was clearly running back Phillip Tanner who scored an incredible six touchdowns with 159 yards on only 14 carries. The junior set a conference record with his six scores. On the other hand, the Rajin' Cajuns dropped their third straight game in embarrassing fashion 48-3 to Troy. During Louisiana-Lafayette's slide, they have allowed an average of 41.7 points and 463.3 yards per contest.
If Middle Tennessee quarterback Joe Craddock can achieve at least 315 passing yards, he will break the school record. Craddock has had an incredibly accurate senior year by passing for 2435 yards with 13 touchdowns and only six picks.
UL Lafayette has had less accurate quarterback play through the air, but boast a very potent signal caller. Michael Desormeaux has only thrown for 1633 yards on nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions. But the senior has been dominant on the ground by gaining 993 rushing yards. By gaining a mere seven yards, Desormeaux and running back Tyrell Fenroy will become the first quarterback/running back combination in NCAA history to both rush for 1000 yards in back-to-back seasons.
Fenroy has gained 1292 yards and 17 touchdowns. The senior has capped a remarkable college career as he became only the seventh running back to rush for 1000 yards in four consecutive seasons. Fenroy is a Doak Walker Award semifinalist and is the career rushing leader in both ULL and the Sun Belt Conference.
The Cajuns lead the series 5-4 and won the last contest last season. UL Lafayette has won four of the past five.
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Texans vs. Jaguars
Houston -3 vs. Jacksonville
A pair of disappointing 4-7 AFC South teams begin playing out the string this week as they face off this Monday night when the Jaguars travel to Houston to take on the Texans.
Both teams have been disappointments, but especially the Jaguars. While the Texans were supposed to be better, few people gave them a chance to contend in the stacked AFC South. But the Jaguars were supposed to be the dark horse and possibly the Super Bowl representative from the AFC. Instead, the Titans and not the Jaguars, are about to unseat the Colts in the AFC South. With their loss to Tennessee two weeks ago, Jacksonville was officially eliminated from the division. They lost their second straight home game to Minnesota 30-12 last week and have all but been eliminated from postseason contention.
The Jaguars have lost four out of their last five. The only victory during that stretch was a road win over the winless Detroit Lions. David Garrard continues to have a disappointing season after last season's terrific year. Last week Garrard threw for 317 yards and a touchdown but also threw two interceptions. On a pair of turnovers, Jacksonville was losing 14-0 to Minnesota within the first five minutes of last week's ball game which necessitated the Jaguars throw the ball. This meant few carries for the running back tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor who collectively carried 9 times for 24 yards with no scores. Jones-Drew was Garrard's top receiver last week at 9 catches for 113 yards. But when your running back is your top receiver, it usually means you lose that game.
The Texans put a stop to a three game skid when they played a solid road game and won 16-6 over the Browns. Sage Rosenfels has had a tough few games filling in for injured starter Matt Shaub, however he did have a very good game in Cleveland. Rosenfels went 24 of 32 for 275 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
The Jaguars won the first game between the divisional rivals earlier this season 30-27. Prior to that game the Texans had won three of the last four games.
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Jets vs. Broncos
New York -7 1/2 vs. Denver
New Yorkers are getting used to being better than perfection. It's not that the citizens of the Big Apple need any more arrogance, but their football teams have done some remarkable things over the past year. First the New York Giants took to the road to win three playoff games and then upended the heavily favored and undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII this past February. Since that game the Giants have only lost once and are now tied for the best record in the league at 10-1. Just do not overlook the Jets.
If it was not for the Giants, the Jets (8-3) would be the hottest team in the NFL. By totally dominating the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans 34-13 on the road last week, the Jets at least claimed the honor of hottest team in the AFC.
The Jets return home this weekend to welcome in the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos. The two game road trip they are returning from was supposed to ruin their season, instead it has put them in the AFC East drivers seat. Before dominating the Titans in Nashville, New York also dispatched New England at Foxboro the week before in overtime. The Jets now have won five straight and six out of seven.
The Jets success has had a lot to do with the improvements of Brett Favre. Perhaps the veteran quarterback needed some time to learn the new offense, but he has excelled in it the last few weeks. During the road trip, Favre threw for a combined 51 of 65 for 482 yards with two touchdowns and only one interception. It is probably no coincidence that Favre has gotten hot while Thomas Jones has gotten on track. Jones was just four yards short of 100 yards last week and caught a touchdown pass.
You will forgive them if Favre, Jones and the rest of New York's defense is salivating for more than just Thanksgiving dinner. The Denver defense has been terrible all season long. The Broncos (6-5) are coming off a humiliating 31-10 home loss to the awful Oakland Raiders last week. However, Denver still leads the division by two games over San Diego who can not get on track this season. The Broncos appear headed for the postseason, perhaps by default and will look to shore up its defense down the stretch with the return of All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey.
The teams have not met since 2005 in Denver with the Broncos blanking the Jets 27-0. The Jets last win was in 2002 at home.
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Giants vs. Redskins
New York -3 1/2 vs. Washington
The best thing the Redskins can do this weekend is to win. Easier said than done when they welcome in the division leading Giants to FedEx Field. It is imperative for Washington to keep pace with the Giants and, more importantly, the Cowboys.
The Giants (10-1) are three full games in front of both the Redskins and Cowboys. Even if Washington is victorious, they realistically have a slim chance at taking the division. Their more pressing concern is Dallas. The teams split their meetings this season, which means if the teams' have identical records, which they do now, the deciding factor is conference record. Right now, Washington boasts a 6-3 NFC record against Dallas' 5-4.
The Cowboys are in an easy portion of their schedule at the moment, they host Seattle on Thanksgiving, and the Redskins must keep pace as it seems more likely only two teams from the NFC East will go to the postseason because the NFC South contains all above .500 teams.
It is doubtful, however, that Washington will have Dallas on their minds when they play New York Sunday. They are looking to avenge the first game of the NFL season in which the Giants made the Redskins look like the worst team in the NFL by winning 16-7. Washington (7-4) recovered and have surprised many by their ability to contend in one of the toughest divisions in the league.
Last week the Redskins put a stop to a two game losing streak by beating the aforementioned Seahawks on the road last Sunday 20-17. Meanwhile the Giants kept on rolling.
New York traveled to their Mecca last Sunday. They went to Arizona, the site of last February's Super Bowl triumph, and beat the Cardinals 37-29. The Giants did not have their best game both offensively and defensively, but they made the key plays when needed to hold off the West-leading Cardinals to come home riding a six-game winning streak.
The New York Giants gave the Cardinals their first home loss of the season last Sunday and the Redskins hope to do the same thing to the Giants, who are 6-0 at home. They already have topped their home victory total from last season when they went 3-5 at Giants Stadium. Washington has been almost equally as effective on the road, winning all but one of their five road games.
Giants' running back Brandon Jacobs who missed last week's game with an injury is still day-to-day.
The teams split their games last season, with each team winning on the road. With the Giants Week 1 victory, New York has won four of the last five and five out of the last seven.
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Alabama vs. Auburn
Crimson Tide -14 1/2 vs. Tigers
The Alabama Crimson Tide have their eyes set on greater things than this week's game with rival Auburn. But they also know that looking ahead has rarely been good for any team and will concentrate on getting one step closer to that BCS championship game.
If the number one ranked Crimson Tide (11-0, 7-0) can get past the Tigers, they will head into the SEC championship game undefeated. Alabama knows they are going to the game no matter what happens in the annual Iron Bowl battle with their state rivals, but will probably not be looking forward to a BSC game if they lose.
Unless Auburn (5-6, 2-5) can pull off a stunning upset, the Tigers will be sitting at home for bowl season and a loss to Alabama would cap a very disappointing season for Auburn. A win over the top ranked Alabama will certainly put the Tigers on the map for a bowl game and at 6-6 would be eligible for one. Auburn had better improve on their last showing at home against Georgia when they lost their sixth game of the year 17-13.
The 96th-ranked Tiger offense has been anchored by Kodi Burns. The sophomore passed for 179 yards and a touchdown and ran for an ineffective 28 yards on 14 carries against the Bulldogs. Ben Tate had similar dismal statistics from out of the backfield with 37 yards on 14 carries with no scores.
Alabama's high powered offense continues to turn out points and uses a solid defense to win on both sides of the ball. Two weeks ago, the Crimson Tide beat Mississippi State 32-7. John Parker Wilson actually had a fairly pedestrian game for him. The senior threw for 148 yards with no touchdowns, however he scored once on the ground. Glen Coffee also had an uncharac