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jones Top Ten – Week 15 – 2008
Posted by jonestopten on December 8th, 2008 under Football
The bitterness fades with each bite of jambalaya. This version comes from a seventh-generation and self-described coonass from Slidell. He throws in some outrageous venison sausage—the herd’s got to be thinned out right?—and I washed it down appropriately. I’ve already lost one bet to the Florida fan in attendance: Alabama plus ten losing by eleven equals Jones minus one fifth divided by whatever friends the winner invites over to imbibe away my largesse. Get all of that?
I’m now watching the Oklahoma Sooners slowly torture Chase Daniel and Wazzu. Check that, Mizzou, although it is hard to tell the difference. How about you Show Me something else Missouri? Defense, perhaps.
With the score 41-7, we loaded up the kids and I predicted the 62-21 final as we left the house, complete with garbage time touchdowns. Easy prognostication, Bob Stoops has become addicted to scoring 60; that’s what he does, just like Kilgore from “Apocalypse Now” drops playing cards on the vanquished. I love the smell of computer algorithms in the morning.
Almost 30,000 came to Jacksonville for the Big East title game. Tough economic times, I guess (of course no one came to last year’s ACC title game either, or the one before that now that you mention it). Virginia Tech walked home with the hardware in a 30-12 dismantling of Boston College, ending the strangest conference race I’ve ever seen.
Va Tech will play Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl. Had the Bearcats had any inkling that they would win the Big East this year, there would have been no way that the athletics department would schedule an end-of-season trip to Hawaii. Cincy came back from a 24-10 fourth-quarter deficit to the Warriors the old fashioned way: pick six, field goal, safety, 70-yard touchdown, eat a little poi, get on the plane.
Whatever is old is new again. Proust, right? Anyway, East Carolina came full circle by upsetting Tulsa and winning Conference USA.
Southern Cal and UCLA both played in their home jerseys, the way the rivalry was meant to be played. The Trojans had to give up a time-out as penance for violating the NCAA uniform policy. In a class move, UCLA immediately burned a first-half timeout to even the ledger, to great applause. So the setting was beautiful; the football not so much. USC 28, UCLA 7.
West Virginia also defied the NCAA by wearing white at home in honor of the sublime career of Pat White. Actually, the NCAA gave them permission, which I am guessing resulted from successful completion of the NCAA’s 86-page “Intent to Alter Standard Wardrobe Configuration Waiver.” You know, it ought to work like this:
West Virginia AD: “Hey, we are going to wear white on Saturday, you guys bring your dark jerseys.”
South Florida AD: “OK”
But life is no longer that simple. West Virginia 13, South Florida 7.
Navy thrashed Army, 34-0. Ram Vela, he of the famous Kato-like leaping quarterback takedown at Notre Dame last season, returned an interception 68 yards to cap yet another great season for the Midshipmen.
Ball State suffered through four fumbles and lost both their undefeated season and the MAC title to Buffalo, 42-24, on Friday night. Buffalo just won a conference championship. Buffalo. Turner Gill, to my knowledge, has no job offers. Huh.
Back to Florida/Alabama…the Crimson Tide played out the perfect “How to Beat Florida for Dummies” guidebook for three full quarters, before being overwhelmed in the fourth by a better football team, playing impressively without Percy Harvin. The silver lining for Alabama was Julio Jones’s coming out party; the kid looks like next year’s Michael Crabtree. But it will be Florida advancing.
Oklahoma will meet them in Miami.
Yes, I am still pissed about that.
Impressive Showing of the Week: Virginia Tech
1. Texas, me and six AP voters
2. Oklahoma
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. USC
6. Utah
7. Penn State
8. Texas Tech
9. TNAIOSU
10. TCU
Stay tuned for the Jones Top Ten Bowl Preview, timed to reach your inbox at the exact moment you can no longer stand to look at whatever moronic quarterly report is on your desktop. Ahhhhhhhh…
Rose Bowl Dreams: A Memoir of Faith Family and Football is the new book by Adam Jones.
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Activity
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whiskey commented on the blog post The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour 1 minute ago
I’m with you the off season is already old. I’m ready for the season to start. NDS I am completely fascinated by the Tech vs. Lech business. I can’t believe they ran off the guy that put them on the map and subsequently ended up with an arguable upgrade in Tubs.
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whiskey commented on the blog post Spring Preview: Tech Offense 6 minutes ago
Ded 9-12 wins is pretty optomistic. I like it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Tubs can do with them this year especially on D. I’m surprised you think the QB battle between Sticks and Nick will be close. Interesting, I figured Sticks was a runaway. I hope Corndog
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dedfischer wrote a new blog post: Spring Preview: Tech Offense 49 minutes ago
Got a little time this morning and I’m rearing to talk some football. Here’s what the depth chart looks like headed into spring and a few thoughts:
Offense
QB Sr. Taylor Potts/Sr. Steven Sheffield – We’ve all annointed Sheffield as the starter, and I think that’s the case if we continue to run 99% of our snaps
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Black Scholes commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest: Post Mortem 3 hours, 44 minutes ago
lawdog – on the topic of regression, this crew can’t compare with the senior seasons Thomas and Atchley put up. Something ain’t right in this scenario. Mason topped out his sophomore year and Pittman last year.
Wangmene is ‘Manos de Piedra’ redux, so that was really never going to work out.
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Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Top Ten Reasons Why Cal Can Beat Duke 5 hours, 43 minutes ago
This would probably go a bit better if you read it in your Bobby Knight voice and it had two decades worth of goodwill built up from its gratuitous appearance on a popular late night television show. But oh well.
1) Interior Worries. As in the Bears shouldn’t have any defensively
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Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Round 2 Saturday Recaps 6 hours, 40 minutes ago
We talked about the upset of the decade in this post, but I watched some other great basketball today I’d like to comment on.
For me, the theme of the day was well-played basketball. I’m not only talking about what Northern Iowa did, I’m talking about the other seven games being really well
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Madness Magic: Northern Iowa Upsets Kansas 6 hours, 54 minutes ago
Just a phenomenal game.
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Recapping The South 7 hours, 5 minutes ago
Udoh was a fargging beast in that game. Very athletic player.
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 7 hours, 29 minutes ago
Jesus. I think I see four horseman on the horizon.
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Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Madness Magic: Northern Iowa Upsets Kansas 7 hours, 32 minutes ago
Today reminded me why I love this tournament so much. A good friend of mine mentioned to me that college basketball is the great equalizer of all athletic endeavors. At least of the sports we care about. He’s right.
For instance, you can have a 40 inch vertical, be Iverson quick,
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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 7 hours, 36 minutes ago
Patrick,
Unless you’re completely retarded, you know precisely what I meant. The closest any Big 12 team has gotten to winning the infamous Fuller Cup is the 2007 Texas squad. I can’t remember a team being that horribly undisciplined as a whole aside from the insane OU teams of the 80’s. That’s not
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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 7 hours, 36 minutes ago
Patrick,
Unless you’re completely retarded, you know precisely what I meant. The closest any Big 12 team has gotten to winning the infamous Fulmer Cup is the 2007 Texas squad. I can’t remember a team being that horribly undisciplined as a whole aside from the insane OU teams of the 80’s. That’s not
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Sailor Ripley wrote a new blog post: This Is Sparta! 7 hours, 49 minutes ago
Please make yourself welcome and Adam will be by shortly to keep you up to date on all Michigan State Spartan happenings.
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Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 7 hours, 53 minutes ago
I suppose anyone could be your “favorite Longhorn basketball player” but Ford did more than just about anyone…although Durant is clearly better. Ford’s supporting cast was better than Durant’s in his sophomore year. Durant’s had more talent (Augustin, James, Abrams) but Ford’s was more developed (Boddicker, Ivey, Mouton, Thomas) and had worked with him for
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Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 8 hours ago
Crazy Joe, your thoughts intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 8 hours, 3 minutes ago
This notion of Hamilton as being a disaster area on defense is all a bit much. He rebounds extremely well which, if it wasn’t obvious, is extremely important in this game since it secures possession of the basketball. Winning in basketball is achieved through the scoring of baskets and it’s necessary to possess the basketball
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Ojnab Bob commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 8 hours, 13 minutes ago
I posted earlier about how Collins’ effort just crippled Kansas today, but what amazed me the most was his complete inability to stay in front of his man on defense. UNI got a LOT of good looks out of penetration/pass after one of UNI’s modestly gifted athletes blew right by Sherron. The best
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Scipio Tex wrote a new blog post: Best Opening Round I Can Remember 9 hours, 25 minutes ago
At least it’s shaping up that way if Sunday delivers.
As disappointed as I was in last year’s opening weekend of March Madness, this one is exceeding all expectations. Putting aside the fact that my bracket now resembles Kabul after the Taliban rolled through in ‘96 – a map of ordered failure –
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J commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 9 hours, 52 minutes ago
Thanks for the kind words, Trips.
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J commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 9 hours, 52 minutes ago
You know who’s bitter and angry as fuck? This guy —> ME.
I can only hope our returning players (whoever that may be) remember this and realize they need to play motivated EVERY FUCKING GAME and put forward 40 MINUTES of effort each game.
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Raoul Duke commented on the blog post Rumor Alert–TMG 10 hours, 24 minutes ago
Kid seems like a fantastic collegiate player. I haven’t seen any NBA info. Is he a legit prospect?
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Raoul Duke commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 10 hours, 30 minutes ago
Tough day for Sherron on O and D.
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GoHornsGo90 commented on the blog post Bradley or Hamilton? 11 hours, 15 minutes ago
To leave or stay?
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 11 hours, 16 minutes ago
KSU moving on led by a hot shooting Pullen. BTW, White Mormons can shoot FTs. 22 for 25, I think. Imagine if we could shoot like that.
Wake’s coming back on Kentucky. They’re within 25 right now…..
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Bid Dance: Day Three 11 hours, 34 minutes ago
Just wanted to say I feel for you guys. As a Texas fan I know how this feels even if it’s from a football perspective.
I still think you’re the best basketball team in the country, and unfortunately you ran into a team that packed a Villanova circa 1985 type game today. Meaning they
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 11 hours, 43 minutes ago
Wow. Wake won’t break 50. Not surprising really — we should have beaten Wake and they are not a very good team.
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 11 hours, 49 minutes ago
Kentucky doing their best to beat Wake by half hundred. Close call….
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RRR wrote a new blog post: Survive and Advance 11 hours, 52 minutes ago
We really struggled in the first half, but battled through it to get a tough win against Jacksonville. On to Oxford!
Forget what conference they play in, Jacksonville is a very good basketball team, and they got to Lubbock not because of a crazy bank shot at the buzzer in Phoenix, but by playing aggressive, intense defense for
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 12 hours, 10 minutes ago
The shamrock is on his left shoulder. The Griffin looking thing is on his right.
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 12 hours, 19 minutes ago
Everytime I see a Gumbel brother I think of “Gumbel to Gumbel”
UofC said:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:11 am
The irrational anger exhibited here against OU is a) childish, and b) reflects poorly on a fan base that prides itself on the security of pulling for a perennial power like Texas. Instead of aiming your tantrums at OU and Stoops, why not at the BCS, which in truth should have a system in place that allows the two best teams (Texas and Oklahoma) to play, instead of Oklahoma and Florida?
That aside, why is it that Texas doesn’t step aside, do the honorable (and consistent) thing, and let the team that beat them go to the Fiesta Bowl? That would allow most of you, who aren’t allowed by the terms of your probation to leave the state, to watch the Horns play in Dallas.
jonestopten said:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:22 am
What “irrational anger” did I just exhibit toward OU?
That I am pissed Texas isn’t in the national title game?
Or that I think Texas would beat OU (or Florida) on a neutral field if the game were held tomorrow?
Bob in Houston said:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:23 am
OU fans should know the meaning of childish, I’ll give them that.
Texas got screwed by the computers last week and the voters this week. Nowhere to turn, dude.
As to the honorable thing, when OU steps aside for the team it lost to, then Texas will consider following the example. In any event, Texas earned its BCS slot by the BCS rules.
Nero said:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Ughh, for the last time, it’s CIRCULAR. By your logic, the honorable thing would be for oklahoma to let UT into miami and for TTU to let OU into the Cotton and UT to let TTU into arizona and for oklahoma to let UT into miami and for TTU to let OU into the Cotton and UT to let TTU into arizona and for oklahoma to let UT into miami and for TTU to let OU into the Cotton and UT to let TTU into arizona and for oklahoma to let UT into miami and for TTU to let OU into the Cotton and UT to let TTU into arizona and for oklahoma to let UT into miami and for TTU to let OU into the Cotton and UT to let TTU into arizona and for oklahoma to let UT into miami and for TTU to let OU into the Cotton and UT to let TTU into arizona.
It was a fucking TIE!
Nero said:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am
That was for UofC, not Bob in Houston
Txcastle said:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
UofC:
EABD
That aside, why is it that OU doesn’t step aside, do the honorable (and consistent) thing, and let the team that beat them go to the Orange Bowl?
burnt orange dog said:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Nero,
You act like somebody who feels guilty about receiving something you did not deserve. Otherwise, why would you be on the opponets board, defending your prize.
Basically, only one of those three circular games that you reference was played on a neutral field, and you know that outcome. The UT loss was on a field where OU has lost the last two times they played there. Both times, I believe, OU was the superior team. It is a field where the home team enoys quite an advantage. The OU win in this triad, of course was on its home field. It was such a blowout, that it proved that TTU did not belong in the equation,
limonjello said:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
It’s funny that one cannot write about OU without subconciously having to mention probation.
jonestopten said:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Does anyone give a shit about my piece this week?
I thought the Colonel Kilgore line was pretty good.
Validation, always seeking validation…
Art Vandelay said:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Good line. Love the movie. Honestly didn’t know his name was Colonel Kilgore. If you had said “the Robert Duvall character that liked to surf” it would have killed.
so do we surf or fight in Glendale?
Nero said:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
whoah, burnt orange dog, I’m a longhorn through and through, BBA 2004. I don’t know what about my post made you think I was a sooner or red raider. I’m just tired of the whole three way tie. Sure there are good arguments for all sides, and I prefer UT’s argument, but it doesn’t change the fact that we tied for the South, lost out to OU for a bid, and now face Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. I’m ready to move forward.
burnt orange dog said:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Nero,
A thousand apologies. I agree with the setiments of your second post, I am thrilled with our season, and am ready to move on.
I do not agree that it is truly a circular arguement, which is what all of the OU faithful seem to spouting, and this is why I mistook you for a Sooner. Again, I apologize
Nero said:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
BOD,
No problem. Looking to the future just got easier since the news that Colt will be returning for his senior year!
ATXHornsFan said:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Great job JTT. As always. AN reference was great – I can always visualize those Air Cav cards being flipped on bodies.
And as for all the sooners telling us to quit whining, I ask: what would your boards look like if the situation was reversed? And I don’t think it is whining on the part of most Horns Fans or anger at OU. It was the system, and neither OU nor Bob Stoops had anything to do with that. It just happened. If we had taken care of business in Lubbock (read: an offensive game plan that made sense) we wouldn’t have been in this situation.
And as far as this year goes for football, all that really matters now is beating the Buckeyes.
MDub said:
December 9th, 2008 at 8:15 am
That circular argument thing…don’t forget that Bama beat Ole Miss, which beat Florida, which beat Bama…guess Florida ought to give up its berth in the BCSCG using that logic.
NateHeupel said:
December 10th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Hang on for some crap you never saw coming…
1) OU deserved to be in the Big 12 Title game, but not for the reasons I originally thought. Because everyone agreed on the rules, there’s no justification for changing them in the middle of the game just because your team ended up on the short end. Want it different in 2009? Go nuts. Everyone knew the setup. 3 way tie? It’s going to the BCS, and OU won. THAT SAID……
2) UT deserved to be in the BCS title game. The Big 12 tiebreaker was merely designed to ferret out a team to be a divisional representative to a bs conference title game. However, when I look at the big picture, I look back at the Red River game, and I see the justification isn’t in the scoreboards, it’s in the way we got to where we are.
The OU offensive coordinator had no game plan to run the ball until after the Kansas game. Making OU one-dimensional was not terribly hard. The OU defensive coordinator had no backup plan for a MLB who’d never successfully gotten through an entire season healthy. Awesome.
OU’s loss was due to coaching, and that’s the least excusable reason in my eyes.
UT had to play a war against Oklahoma, a much hyped chip shot against Missouri, then another battle royale against Oklahoma State in consecutive weeks. After I rewatched some of the UT-Tech game, I saw a team that just didn’t have anything left in the tank. It wasn’t about bad coaching. UT was just out of gas, and unfortunately they ran out on the road against the most fired up team they could hope to avoid.
But for me, it didn’t come down to the circular scoreboard of Texas beat OU beat Tech beat Texas…It came down to 48-28, 43-42, and 55-19. It came down to 38-37 and 41-38. Venables has yet to have properly prepared his game plan or his defense for a BCS game in the last 4 years. Hell, the only bowl win in that timeframe was against an Oregon team missing its starting QB.
When it came down to it, history told me what I needed to know. OU needed to earn their way back in for the future with a W in Glendale. Lord willing, Florida losing their offensive coordinator to Miss. St. and possibly their defensive coordinator to UCF will give OU the break they may need. But with Venables…who knows?
Canada said:
December 11th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Do you think that they will be ready this year?
NateHeupel said:
December 12th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Canada, I’ve learned that OU needs to be utterly antagonized for them to find the necessary motivation to win a big game. This was possible in 2000 because everyone in sports media still had their lips firmly wrapped around Bobby Bowden’s shaft.
For the first time since then, no one believes in OU at all. In fact, several ESPN talking heads don’t think OU belongs in Miami at all. That’s all good news for OU fans.
But if you’re all wondering how it is OU keeps getting love from the computers, I have 4 words for you: Photoshop and Bing Bong.