The Crew had another solid day Saturday, posting a 2-1-1 record with winners on Central Florida and Arizona State. The Super Play pushed, but nonetheless generated an extraordinary opportunity cost to those who watched North Carolina State beat UConn, 10-7. In no small feat, the Wolfpack and Huskies made Virginia and Penn St seem like a classic.
The game proved especially disappointing because about three weeks ago we wrote that NC State's Mike Glennon was underrated and quietly one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Absurd. That baby is right up there with our keen observation of last year, when we told a friend that Angels center fielder Mike Trout 'was nothing special.'
We would have cleaned up if not for Nevada, which as a small, one-point favorite, blew a 12-point lead with under five minutes to play against South Florida in Reno, the Biggest Little terrible City in the World. (Full disclosure: Bovada's server went down late Saturday afternoon, saving The Crew, which was all set to lay down on Oklahoma State (-10). The Cowboys must have watched the NC State-UConn game and decided they wanted to show the country they could play even worse, committing more than 160 yards in penalties and five turnovers).
Couple very half-assed thoughts/stats before the (undefeated) Super Play of the Day...
The national narrative is that the Pac-12 had a very good, if not great, day Saturday. While we don't want to discount entirely inter-conference wins by Oregon St, Arizona St, Arizona and UCLA, it has to be pointed out that they all came at home against either injury riddled (Nebraska, Illinois), overrated (Wisconsin) or mistake prone (Oklahoma St) opponents.
We'd not only argue that good conferences have to win games like that, but that those victories don't erase embarrassing performances by Utah and Colorado, which lost to Utah St and Sacramento St, respectively. Waking up this morning to find out that Arizona was ranked in the AP Top 25 was the most ridiculous thing we have experienced since falling in a swamp three weeks ago while playing golf. Again, if you don't win a game when you are the beneficiary of five turnovers and 15 penalties, then you should drop your football program, not be rewarded with a national ranking by the writers. It would be humorous, if it weren't so God damn lazy. Don't worry, fellas, it's only your job ...
Arkansas became the second underdog of 30 points or more to lose outright in as many weeks, falling to UL-Monroe 34-31 in overtime. Watch out, Paul Petrino, who is the Razorbacks' offensive coordinator. The last OC that lost like that didn't have a job the following Monday...
According to former Caesar's sportsbook director Todd Fuhrman the smart money today is on Tennessee (+6), 49ers (+5) Tampa (+3). The squares are on the Texans (-13), Lions (-8.5), Seattle (-3) and Carolina (-3)...
Just saw the NFL Network is airing a special this Wednesday at 8 pm EST, "The Faces of Tebow: A Football Life." Go fuck yourself, NFL Network...
Super Play of the Day
Arizona +3
Other picks
Indy +10
KC +3
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