Play-in Games and other Tourney Talk

By Dan Rodgers

Just to clarify, I don't think the play-in games are the first round. I think this is the play-in round and the first round starts Thursday. Also, I think it's stupid that random 14 and 12 seeds are forced to play an extra game to get to the actual tournament, but lower seeds don't have to. If you want to have play-in games, it should be all of the 16 seeds.

There are two play-in games tonight:

16 vs. 16 - Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State are currently in a battle, the winner gets to honor of getting destroyed by Kentucky in the first round. Western Kentucky is the first school with a losing record to make the tournament since 2009. It doesn't really matter because No. 1 seeds are 108-0 all-time in the first round, so why bother talking about it. -- WOW! This ended up being an exciting game as Western Kentucky went on a huge run to end the game.

12 vs. 12 - Unfortunately for BYU and Iona, the winner gets to lose to Marquette in the first round. This at least should be an entertaining game to watch, and it should be very high scoring. I expect BYU to win because I think they are just the better team; however, Iona might be playing with a chip on their shoulder since many experts are saying Iona didn't deserve to get an at-large bid.

The game I like the most tonight is in the NIT (aka Not In Tournament or National Invitational Tournament).

(6) LSU @ (3) Oregon -7.5 = I think this spread is way off. The Ducks have a damn good squad. They finished tied for second (with California) in the Pac-12 and lost in the conference tournament to eventual champion Colorado by one point (a week earlier Oregon beat Colorado by nine). LSU lost four out of their last five games and they don't do anything particularly well. I've seen Oregon play and they know how to fight and I just don't think that the Tigers can stick with them.

Auburn slips by Oregon

By Dan Rodgers

Well, the much anticipated BCS National Championship is over. The Auburn Tigers defeated the Oregon Ducks 22-19 with a last second field goal. The game wasn't the shootout that some people were expecting, and both defenses showed up.

Both teams were averaging over 30 points per game coming into the game, but turnovers played a large factor in the low-scoring game. Cam Newton threw one interception and lost a fumble, and Darron Thomas threw two interceptions.

However, a huge point in the game was when Auburn was stopped at the one yard line in the second quarter. LaMichael James was then tackled in the endzone for a safety, and Auburn scored a touchdown on their next drive for a 16-11 lead.

After an Auburn field goal, an Oregon touchdown and two-point conversion the game was tied. The very next drive is when Auburn kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired, but the pivotal play on the drive was a 37-yard run by RB Michael Dyer. He was tackled on top of a player and was never down, so he got up and scampered to the Oregon 23. The field goal was a chip-shot 19 yarder.

A fun fact about the game is that it is the first NCAAF National Championship game between two teams that weren't ranked in the top 10 to start the season.

Rodgers That

BCS proves stupidity

By Dan Rodgers

The next BCS poll was released, 2 Oregon jumped 1 Auburn. Both teams won this week by about 20 points over their respective opponents. Why would Oregon then jump them? The BCS calculates a bunch of random crap that I don't feel like stating. This poll is completely worthless and the No. 1 ranked team just lost their top ranking after winning by 20 and staying undefeated.

Clearly, college football needs to just adapt college basketball's system and just use one set of rankings. This is getting ridiculous. I'm so upset I don't even know what to say, and because of that I'm done. I'm tired and sick, good night to all.

Rodgers That