Dave Sez

DeMarcus Nelson Hurt

Duke freshman DeMarcus Nelson will be out for 2-4 weeks with a ruptured thumb ligament in his right hand.

The one position where Duke is questionable is the point guard sport, where Nelson was believed to be the backup to Sean Dockery. The hardest position to learn as a freshman is the point, and Nelson is really more of a combo guard, so the loss of practice time could be significant. Duke will probably have to use Daniel Ewing at the point quite a bit, which will limit his scoring opportunities.

White Men Can Dunk

Check out this video from a Canadian dunk contest. Good lord. Dunk contests have gotten pretty stale for me, but that was one impressive display. The last dunk in particular is just sick.

I did some poking around and found out the kid's name. He's Henry Bekkering and he's a redshirt freshman at Eastern Washington.

ACC To ECU? No

New East Carolina AD Terry Holland seems like a really good guy and of course he has great ties to the ACC. One of the things he wants to do as ECU AD is bring ACC basketball teams into Greenville.

Uh no, that's not gonna happen, Terry. I think he realizes this, but he's gonna try anyway. He mentions that it'll probably take some incentives, but what could ECU possibly offer? They don't have the money to bribe an ACC team. Barbecue, maybe?

I admire his optimism, but it'll be a long time before any team travels to Greenville unless Virginia does it as a favor to their former coach and AD.

Showing Baddour The Door?

I didn't link to any stories earlier in the week, but in case you missed it, there were rumors circulating that UNC was going to reassign athletics director Dick Baddour to another job. Of course, "reassign" is friendly-talk for "fire." Almost as quickly as the rumor got out, UNC put out a statement (sorry, you need to register) saying it wasn't true.

As with any rumor of this sort, there probably is some truth to it. Caulton Tudor put up a pretty good editorial talking about why they might want to get rid of him.

Actually, the case can be made pretty simply. Baddour has screwed up both the basketball and football programs.

In basketball, he failed to land Roy Williams when Bill Guthridge resigned and then turned it over to the green Matt Doherty. You remember how that turned out. Yeah, he got Roy Williams the second time, but honestly, that was an easy hire.

In football, Baddour hired (and then fired, didn't really fire and then fired again) Carl Torbush after Mack Brown left. Torbush promptly drove the program into a tree. To replace Torbush, Baddour went with unproven pro coach John Bunting who has managed to make things even worse.

So, here Carolina is. They need a new football coach, but the man who is responsible for hiring one has proven that he's not up to the task. So, the proper thing to do is to get a new AD. The new AD's first task will be to find a good football coach. Despite Carolina's claim that the rumors aren't true, I don't see things going any other way.

Bottom Line

The News & Observer has a pretty interesting article up about NC State defensive coordinator Reggie Herring. He sounds a bit like a cartoon character - a stereotype of an overly macho football coach.

ACC Preview - Week 9

This is a pretty good week in the ACC. There are no "big" games as far as national perception like there were the previous two weeks, but in three of the five conference games, you have teams at compatible levels trying to get a leg up on one another.

Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech - This is a nice matchup for a Thursday night game. You have two of the teams fighting in that middle ground of the ACC and both have played fairly well in recent weeks. Unfortunately, both teams have had more success on the defensive side of the ball, so while it should be pretty fiercely contested, it will probably be low scoring and might even be ugly.

Both of the Techs have only two losses so far this season, one against a top five team and one loss that they'd like to have back. For the Yellow Jackets, they had their shocking spanking at the hands of the Tar Heels while the Hokies dropped a heartbreaker to NC State when they missed a last second field goal. If either team had reversed their fortunes in those latter games, they'd be one loss teams and would be ranked (well, the Hokies are ranked this week anyway, but they'd probably be in the top 15).

Like I said before, I expect that this game will be fairly close and low scoring (of course, I thought the same thing about the NC State-Miami game last week). Virginia Tech is the slightly better team though and they've had two weeks to prepare (three, if you include the week when they played Florida A&M). Frank Beamer is a good coach and he'll have a good gameplan to lead his team to the win.

By the same token, Georgia Tech has had two good games in a row, holding both opponents (Maryland and Duke) to under 200 yards. Still, the Hokies are too good on both sides of the ball, with better stats than the Yellow Jackets in every major offensive and defensive category. Also, there's always the threat of a big Beamer Ball play in the special teams. I pick the Hokies by a touchdown.

NC State at Clemson - This is the second game of the weekend between teams in the middle trying to climb their way to the top of the pack (no pun intended). Actually, I'm being a bit kind to Clemson, who's hanging on to that middle bubble by just a few fingernails. A loss to Maryland last weekend would have cemented them into a group at or near the bottom with Wake Forest.

With a win in this game, Clemson would climb to 3-3 in the conference, and with a game against Duke still on the schedule, a near lock for a .500 record. A loss would end any chance of that.

For NC State, they are sitting at 3-2 in the conference and still have games with Georgia Tech and Florida State. A loss would most likely put them at .500 as well. A win and they are in pretty good shape.

As for who actually will win, I'm going to have to lean toward State. While they've had some spectacular losses in the Carolina and Miami games, they really do have a pretty good team. One silver lining from the Miami game is that their offense, Jay Davis in particular, really found itself. If he becomes a consistent threat at the quarterback position, they could be a very good team. Well, as long as TA McClendon stops fumbling.

For Clemson, they are certainly good enough to win this game and slugging out a win in that tough Maryland game probably helped their psyche. You have to think that it's important for them to start well. If they get behind early, the doubts will probably creep in and their home crowd might get hostile.

All in all, I just don't trust this Clemson team enough. They've underachieved for most of the year, and despite last week's win, I wonder if they aren't one or two bad breaks away from crumbling altogether. We'll see. Like the Two Techs game, I think this one will be close, but there will probably be a few more points. I think State wins by about a touchdown, maybe in overtime.

Duke at Wake Forest - The battle for the cellar! This is sort of a yearly game, isn't it? Duke and Wake for the bottom of the conference? The motto of the game could be "Good Seats Available!"

This year, like most recent ones, Wake is a much better team. While Duke isn't horrible, I have a feeling that they are going to get pounded by an angry group of Demon Deacons. Wake will take out the frustrations of their 0-4 conference record on the hapless Blue Devils like Ralphie wailing on his bully tormentor in A Christmas Story. No last-minute loss this week.

Florida State at Maryland - Hmmm, a few weeks ago, I would have said that this one smells a bit like an upset. Unfortunately now, it's hard to pick up that scent over the stench of rotting turtle. The Terrapins have imploded and if they can't move the ball on Georgia Tech, NC State and Maryland, how are they going to score on Florida State?

At the same time, who would have thought that the Seminoles would keep Wake in the game for so long last week? I certainly didn't see it coming. I have a feeling that it was a rough week of practice in the Tally. Look for a bit more fire in the garnet and gold bellies this week.

So, everything points toward a Seminole blowout, right? I think so, but that's what worries me. This is exactly the kind of game that produces one of those upsets that no one saw coming, isn't it? Well, I don't have the guts to pick that, so I'm going with Florida State by two touchdowns and a safety.

Miami at North Carolina - When your team has one of the worst defenses in the country for the second straight season, is missing its leading tackler and gave up nearly 700 yards in its last game, maybe you shouldn't go talking smack about your next opponent, you know the one that put up 45 last week on the #1 defense in the country. Jeez.

Just for that Tar Heel stupidity, I won't make my usual comment about how this is actually a talented team that plays poorly and how they have the potential to beat anyone. Screw that. This team is a mess and their gonna get killed by the Hurricanes. I expect a Miami win by four or more touchdowns.

Duke Gets Lithuanian

It seems like every team in the ACC has had at least one Eastern European player. Every team except Duke that is. Looks like that's gonna change next year as Duke just got a commitment from little-known recruit Martynas Pocius. Although he isn't well-known, you can bet that he's pretty good and Duke feels like they stole one.

In that same article, there is news of a press conference tonight where top recruit Andrew Bynum will announce his school. North Carolina is on his final list, but the word is out that he's picking UConn.

Also, the article mentions that Florida State just landed top forty big man Casaan Breeden, a nice get for Leonard Hamilton.

Spiderman

It's pretty obvious that I like sports. It's also pretty obvious that I waste too much time thinking and writing about sports. Still, I like to think that I maintain a pretty good balance in my life. I don't live or die based on the performances of athletes on TV and the games don't completely control my calendar.

People who get too worked up in following a particular team scare me a bit. Not only are they pathetic, but they can ruin it for the rest of us. This guy, a University of Richmond Spiders fan, is one of those people. He has problems.

Thanks to Yoni for the link.

Tony K On Les Boulez

When Tony Kornheiser is on his game, he's as good and funny a sportswriter as there is. In today's article, he's on. Give it a read.

Side note: Did you see that "fight" between the Wizards and Bulls? What a joke. It started when Larry Hughes commited a horrible cheap shot by pushing Kirk Hinrich into Loul Deng while Deng was in the air for a layup. A terrible foul, as it was cowardly and really could have hurt Deng. The incident escalated when Brendan Haywood decided to sissy-punch Antonio Davis while Davis was looking the other way. Haywood then proceeded to run backwards away from Davis faster than I've ever seen Haywood move. Davis eventually caught him and pounded the bigger Haywood to the floor. Served him right. If only the big fella had landed on Larry Hughes, then all would have been equalized.

Blue Ribbon Wake Preview

Like I said in an earlier posting, there are dozens if not hundreds of team preview articles floating around on the web. I'm not going to be linking to too many of them, because there's just no point. If you're interested at all, you will have already found a few to your liking.

That said, this one is pretty good. ESPN.com is offering up a free preview of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearkbook, and one of the teams they are offering for free is Wake Forest. It's a quite long and very thorough preview. It's a good read.

I have one nitpick here though. This Chris Paul stuff has gotten out of hand. Yes, he's a very good player and he had a great freshman year. You may remember (OK, probabyl not), that I actually picked him for first team All ACC last year. So, I recognize that he's a great player.

But ... this Blue Ribbon preview mentions several times that Paul is their choice for national player of the year! Wow. I mean, yeah, that could happen, but it's pretty unlikely. His own teammate, Justin Gray was picked ahead of him for the official All ACC team last year. In the ACC alone, he'll have to compete with Jarrett Jack, John Gilcrist and Raymond Felton just to be the best point guard in the conference.

So, yes, Chris Paul is a very good player, maybe even special. Last year, it seemed that lots of people failed to recognize just how good he was. But things changed over the summer and now the hype has now officially gotten ahead of his production. Let's give the kid a chance to earn his spot, OK?

ACC Review - Week 8

Maryland at Clemson - I often completely miss the boat when predicting what will happen in these games. I'm not ashamed about it; it's practically impossible to accurately say what will happen in a college football game. In this game though, "The Desperation Bowl" I called it, I got it right with this prediction, "[Clemson will] continue their winning streak in a fierce, close and ugly match." Actually, maybe I should have said very ugly. Or "fugly," perhaps. I mean, good god. Maryland managed less than 200 yards of offense and Clemson was just barely better. There were only two turnovers, so that means that the two teams just kept bumping into each other for a few downs and punting. There were 16 punts in all. Death Valley? It must have been Bored-To-Death Valley on Saturday. I tried watching some of this one and ended up leaving a drool spot on my sofa.

Ironically, for as gawdawful a game as it was, it did have an exciting ending. Clemson scored the game winning touchdown with less than a minute and a half to go. Thankfully for everyone involved this one didn't go to overtime. Otherwise we might have had something like a 13-10 victory in five overtimes.

So where does this leave the teams? I called it the Desperation Bowl for a reason. The winner still has a chance at redemption or at least mediocrity while the loser ... well, hey, basketball practice started!

For Clemson, they actually still have a hill to climb. They are sitting at 3-4 and 2-3 in the ACC with games remaining against NC State, Miami, Duke and USC. They'll be favored in one of those games. Odds are they'll still end the season under .500 overall and at best at .500 in the conference. I wonder if the IPTAY folks have lawyers combing that extended contract for Tommy Bowden looking for loopholes?

For Maryland, it's not much better. They are now 3-4 with three straight losses. They failed to gain 200 yards in any of those three losses, although I guess they did double their output in this game. With games left against Florida State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, it's extremely unlikely that they'll scratch their way back to .500. I'd say they have a better chance of losing out. More likely, they'll get one win the rest of the way.

Virginia at Duke - I really thought Virginia would come out in this one angry and blow Duke away. If you just look at the final score and some of the stats, including the eye-popping 348 rushing yards, you would think that that's what happened. Nuh uh. Not at all. Virginia was a bit sluggish and failed to put Duke away until late.

Duke had the ball in scoring range down just two touchdowns in the middle of the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers held them on a fourth down though and drove the field for one more clinching score to make the final margin appear a bit better.

On the flip side, while the Cavs weren't as sharp as they hoped, in large part due to a poor game from quarterback Marques Hagans, they had to be pleased with their rushing. Alvin Pearman, normally the #2 RB, rushed for 223 yards, just one shy of the school single game record. Wali Lundy added 82 more and two touchdowns. The Cavaliers realized early on that Hagans wasn't sharp (evidently he was still banged up from the beating he took in Tallahassee), so they committed almost completely to the rushing game. It worked.

For Duke, well, it was yet another moral victory. They played pretty well, but still lost by three touchdowns. Interestingly, over the past four years, the Blue Devils lead the nation in moral victories that were actual losses.

Side note: I listened to some of this game on the radio via the Duke broadcasters. Man, talk about your homers. Every single flag thrown against Duke was a bad call. Every third play or so where there wasn't a flag thrown, the refs missed an obvious penalty on Virginia. On top of that, Bob Harris, their play-by-play man routinely failed to mention the yards gained, whether first downs were made or whether actual penalties had been called. In fairness, he's a very good basketball guy, and frankly that's all Duke really cares about anyway.

Florida State at Wake Forest - Wow. I watched this game and could not believe my eyes. I'm not just talking about the fact that Wake was leading almost the whole game, but what really shocked me was Florida State. Was this the same team that I saw kill Virginia one week earlier? There was no resemblance at all. None. Where they were jumping up and down and constantly attacking one week, they were standing and yawning the next. I can't remember such a jarring contrast in a team's attitude from one week to the next.

As for the game, it was almost the biggest upset in Wake Forest history, but they just couldn't quite hold on. In fairness, they really never did much to earn the win. Both of their two touchdowns were defensive scores. It's not that those don't count or that they weren't great plays, but there was a lot of luck involved. Without those two scores, Wake probably never would have led. It still would have been fairly close and it would have been low-scoring, but the Demon Deacons wouldn't have been in position to win.

For the Seminoles, it's hard to know what to take from this game. A few things are certain - this is not a team you can count on to always bring their best (or even near their best) and Wyatt Sexton is not infallible. On the flip side, they gave up only three points to Wake Forest's offense and they came through and made the plays they needed to down the stretch. Good teams find ways to win games even when they are playing poorly. I just wonder if this team isn't playing poorly too often. Fortunately for them, they really only have two semi-tough games left, at NC State and home against the coachless Florida Gators. Both games are losable, but with any semblance of the effort they gave against Virginia, they'll win both.

For Wake Forest, it was yet another heartbreaking loss. Wake has to be the best 0-4 team in ACC history, for whatever that's worth. All four losses came in the closing minutes or seconds of the game. Fortunately for the Deacs, they get Duke next. They should be able to wrap that one up before the last minute.

Miami at NC State - This was a crazy game. In the kicking game alone, there was a kickoff return for a touchdown, an onsides kick, a fake punt, a muffed kickoff return, a muffed punt return, a blocked punt and a partially blocked punt. Add in five turnovers, over 860 yards of offense and 76 points and you can see why it was such an unusual game.

A big surprise for everyone was how much offense there was in this one. Going into the game, NC State was #1 in the country in total defense and Miami wasn't too far behind. Imagine my surprise when I watched Miami roll up over 200 yards and NC State just under 300 in the first half alone.

At the half, Miami led 28-17, but it felt like State was still in the game. They had made a bunch of big plays, but had killed themselves with critical turnovers, including a fumble by TA McClendon inside the five yard line (haven't we seen that before?). In the second half though, things settled down and Miami seized complete control. At one point, Miami led 45-17, but the Wolfpack scored the last two touchdowns to make the score a bit more respectable.

For NC State, there are two ways to look at this. On the one hand, they came out hard, with a lot of passion and they threw the kitchen sink at the Hurricanes. There is no doubt that Chuck Amato was going for the win. That's a great attitude and it's clear that his team bought into it. On the flip side, all that trickery can give the impression that you feel you need that stuff to win. So when it doesn't produce a lead, you wonder if the team doesn't let down a bit, feeling like they already took their shots. In the end, I'd say that NC State showed that they are a good team and that they do have a lot of talent, but they just aren't yet in Miami's class. That's not so bad.

For Miami, there are also two ways to look at it. On one hand, they took yet another good team's best shot and came away victorious. On the other hand, they gave up a ton of yards, big plays and points to a non-ranked team. Their defense looks great out there flying around, but they aren't shutting teams down. At some point, that sloppiness might catch up to them.

Regardless of what the two teams do the rest of the year, they did give us an exciting game and laid the groundwork for a possible rivalry. It's clear that State has targeted both Florida State and Miami as schools they really, really want to beat and they do a great job of getting up for those games. Coach Amato and his staff just need to find a way to channel that energy and passion for the other nine games on the schedule.

Graduation Rates Released

The NCAA released its latest graduation rates, with numbers from the class that entered in 1997-98. I really don't put too much weight in these numbers, because they are so flawed. Transfers and players who turn pro early count against schools, which really isn't fair. For this reason, basketball numbers in particular are flawed, because it only takes a couple of transfers or early departures to torpedo rates.

The News & Observer runs down the numbers for the local ACC schools here.

One thing I do want to point out is State's embarrasingly low numbers. Now, I understand that they went through a football coaching change around that time, so they had higher than normal transfers. Still, that doesn't completely make up the difference. Even if every transferee stayed and graduated, they would be at best tied with UNC and still behind Duke and Wake.

Even more disturbing was this quote from Chuck Amato, "They were all guys I did not recruit. This is my fifth year. How else can I address it? That's the truth." Nice, coach. Yeah, you have no obligation whatsoever to make sure they go to class and get an education just because you didn't recruit them. Is he saying that he recruits smarter players than Mike O'Cain did?

Anyway, like I said, the numbers are flawed, so don't give them too much credence. At the same time, I am very concerned about whether or not players get educations. I just don't think this is a good way to measure that.

Pigskin Parity

Michael Wilbon has a nice article up about parity in college football. He frames it in reference to Maryland fans' dissatisfaction with this year's team. They feel like since they've won 10 games three years in row that they should just continue that. Nuh uh. It doesn't work like that. Not anymore (if it ever really did). Not at Nebraska, not at Texas, not at Alabama, not at Ohio State and certainly not at Maryland.

With reduced scholarships, increased television coverage and more national recruiting, it's very hard to maintain a consistent advantage over your rivals. But hey, that's part of what makes it so fun. Wins are not guaranteed, so enjoy them while you're getting them (if you are getting them, that is).

Zook Hooked

You've probably seen by now, but I'll tell ya anyway. Florida fired head football coach Ron Zook today. Curiously, they are letting him finish out the season as a lame gator.

I have no problem with the firing; it was inevitable. Actually, I'm kind of happy, because it gives me a second chance to post about his fraternity escapades. I meant to post about it at the time, but never did. Now it's topical again!

Anyway, the story is (read here for the frat brothers' take), an offensive lineman or three got involved in an altercation with a few fraternity brothers in the Phi Kappa Pi (Pi Phi for boys) house. Now, in my fraternity in college, three D1 offensive lineman would have kicked the crap out of everyone in the house. Maybe Florida frat boys are huge, or maybe Gator linemen are wimps.

So, the next day, Zook and about 15 or so players show up at the house again, presumably to fight or maybe just intimidate the brothers again. Classic! Did Alpha Beta burn their house down and need the geek house again? I love the quote from Zook, "I will do anything in my power to take this house down." Yes, yes, that's exactly what a beleagured head coach needs to be doing with his time. Getting rid of those bullying frat boys. Hell, if they're beating up his linemen, maybe he should have been recruiting at the Pi Kappa Phi house.

Ah well, I'll miss coach Zook.

Zing!

Julius Hodge, comedian.

When asked about Rashad McCants' now infamous "jail" quote, Hodge had this to say:

I don't look at it in that same way, because if that's the way he looks at it, I would hate to see what their shower scene looks like.

You can read that here, right at the bottom. You can bet that I'll be adding that one to my Miscellaneous Quotes list.

Better Get A Muzzle For Gary

This is pretty fascinating. According to Dan Hughes, the director of basketball operations for the MAC, refs can actually whistle a technical foul on coaches for yelling at their own players! It's not clear if he meant that this was only in the MAC, but it sounded like he was implying it was a national rule.

Can you imagine this? What would Gary Williams do if after berating his bench players because someone on the court didn't fight through a screen, he turned around to see a ref giving him a T? His head might explode.

Maybe they should go further. Maybe they should also give out technicals for particularly bad coaching. Tweeeeet!!! Technical foul on Coach Gillen. He used all of his timeouts before the 6 minute mark of the first half.

RIP RPI

OK, they aren't really killing it, but it made for a better headline. What's really happening is that the good folks at the NCAA have decided to tweak the lame RPI. Good. What they are doing is taking into account the location of games, whether they are home, road or neutral. That's a welcome change, as the old RPI completely ignored this.

In my not-so-humble opinion, the RPI is still a fairly poor way to rate teams, but this makes it better. If they are going to use a computer ranking, I'd rather see them go with a real, sophisticated system like Jeff Sagarin's or Ken Pomeroy's.

The cynic in me thinks that they may be making this change purely because they don't like people knowing their "secret" formula. As you know, the NCAA has never officially said what algorithm they use and doesn't release their numbers, but many people have figured out what it was and put out their own rankings.

Joe Lunardi of espn.com gives a pretty good breakdown of the change and what it might mean here.

More Latino Soccer

The other day, I linked to an article about a Hispanic soccer league here in Raleigh. I was amazed that they actually recruit pro players from Mexico and other South and Central American countries.

Well, here's an article from the New York Times about a similar league in New York. This league is an over-40 league and has many former pro and national team stars. It's pretty interesting that you could go out and watch these guys play - guys who played in World Cups years ago.

Thanks to the Sports Economist for the link.

DBR Previews

A while back, I was dutifully keeping up with the Duke Basketball Report's ACC previews. Somehow, I fell behind. Instead of linking to them all separately, I'll just send to the Maryland preview. From there, it's a pretty easy link to the rest.

They've finished all eleven previews and they do a really good job. Yeah, there are previews like this all over the web, but I like to reward the non-commercial sites when I can. These guys make no money on their site, but they really know ACC basketball and they do a great job. Their team previews and long and thorough. I highly recommend that you read them all.

ACC Preview - Week 8

Things are a bit quieter this weekend in the ACC as there are only four games. Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech are all idle this weekend, healing up for the second half of the season. All four games are conference games, and two are somewhat critical, for different reasons. You'll read why below.

Maryland at Clemson - The Desperation Bowl! Both Maryland and Clemson began this season ranked in the top 25 and with high hopes of competing for the conference title and accompanying BCS bid. Both have fallen flat on their faces and are on the short list of most underachieving teams in the nation.

On Clemson's behalf, the "honor" is somewhat undeserved, as the team was given too much credit at first. The Tigers did finish the 2003 season on an exceptionally high note, but they lost several key linemen from that team. As any football person will tell you, good, consistent line play is critical to good football teams. That said, even the most prudent prognosticators didn't expect Clemson to be 2-4 at this point.

For Maryland, their hopes maybe weren't quite as high as Clemson's and they haven't been quite as bad ... until the past two weeks. The stinkers that the Terrapins dropped the last few weeks were bad enough to water eyes from DC to Seattle. I'll never fully understand how a Ralph Friedgen team could fail to gain 100 yards in back-to-back games. It's not even like they have had some serious spate of injuries to blame.

So, what we have here are two underachieving teams desperate to turn their seasons around. Thus the moniker, Desperation Bowl.

Statistically, Maryland has been the better team. They have been more effective than the Tigers in every statistical category on both sides of the ball except for passing offense. In fairness, the Terrapins have probably played a slightly easier schedule. The problem for them is that they are trending down. While Clemson has played badly, they haven't played 81-yards-of-total-offense badly.

Given that this game is in Death Valley and that Maryland has been awful the past few weeks, I have to give the advantage to Clemson. They got a chance to feel good about themselves last week while beating up the Sisters of the Poor in their homecoming game. I say they continue their winning streak in a fierce, close and ugly match.

Aside: This is no knock on the guy, but would announcers quit hyping up Steve Suter as if he's the most dangerous guy in the league? Yeah, he's career return yardage leader in the ACC, but most of that happened pre-knee injury. Check the numbers this year. He's ninth in the league in put returns. I'm just sayin'.

Virginia at Duke - The schedule is kind to the Cavaliers. After they finished picking the fragmented pieces of their hype, egos and jock straps from the grass of Doak Campbell, the Hoos had to be happy to see who was next. Duke. That line of the schedule is like a little slice of heaven for ACC teams. Most years (and certainly recently), Duke = W.

One might think that Virginia was beaten so badly by the Seminoles on Saturday night that they might have a carry-over effect and play poorly against the Blue Devils. I don't see that happening. This is a very well-coached team and they will be ready on Saturday. Al Groh made it clear that he was not at all pleased with the effort in Tallahassee and he declared that all defensive starters had to re-earn their positions on the depth chart this week. You can bet it was a spirited week of practice. The Hoos will be ready.

For Duke, it's been a tough season. Based on their performances last year after Ted Roof took over, they had every reason to be optimistic about this season. I admit that I thought they'd be tough. They haven't been. The only thing Duke has done well is force turnovers. Think of how bad things would be if they hadn't been so fortunate with turnovers?

Anyway, while Duke often plays Virginia surprisingly close, I expect a blowout this weekend.

Florida State at Wake Forest - I've written several times this year about Wake Forest's ability to play almost everyone close. Well, now you get to see the "almost" part. Florida State learned a few things about themselves last weekend against Virginia, and what they learned was all good. I don't expect them to be anywhere near as fired up or focused as they were against the Cavaliers, but they don't need to be against Wake.

Wake will probably keep the game pretty close for a while. They have that unusual offense and the execute it very well. Their misdirection should work well to offset the speed of Florida State's defense. For a while. Eventually, they'll tire and the Seminoles will start to roll on both sides of the ball. There is just too much of a talent and speed differential.

Look for Florida State to win by at least two touchdowns.

Miami at NC State - And now we come to the other interesting game of the weekend. This is the game that NC State and its fans have been looking forward to. The Wolfpack has upset Florida State several times in recent years and they'd love to add an Ibis scalp to their collection. State has the speed on defense (ranked #1 in the country) to offset much of Miami's offensive speed, and frankly the Hurricanes haven't really been that great on offense all season. Where NC State will have trouble is when they have the ball. Miami also has a stout D, although Louisville showed that it can be had by a good offense. If only State had a good offense...

The biggest deterrent to NC State pulling off this upset is the attention this game is getting. ESPN's College Gameday crew will be in Raleigh for this game. That's not good. The best chance any underdog has is for the favorite to not be mentally prepared, to underestimate their foe. That's tough when the preeminent college show is in town, implying that there's a real chance at an upset. It's similar to Virginia's trip to Tallahassee last weekend. The Seminoles had to hear all week about how they were going to lose in their stadium. By the time the game rolled around, their blood was boiling and they wanted to kill. The Hurricanes might feel the same way on Saturday. On the flip side, Miami won't have a home crowd to cheer them on like FSU did. On the contrary you can bet that Carter-Finley will be packed and rocking on Saturday night, trying to will their Pack to the win.

All that taken into account, I still think NC State can win this game. They have the players to do it. In fact, they have a ton of players from Miami, many of whom were recruited by the Canes. In the end though, I think they'll come up short. Like I said, Miami just won't be looking past them, especially after their close call with Louisville last week. I say Miami wins a close one, maybe with a big special teams play.

Modern Cathedrals

The Sports Economist has a very interesting post about a paper concerning the economic impact of building medieval cathedrals and comparing that to building modern sports arenas. The argument is that the full cost is not just price of the arena or stadium, but also the opportunity costs. What else could that money, labor and material be used for?

It's a pretty interesting (if a bit eggheaded) read.

Kornheiser On NHL

Tony Kornheiser nails my feelings about the NHL lockout. It can be summed up thusly: so what?

Now in fairness, I am not a big hockey fan. I have nothing against the game, I just don't have the time in my life for another sport and I have plenty, thank you.

The thing is, we're quickly finding out that millions and millions of Americans, even many who went to game, feel the same way. Where' the outrage? I'm sure it's everpresent in Canada, but down here in the States, no one cares. And why should we? The game expanded too fast and is now eating itself.

The players have jetted off to Europe to play in other leagues. They don't care.

The owners aren't scheduling day-after-day meetings to get this resolved. They don't care.

Why should I care?

Eric Williams Sick

This wouldn't really be newsworthy if he hadn't had a serious bout of illness this summer, but Wake's Eric Williams is sick again. It doesn't sound like they really know why, but when you lose 15 pounds in one day, that's a big deal, even when you're as big as he is. If you don't remember, he had a pretty serious illness this summer that they decided was food poisoning. I hope nothing worse is going on.

UNC: Blue Heaven or Prison?

You know, I think maybe I need to make a special feature here. I could call it something like Rashad's Crazy Action of the Week. Something like that. This guy is a goldmine!

His most recent gift to opposing fans is his comparison of UNC to prison. Yes, that's right. Prison.

His quote (and you better believe I'm putting it in the quotes pool for the Random Quotes), "You're not allowed to say certain things, but once you get out of jail, you're free. [I'm] in my sentence and I'm doing my time."

That's awesome. I guess his prison tats make a bit more sense now.

Update: Roy Williams and McCants had a press conference today (10/19/2004) where coach Williams bascially read him the riot act and Rashad explained/apologized. I think that was a pretty good way for Roy to handle it. Confront it straight on and make McCants own up. Read some quotes or listen to the whole thing here.

You Ain't Got No Alibi

The ACC unveiled its new logo and divisional names yesterday. You can see the logo to the right. I have one word: UGLY!

What were they thinking? Yeah, it's sort of like the old logo, but that just doesn't work any more. There are too many states. Did you even notice the tiny little dot way up at the top for Boston College?

The new division names are very clever: Atlantic and Coastal. Get it? They used the first two words in "Atlantic Coast Conference!" They must have paid some big bucks to a marketing agency to come up with those. Nevermind that Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are nowhere near any coast.

Here are those divisions:

ESPN College GameDay Coming

ESPN's College GameDay crew is coming to Raleigh this weekend to host their show at Carter-Finley in honor of the Miami-NC State game. That's a pretty big and surprising honor for NC State. It's not often that they go to a game featuring an unranked team. I guess they see the same potential that I do - upset.

ACC Review - Week 7

Louisville at Miami - Miami dodged a bullet in this one. I don't know if they didn't play their best game or if they just aren't that much better than Louisville. Either way, the Hurricanes were extremely lucky to come back and win. If a Louisville defender doesn't drop an easy interception late in the game, the Cardinals would have won.

It may be that Miami needed a game like this to get their attention. They expected a close game with Florida State, but they've just been coasting since, seemingly ordained into the BCS. They need to be careful though. There are a few teams in the ACC that are good enough to beat them if they don't play their best. I think maybe they know that now.

For Louisville, it was definitely a good loss, although it probably didn't feel that way at the time. It was at Miami, on national TV, on Thursday night and it was a great, great game. The whole country saw how good the Cardinals are and that can only help them down the road.

Duke at Georgia Tech - Georgia Tech appears to be rounding into shape. One week after dismantling Maryland on the road, they methodically and soundly beat Duke. This was a perfect game for a letup, but they never really gave Duke a chance. Very quietly, the Yellow Jackets are laying claim to second-tier status in the conference along with Virginia, NC State and Virginia Tech.

For Duke, well, it's looking like the Ted Roof optimism is over. They aren't going to win more games than they won last year, in part because of a series of injuries. Fortunately for coach Roof, not much is expected of Duke football. The alumni aren't going to be calling for his head unless he puts together three or more seasons of this kind of play.

Utah State at Clemson - Clemson has been in a slump. One way to fight out of a slump is to get yourself a slumpbuster. Well, Utah State was Clemson's slumpbuster. At least, that's what the Tigers hope.

There's really not much they can take from this game other than the relief that they didn't lose again. We'll see if it works next weekend when they host a reeling Maryland in the Desperation Bowl.

Florida A&M at Virginia Tech -
You put your left foot in
You take your left foot out
You put your left foot in, and you shake it all about
You pay to play a patsy and blow those suckers out
That's what it's all about!

NC State at Maryland - As I alluded two last week, this was a critical game for both teams. Maryland and NC State were both coming off of upset losses and both had previously missed out on non-conference upset chances. One more loss could send their season to a tailspin.

I thought that Maryland would pull it out, but I was wrong. Way wrong. Last week, Maryland was humiliated at home by Georgia Tech, gaining only 81 yards. What did they do for an encore? Gain 91 yards against NC State! That just blows my mind. Hell, the 81 yards for a Ralph Friedgen team already blew my mind. Only 91 yards one week later hosed my mind chunks into the gutter. What is wrong with Maryland? I wonder how much sleep Fridge has had the last few nights? Words fail to describe how baffled I am at the Terps' offensive ineptitude. Isn't Ralph Friedgen supposed to be an offensive genius? The Cleveland Browns got more than 91 yards last Sunday on one play!

For NC State, this win was important for several reasons. First, it kept their season alive and on track. Second, it exorcised their turtle demons; Chuck Amato had yet to beat Maryland. Third, it showed that their defense, which faltered last week against North Carolina, is legit. While Maryland may have a bad offense, it takes a pretty stout team to hold their opponent to under 100 yards.

Next up for the Wolfpack is Miami at home. One thing NC State has done consistently under Chuck Amato is gotten up for the big opponents and pulled some upsets. They are a legitimate threat to beat Miami next week in Raleigh.

North Carolina at Utah - As soon as I wrote that I thought Carolina would upset Utah, I had regrets. Just after I published it, I remembered the three suspended pot smokers. I rationalized it to myself thusly - what harm could it do to lose the Tar Heels' leading tackler? Could the defense actually be worse? Would Marge Schott have been uglier if she lost a tooth?

Well, it turned out that their defense could get worse, believe it or not. As bad as their defense was though, the real problem for UNC was actually the offensive injuries. Starting tailback Jacque Lewis went down on the first series. Darian Durant didn't finish the first half. For Carolina to have a chance in any game, they need points. Take away their best offensive players, and well, that's how they got beat 46-16 and gave up 669 yards of offense.

I bet that was a long plane ride home

Virginia at Florida State - And now we get to the big game of the weekend.

You've heard the chaos theory saying that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it could set off a tornado in Texas? Well, that's what happened last week in Tallahassee. A few dozen AP voters flapped their pens, giving UVA a higher ranking than Florida State, setting off a perfect storm in Doak Campbell Stadium. In my numerical analysis of the game, I forgot those numbers, and they turned out to be the most important. The Seminoles and their fans saw the rankings shift as a slap in their face. Never before had Florida State hosted an ACC game against a higher ranked opponent. They were furious and motivated and it showed.

The team that Florida State put on the field on Saturday night bore little resemblance to the teams they've fielded in recent years. That looked like the 1993 Seminoles, crushing everyone they played.

For all the praise that Wyatt Sexton earned for his stellar play on Saturday night (and the praise was much deserved), it was the defensive line that really won the game. Florida State dominated Virginia in every aspect, but their D-line did the most damage. Coming in to the game, Virginia's offensive line was trumpeted as one of the best in the country. The generally accepted thinking was that they would hold FSU's speedy defense at bay, opening up running lanes that would later become passing lanes. Nope. Didn't happen. Virginia couldn't run and they couldn't protect the QB. A team that was averaging about 275 rushing yards a game could muster only 20. A team that had allowed only 2 sacks all season gave up 6. The Seminoles were swarming. The fearful fact for future foes is that by the middle of the third quarter, Florida State had played 12 different defensive linemen. Not only are they nasty, they're deep.

Coaching-wise, it was a mismatch as well. It's hard to say that Florida State's in-game play calls were good or bad, because everything worked. They had no adjustments to make. For Virginia though, they stubbornly stuck to a plan to establish a running game long after it was apparent that it wouldn't work. It wasn't until the final drive of the first half, when they were in two minute mode, did Virginia stop trying to run on every first and second down. And low-and-behold, they moved the ball! By then though, it was too late.

For as bad and one-sided as the game was, there were a few critical first-half plays that could have changed the tone. Nothing would have changed the final outcome - Florida State was gonna win no matter what - but it didn't need to be a blowout. The first was a minor face mask penalty on fourth down when Florida State had run a fake punt and failed. The five yards made it fourth and inches. The Seminoles went for it and got the first down, eventually getting a field goal. That simple penalty was basically a turnover at a time when the game was still just 2-0.

A second minor face mask penalty came a bit later, when Florida State had failed to convert a third down deep in Virginia territory. The five yards earned them a first down, and they ended up getting a touchdown instead of a field goal.

The third mistake was basic time mismanagement at the end of the half. On several of Virginia's final plays, they let the play clock run for way too long before getting the snap off. Those seconds cost them a chance at what seemed to be a sure touchdown just before the half. They had moved the ball to inside the five yard line, but with the clock running out, had to settle for the field goal.

Those three small miscues add up to 11 points. The halftime score was 19-3, but it could have been just 12-7. Either way, Virginia was going to lose, but it's interesting to see how just a few mental mistakes can make such a huge difference.

So, where does this put these teams? Surely everyone views them completely differently than they did one week ago. One thing to remember after a game like this is that Florida State is not as good as they looked and Virginia is not as bad. Sometimes everything just comes together for one team and that's what happened on Saturday night.

If the Seminoles can even approach that level of effort and production for the rest of the year, they will not lose again and they have an outside shot at a national title. They looked that good.

For Virginia, they need to lick their wounds and learn from their mistakes. They can't afford to let that game beat them twice. Fortunately, their next game is at Duke and then they get the broken Terrapins at home. They should be able to win both fairly easily and then get ready for Miami at home. Despite what we saw Saturday night, UVA is good enough to beat the Canes.

La Liga

This is a pretty interesting article from the News & Observer about the hispanic soccer league in Raleigh, Liga de Raleigh. In just four years, the league has grown to 55 teams and some teams are now recruiting pro players from Mexico!

I've seen these teams playing on the fields, but never paid that much attention, other than to notice that they get pretty good crowds and they have really nice uniforms. The uniforms have always surprised me, because you would assume, given the low economic position of most Central American immigrants, that they wouldn't have the money to waste on such fancy kits. I guess I underestimated the passion and money involved in this league.

Tattoo You

This is great. According to this article, UNC's Rashad McCants recently got two tattoos, one on each arm. On one arm - "Born to be hated." On the other - "Dying to be loved."

That's awesome. I bet Dean Smith is proud. Coincidently, I think Henry Lee Lucas had the same tattoos.

Edit: InsideCarolina.com had a pic.

Basketball Starts!

Man, I almost made it through the day without mentioning what a big day it is. Tonight at midnight, the college basketball season begins. Some places are holding public Midnight Madness practices, but not as many schools as in years past. Lots of coaches have decided they can't waste a practice.

In honor of the day and since there are so many potential links, I'll just link to the page that the guys at the DBR made. It has links to articles about a bumch of different ACC teams.

Get pumped, because it's gonna be a hell of a basketball season!

Miller's Tale

Virginia's junior tight end Heath Miller is not only possibly the best tight end in the country, he might be the best in ACC history. He broke the career tight end touchdown record last year while still a sophomore. He also broke the single season catch and yardage record last year.

It turns out though, that he's not just a star football player. He's a role model for his small town in southwest Virginia. If you don't know the area well, that area of Appalachia has long been one of the poorest regions in the country. There are few jobs to be had and those that are are available are hard, like coal mining or working in a factory. The Washington Post has nice article about Miller and what he means to the people of Swords Creek, VA.

ACC Preview - Week 7

Louisville at Miami - Once again, I failed to get my preview out before a Thursday night game. I'll tell you what I would have said though. I would have said that Louisville is a very good team and Miami better be careful. The Cardinals have had good quarterbacks and a good offense for several years now, but this year their defense is stout as well. Louisville has two shutouts so far this year, including one against a good North Carolina offense.

This game is (was) very important for the ACC. There aren't many non-conference games left against ranked opponents and the ACC hasn't been quite as good as expected. If the top ACC team were to lose to a program perceived as a mid-major (maybe a half step above that, actually - a mid-high-major?), it would kill the league's rep this year.

Duke at Georgia Tech - So, which Georgia Tech shows up this week? The one that was spanked by the erratic Tar Heels or the one that monkey-stomped Maryland in College Park? Against Duke, does it really matter? Probably not. I didn't expect Duke to be very good this year, but I thought they'd be competitive and they really haven't been. Their best game was a near-win against UConn. The Dukies are the kind of team that might just upset someone this year though, and this is one of the more likely games.

Georgia Tech could be ripe for an upset. They are coming off of their best performance in years last weekend. After a bye week, the Hokies come to town, so the Yellow Jackets may not be focused on the Blue Devils. It's not like this team is the Rock of Gibraltar. Still, I think Georgia Tech will win. Duke is still getting used to a new system and they've had a series of injuries to a squad that was never very deep. Don't be shocked if this one turns out to be a close one though.

Utah State at Clemson - This game couldn't come at a better time for Clemson. The Tigers are in disarray. They expected their team to be 4-1 or 3-2 at absolute worst at this point of the season, but they are 1-4. This is still a good team, but they haven't played like it yet, at least not for a full 60 minutes.

Fortunately for Clemson, they won't need their A game against the Aggies (yes, I looked it up) of Utah State. They won't even need their B game to win this one. That said, Clemson really needs to fix their problems and this might be the game to do it. If they can play well and blow Utah State out, it might give the Tigers a foundation to build on for the rest of the season. With Maryland, NC State, Miami, Duke and South Carolina on the schedule, the Tigers' season could still be salvaged or could become a complete disaster. Only Duke is probably a sure win.

Florida A&M at Virginia Tech - Can you tell that it's homecoming weekend? The Rattlers (looked that one up too!) of Florida A&M have been spanked by both Nicholls State and Temple this year. The Hokies have tougher practices.

Have a fun game boys.

NC State at Maryland - Now, this is a pretty interesting game. Both programs are fighting to be in the top of the ACC, and this year's teams are fighting to stay in the top half of the conference. As I wrote yesterday, they are developing a nice little rivalry.

As for this game, I honestly don't know what to expect, other than a close game. Both teams are better on the defensive side of the ball and both are struggling to work in new quarterbacks. On top of that, both lost surprising upsets last week, so they should be fired up for this game. I think State is probably the better team overall, but Ralph Friedgen is a better coach than Chuck Amato. Something tells me that Maryland's recent lucky streak against NC State will continue. Something unexpected will happen late to win/lose this game, like a special teams score or big turnover.

Virginia at Florida State - The game of the week, if not the year in the ACC. I already wrote an analysis of the two teams that showed that they are pretty evenly matched.

For Virginia, this game could be the biggest in program history, but only if they win. Before this weekend, the biggest game in UVA's history was the game against Georgia Tech in 1990 when UVA was #1 and Tech was #16 or so. It was a great game, but UVA lost and went into a tailspin, barely finishing the season in the top 25. As you might recall, the Yellow Jackets went on to win a share of the national championship. If Virginia loses to Florida State this weekend, a similar slide could happen, because they still have several tough games on the schedule. A win would make a serious statement about Virginia and Al Groh and would cement the Cavaliers as the leader of the competition between Maryland, NC State and Virginia to become the best non-Florida program in the ACC.

For Florida State, a loss would end any hope of inclusion in the BCS. A win would keep alive their hope of an automatic bid, but they still need Miami to lose one game.

I think you'll see one of two things in this game. Either one team will make a bunch of mistakes (turnovers) and lose by 2 touchdowns or more, or it'll be close and Florida State will win. I just think the Seminoles have a bit more big play ability, they are used to playing in big games, and they are playing at home.

North Carolina at Utah - By all rights, Carolina should get creamed in this game. Utah is a good team. Carolina is not. But somehow, I don't think this is a no-brainer.

For one thing, North Carolina has good players. They just don't always play well. They got creamed by Virginia and Louisville (who both look to be very good teams), but they beat both Georgia Tech and NC State. If Carolina comes to play, and maintains concentration for the whole game, they can beat just about anyone.

For another thing, Carolina has a recent history of playing well in non-conference away games. They beat a good Arizona State team a couple of years ago when they only won three games all year.

So, here's what I think is gonna happen. It's gonna be a shootout. Carolina's defense can't stop anyone. Even when they beat NC State last week, they gave up over 500 yards of offense. I think being on the road will remove some of the stress they feel playing at home, so they'll be relaxed and make some plays on offense. Don't be surprised if the final score here is something like 42-38.

So, who will be on top? Well, every year some mid-major has a good team and starts winning all of their games. Every year, the media gets all worked up and goes on and on about whether this team with their weaker schedule deserves to be in the BCS and compete for the national championship. And then every year, that team loses to some team they shouldn't lose to. You know why that happens? It's because it's very hard to win all of your games. Only the great teams really beat all the teams they should beat and those mid-major teams are rarely great. So, Utah's gonna lose to someone. Carolina might be the most dangerous team left on their schedule. So, I say UNC beats Utah, further confusing the Tar Heel fans about whether or not they should fire John Bunting.

There's No "I" In UNC

The Tar Heel basketball team thinks (correctly) that it's had too much of a focus on me, me, me in recent years. They swear that that's gonna be different this year. That's good, but then, don't teams always say that? Unfortunately, it's not that easy to change people. It can be done, but not always. Winning always helps.

There's a great Roy Williams quote at the end of this article:

If I'm still sitting here talking about playing as a team, and we've got a bunch of individuals, and that kind of thing, then two things have happened: I'm not doing a very good job, and one of the reasons I'm not doing a very good job is I should have run somebody off.

Run someone off, huh? I think we all know who he's talking about.

Empty Streets

When I was a kid, my friends and I would play sports every afternoon. We didn't necessarily play the sports you see on TV. We played variants of those along with made up games that used rules that fit the geography. If a friend's house had a wall with no windows, we'd make up a game where you'd chuck a ball off the wall or maybe bounce them off the roof. For a small house, we'd throw balls over the roof to a guy on the other side. In a cul-de-sac, we'd play stickball. In a yard, kickball, soccer or football.

Every day, we'd play something. Some seasons, like in the fall, we'd all play organized soccer or basketball, but most of our games had no coaches, leagues or uniforms. And we loved it.

Today, it seems like kids will only play sports if they are part of some league. Actually, the kids probably don't care, but the parents sign them up. So many kids play in so many leagues that if you want your children to have friends to play with, you have to sign them up. That's where the other kids are.

I'm writing about this because I just read the SportsProf's excellent article on this subject, The Dead End. His stuff is always good, but this one particularly hit me. Not only is it very well written, but the subject is something that concerns me. I want my two young boys to play sports, but I hate to think that they may never play a game where you get to make up the rules as you go along.

Deacons Do Defense

It looks like the News & Observer has started running their preseason rundowns of each ACC basketball team. The first piece is about Wake Forest, a team many have ranked as #1 to start the year. As coach Skip Prosser points out though, they are going to need to defend better this season if that ranking is to hold true.

Red Rivals

NC State and Maryland have developed quite a little rivalry in the past four years. Each school recently hired a new coach. Each coach was a well-respected assistant getting his shot at the bigtime at his alma mater. Each coach, Ralph Friedgen at Maryland and Chuck Amato at NC State, found instant success. Both schools feel like they are an up-and-coming national program with alumni buying tickets and merchandise by the fistful.

All those pieces are the basic ingredients for a "this conference ain't big enough fer the both of us" kind of thing. Add to that the four straight narrow wins by Maryland (by a combined 16 points) and mix in a little post-game scrap last year, and you get a nice little batch of rivalry stew. Tastes a bit like turtle soup, I understand.

Big Win For The Country

The big win last night was not just a win for one side, but a win for the whole United States.

The debate? No, not that. Not the Yankees or Cardinals either. Nope, I'm talking about the victorious US Men's soccer team. They waxed that Panamanian ass to the tune of 6-0. It was a very impressive win that guaranteed the US a spot in Stage 2 World Cup qualifying. They do still have one Stage 1 game left, but it's just academic at this point.

I know what you're thinking. Panama? So, what! Well, they aren't really that bad. In fact, with one game left in Stage 1 qualifying, Panama is still alive to make it to Stage 2, or The Hex.

The Hex is a six team qualifier - the top three teams after ten games make the 2006 World Cup as the CONCACAF representatives. So far, the US, Mexico and Guatemala have qualified for Stage 2. A bunch of teams are still alive for the final three spots.

Florida State vs. Virginia, A Statistical Analysis

In case you haven't heard, there's a big ACC football game this weekend. An ACC game with national implications. That just doesn't happen much in this league (for the purposes of this column, the Miami-FSU game earlier this season didn't really count as an ACC game). In fact, the Virginia-Florida State game on Saturday night is just the sixth game in ACC history between top ten teams. It has the two highest ranked teams since #3 FSU hosted #5 North Carolina in 1997.

So, in honor of this big game, I'm gonna break it down a bit statistically. The best way to compare teams before they play is to look at common opponents. It's not a perfect science, but it's the best objective method we have. Fortunately, even though both teams have played just five games, they have three common opponents. Even more coincidently, five of those six games have been home games, with only the Seminoles' trip to Syracuse last weekend as an exception.

So, just who has done better against those common opponents? Let's take a look-see, shall we?

First, let's take a look at the basic stats from the games, including final scores and offensive and defense yards:

The first thing to look at is that Virginia won by a wider margin in all three games. Both teams beat UNC and Clemson fairly comfortably, but only Virginia handled Syracuse easily. Virginia outscored Florida State against two of the three teams and also allowed fewer points in two of the three games. The average score of the three games was 39-15 for UVA and 32-17 for FSU, about a one touchdown advantage for the Cavs.

For offensive yardage production, Virginia outgained FSU. In two of the three games, the difference was fairly significant (about one hundred yards) and against Syracuse, oddly enough, they managed the exact same amount of yards. The average gain for UVA was a whopping 480 yards and for Florida State, a solid 413. Again, advantage Cavaliers.

On the defensive side of the ball, Florida State was more impressive. They allowed fewer yards in two of the three games and were pretty close in the fourth. One thing to t