Notre Dame's Two Tone Floor Overkill?

I know it's been a recent trend for hoops courts to feature a different shade of wood inside the 3 point lines and outside the lines. Notre Dame has taken this trend to a new level. As you can see in the picture, Notre Dame's floor features a different shade in the middle of the floor in the shape of a clover. Is this cool or overkill. I personally think it is overkill, but will wait to pass judgement until I can see the floor on TV.

Trivia: Schools with 2+ NCAA Men's Basketball Titles

Trivia this week feature's College Basketball since it is starting up this week. Can you name the 14 schools that have won 2+ NCAA Titles?

As always, results will be in the comments later

Sammy Sosa is White? What is going on?

I have no idea what is going on here, but this picture is real. I have heard some people this is an after effect of steroids orI also heard he tried to do some skin rejuvenation. Maybe I don't know, just weird and creepy.

Big Ten Bowl Selections

Before I go through the projections, a quick explanation of how the Big Ten receives it’s bowl berths. As a member of BCS, the Big Ten champion receives an automatic berth with a tie-in to the Rose Bowl. There is a possibility that a second Big Ten team gets selected to the BCS as at-large bid. As for the non-BCS bowls that the Big Ten is affiliated with, the Bowls are not obligated to choose their teams in exact order of standings. For example Big Ten #3 does not mean the team that finished 3rd, in the Big Ten, but has the 3rd choice of all Big Ten teams available. A bowl can only select a 6-6 team from a conference if no 7-5 from that conference are still available. Lastly, I am going to assume the Big Ten will have enough eligible teams to fill their Bowl games.

Rose (Big Ten Champion): Ohio State

Date: January 1st


Sorry Iowa fans, but after a shaky performance against Purdue, Ohio State has bounced back and played well. Iowa losing Stanzi is big as can be seen by their performance without him against Northwestern in the 2nd half. Possible opponent would be the Pac-10 champ, which Oregon is in control of right now. Ohio State can beat the Oregon team that played Boise and Stanford, but could not play with the Oregon team that took Cal and Southern Cal to the woodshed.



Orange (BCS At-Large): Iowa


Date: January 5th


A two loss Iowa team is still a very attractive team for a BCS Bowl. Iowa travels well regardless of location. If Iowa lands here, they will most likely play the ACC champ which looks to be Georgia Tech. Playing the triple-option is challenging cause so few schools run it. However, having a month to prepare for it and the dominant D-Line could go a long way to slowing it down.

Capital One Bowl (Big Ten #2): Penn State vs (SEC #2)

Date: January 1st

Outback Bowl (Big Ten #3): Wisconsin vs (SEC)

Date: January 1st

Champs Sports: (Big Ten # 4): Northwestern vs (ACC #4)

Date: December 29th

Alamo Bowl (Big Ten #5): Michigan vs (Big 12 #4)

Date: January 2nd

Insight Bowl: (Big Ten #6): Minnesota (Big 12 #6)

Date: December 31st


Little Creasers (Big Ten #7): Michigan State vs (MAC)

Date: December 26th



Not going Bowling: Indiana, Illinois and Purdue. All three of these teams could finish with 6 wins and become bowl eligible.

Thank You, Stewart Mandel

CNNSI.com's college football guru opens his article today with a detailed comparison of three very similar schools: Stanford, Northwestern, and Notre Dame.

All three sport six victories this season. Northwestern just became bowl-eligible for the third straight season (compared with two for the Irish) and sixth time in seven years (five for Notre Dame).

There's a lot more, and it is music to this Northwestern fan's ears. Anybody still think Pat Fitzgerald is taking that Notre Dame job? Why would he want it?

You can read the rest of the article at CNNSI.

Comments? Anybody alive out there?

Sports Illustrated's Food for Thought

How cool is that? I think Texas would probably win it all, they've got the easiest road if they could survive that Georgia Tech offense.

Big Ten Power Rankings- The Preview

Because it's late and I am an insomniac at heart, here's a sneak peek at where I will (probably) have the Big Ten teams after another crazy week in everybody's favorite conference:

1. Ohio State - Back in the driver's seat after dominating Penn State.

2. Iowa - Better pray that Ricky Stanzi is a quick healer. Lack of a running game suddenly a major, major issue.

3. Penn State - Says here that Daryll Clark just cain't handle pressure. Hmm...

4. Wisconsin - They still haven't beaten anybody this year, losing their only games against top opponents and looking weak doing it. But at 7-2 with games against Michigan, Northwestern, and Hawaii to go, they might not have to beat anybody this year.

5. Northwestern - Huge win at Iowa showcases a tough defense finally rounding into form. Northwestern's wide receivers were also clutch in a game where every offensive yard counted.

6. Michigan State - As expected, demolished Western Michigan.

7. Purdue - You know they're still alive for a bowl bid? Three Big Ten wins is nothing to scoff at, nor are 'quality losses' against Oregon and Notre Dame.

8. Minnesota - Next week's gimme against South Dakota State will get them bowl-eligible, but I could see them being left out in the cold (literally) if nine teams make 6-6.

9. Illinois - Fun fact: Riding a two game winning streak, Illinois has its rivalry game against Northwestern and then a road date at... Cincinnati? Number five Cincinnati? Nice scheduling.

10. Indiana - This week's coaching maneuver o' shame: Kicking deep to a Wisconsin team that had dominated all day with the running game, trailing by three with four minutes left in the game. Oh yeah, you'll get a stop. Definitely.

11. Michigan - Three ugly losses and an upcoming road game at Camp Randall.

(Watch for the full version on Monday, so you can read it at work!)