Campus Chatter: Loaded Weekend Edition

This weekend is as good as any to be a fan of college sports. The slate is absolutely loaded both on the gridiron and on the hardwood and should keep you glued to your seat until Sunday night. So stock up the fridge with beer, line up the delivery menus and make sure your remote control batteries are good to go because it should be a great weekend.

Unrelated Chatter:
-Not much to talk about today but I did want to give a shout out to Trent Pusey over at Inside Fights. He’s the boxing guy here at Inside Pulse and while I am usually against plugging due to the fact that I hate leaving people out, he is doing a great job and you should go check him out. Plus he emailed me to talk college hoops and you should probably know by now that the easiest way to my heart is email.

Related Chatter:
-Slow news week so the only thing to report is that Dan Monson is out as basketball coach at the University of Minnesota. Monson took over amid scandal at the program and never really was given a fair shake. Monson is a good enough coach where he should land on his feet elsewhere. The Minnesota job is a very promising one as it has a fertile recruiting base and was once an elite program. The right guy (far too early to speculate whom) could have this program in the upper echelon of the Big Ten within a few years of getting the job. I’ll have more on this as the situation develops.

NCAA Basketball Games to Watch for 12/2-12/3
Saturday 12/2
#5 Kansas at DePaul (ESPNU)
Kentucky at #6 UNC (CBS)
#23 Georgetown at #10 Duke (ESPN2)
#22 Wichita State at #14 Syracuse (No national TV)
Illinois at #16 Arizona (ESPN)
#21 Gonzaga at #25 Texas (ESPN)
Northern Iowa at Bucknell (No national TV)

Sunday 12/3
Florida State at #4 Florida (Fox Sports)
#20 Nevada at California (No national TV)
Bucknell at George Mason (No national TV)
Bradley at Michigan State (ESPN Full Court)

Championship Week Picks (Spreads courtesy of wsex.com)
(Season Record vs. The Spread: 44-41-1, Last Week: N/A)

Southern Miss at Houston (-5.5), Conference USA Championship (Houston, TX) (12/1)
-We here at Campus Chatter (and by we I mean myself) don’t discriminate against the non-BCS conferences. Plus I do have some C-USA ties dating back to my days at Cincinnati but that is neither here nor there. I had the opportunity to see Southern Miss in person this season when they visited Florida at the Swamp and I came away relatively impressed by them. Having said that, Houston QB Kevin Kolb is too much for the Golden Eagles to handle and Houston should lock up the title tonight.
Houston 35 – Southern Miss 27

Rutgers (+11) at West Virginia (12/2)
-Courtesy of BigEast.org here is the scenario in declaring the Big East champion: If Rutgers wins, the Scarlet Knights will be at least co-champions and will be the BIG EAST’s representative in the Bowl Championship Series. If West Virginia wins and Louisville wins, Louisville will be the outright champion and go to a BCS bowl. A West Virginia win and Louisville loss would create a three-way tie at 5-2. Under the conference’s tiebreaker policy, the highest ranked team in the BCS Standings would earn the BCS berth. That likely would be West Virginia or Louisville.

Got all that? Anyway, Rutgers basically is sitting in the drive’s seat because all they need is a win and they will most likely be sent to the FedEx Orange Bowl. West Virginia is coming off of a tough loss to South Florida at home and no doubt has redemption on their minds. Everyone has essentially forgotten about Rutgers due to the loss to Cincinnati a few weeks ago but they are still the same talented football team. This game is a total toss-up to me and is why I am not sure why the spread is so high. I think Rutgers keeps it close but the fact that this game is in Morgantown gives West Virginia the slight edge.
West Virginia 44 – Rutgers 38

USC at UCLA (+12.5)
-Plain and simple, a USC win and they are playing against Ohio State for the national title on January 8th. By no means am I saying that USC is overlooking UCLA but they certainly better stay focused and avoid a major letdown here. Talent wise USC is far superior but this game will essentially be UCLA’s national title game and rivalry games always tend to stay relatively close. USC should win and move on but stranger things have happened.
-USC 31 – UCLA 21

Wake Forest (+1.5) vs. Georgia Tech, ACC Championship Game (Jacksonville, FL)
-The winner here in all likelihood goes to the FedEx Orange Bowl to play the Big East champion. There have been rumors of the Orange Bowl committee selecting Florida as an at-large should they lose to Arkansas and thus the ACC champion would get shipped off to the Sugar Bowl to play Arkansas. The loser is expected to go to the Gator Bowl although Gator Bowl officials are weary about having the loser play twice in 30 days in the same stadium. Nonetheless, Wake Forest has been quite the story this season and I don’t see their fairy tale coming to an end in Jacksonville on Saturday night. They play smart, fundamental football and that is something that does not go into slumps. Georgia Tech comes into this game a loser against their rival Georgia and may lack the focus to beat Wake Forest.
Wake Forest 24 – Georgia Tech 21

Nebraska (+3.5) vs. Oklahoma, Big 12 Championship Game (Kansas City, MO)
-The winner here gets shipped off to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl to play Boise State while the loser looks to be going to the Cotton Bowl. Nebraska has been overlooked by a lot of people but the same could be said about Oklahoma. Oklahoma has been playing solid football since their loss to Texas and while they should win this one, a weird hunch is telling me to pick Nebraska. And like professors always say about tests; go with your gut instinct.
Nebraska 31 – Oklahoma 27

Arkansas (+2.5) vs. Florida SEC Championship Game (Atlanta, GA)
-Truth be told, I love the way that Arkansas plays. Darren McFadden is arguably the most talented player in America and while the Florida defense has been their strongpoint this season, they are yet to face a talent like McFadden. Combine that with three Gator starters (WR Percy Harvin, RB DeShawn Wynn, LB Earl Everett) listed as questionable and the ever shaky Chris Leak, and it just seems like Florida may have too many hurdles to overcome. The winner here gets sent to the Sugar Bowl but the lose’s future is a lot less clear. LSU appears to have a spot secured in the Rose Bowl which should send the loser to the Capital One Bowl. The LSU rumors are just in fact rumors though so there is a slight possibility that if Arkansas wins but Florida keeps it close; Florida would be sent to the FedEx Orange Bowl or Rose Bowl while LSU would go to the Capital One Bowl. Should Florida win then they would go to the Sugar Bowl while LSU and Arkansas’ fate would be left up to the BCS committee. Got all that? Alright then”¦
Arkansas 20 – Florida 14

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend, enjoy all the games and may all of your teams win, unless of course they happen to be playing one of mine.