Cotton Pickin’!

Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl just a little over two hours away as I type!   Very exciting amidst the disappointment. Don’t get me wrong.  The match up is a good one, but honestly, Tech deserved better.

11-1 in the Big 12 South.   The only loss at Oklahoma.   The same Oklahoma that is ranked number one in the country and will be playing for a National Championship.  Texas Tech went from #7 to #2 when they beat Texas at Tech that fateful October day.  A day that throw the whole BCS in a tale spin!

Mississippi has had a great finish to their season.  They went 3-4 before winning their last 5 games.  Their biggest win was against Florida in the swamp!  The same Florida that is ranked #2 in the country and will play Oklahoma next week for the National Championship.

Texas Tech is a heavy favorite in this game.  Tech is a team that easily should have been BCS qualified, but since Texas and Oklahoma were ahead of them in the BCS standings, Texas Tech is left out.   This is where the danger is for Tech.

Flashback to 2004.  California had just one loss going into the Holiday Bowl.  They had lost out to the BCS rankings and ended up out of a BCS Bowl.  Very similar to what happened to Texas Tech this year.  California complained all over the media and then ended up losing to Texas Tech in that Holiday Bowl 45-31.   It was really fun for this Tech fan to watch!

However, the scenario is too close to this year.   Texas Tech should beat Mississippi.  They are heavily favored.  That means all the pressure is on Tech.  They have to guard against their disappointment of being slighted this year and take that frustration out on the Rebels this afternoon!  Tech cannot afford to take Mississippi lightly.  If they can do all that, they should win.

I’m hoping Tech WINS BIG to make a statement.

UPDATE:  Final – Mississippi 47,  Texas Tech 34

Ouch

What About Texas?

It’s a little aggravating.  All this talk of Florida being in the National Championship after beating Alabama.  I guess I understand that Florida IS playing great football right now.  They just beat number one at a neutral site.  In fact Florida has been playing great football since their loss to Ol’ Miss.  What?  Ol’ Miss beat Florida?  Yeah.  In the swamp!  AT Florida!  When they were unranked!

Meanwhile, Texas has one loss.  It was on the road against #7 Texas Tech.  Tech beat ‘em on the last play of the game.  Now, it wasn’t all that.  Tech lead the whole game except for 1:29 of the fourth quarter.  However Texas mounted an impressive comeback in the second half of that game before they got beat with :08 on the clock.

Assuming Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 Championship that is about 2 minutes awy from starting as I type this, then I contend it should be Texas and Oklahoma for the National Championship.  It’s the right and fair thing to do, but I doubt it will happen.

Texas Tech is being left out of the conversation because of the way they lost to Oklahoma on national TV.  But, don’t forget.  Tech has only one loss and they have impressive victories over Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas in Lawrence.  Not really fair that after that kind of season they should play a Mississippi team that has lost 4 games.  Not a slam on Mississippi.  If that’s the way it is then Tech could have lost a couple of more games and still gone Cotton.

Utah, USC (who lost to Oregon State, who lost to Oregon), Cincinnati all are probably going to be in BCS Bowls and Tech won’t?  I don’t think it’s fair, but maybe I’m just being a fan.

To me it should be Texas and Oklahoma for the National Championship and Texas Tech to the Fiesta Bowl.  They all earned it!

We’ll find out for sure when the Bowl bids are given out I think later tonight.

UPDATE:  Bowl Selection Show is Sunday Night at 8:00 Eastern.  That’s 6:00 pm for me here in Arizona.  College Football needs a playoff.  Take the top 16 teams and play it out through December.  Fun times!

Tech with OK Win!

More than OK! Texas Tech beat 4th ranked Oklahoma last night in front of the whole country on ABC Prime Time! Great win for Tech, but I feel a sorry for Oklahoma. Same kinda deal with Oregon. The Oklahoma quarterback got a concussion in the 1st quarter and didn’t return. Oklahoma’s offense struggled until late in the 4th quarter. What was different than the Oregon game, Tech was in the game when the injury occurred, where as Arizona was not. Still, you have to believe the way Oklahoma came back in the end that maybe they would have won with their starting QB. He is the most accurate thrower in College Football this year! Still, injuries are part of the game (unfortunately) and Texas Tech becomes the 11th unranked team to beat a team in the top 5 this year! Pretty amazing.

More Texas Tech Drama

Apparently, Mike Leach went ballistic about the officiating of the Texas game. The story is here. Basically, Coach Leach is upset that an official who lives in Austin was allowed to ref the Texas Tech – Texas game in Austin! There must have been some bad calls, at least in Leach’s mind. One Tech TD was called back in the third quarter for holding. I didn’t see the game, so I can’t say if it was a bad call. Apparently Mike thinks it was! There must have been others too for him to risk a fine and being suspended for the Oklahoma game next week.

Then there’s the Oregon State game last night against Washington. I went to bed at half time (it was already past 10pm here). The Beavers were already ahead 16-0. Apparently a very bad call went against OSU in the final two minutes that could have cost them the game. Not as bad as last year when the Oklahoma Sooners would have beaten the Oregon Ducks if it weren’t for a very bizarre call on an onside kick! I DID see that play and it was obvious to anybody watching on TV the ball did not go ten yards before being touched by a Duck. You can see how they might miss it on the field, but when the reply official blew it?! That has to be the all time bad call ever, and I’m a Duck fan! Worse than the officiating at the Super Bowl that might have cost the Seahawks the title a couple of years ago.

Hey, officiating is a difficult and thankless job. They overwhelmingly do a good job. Every once in awhile though, you wonder. How on Earth did they miss that?! Especially if it’s reviewed and they still miss an easy call. Life isn’t fair. As a friend of mine says, fair is where you take your pig! The best way to overcome bad officiating is outplaying your opponent enough to make even bad calls non-factors. Sometimes easier said than done.

Update:  Coach Leah was given the largest fine ever in the Big 12.  $10,000.  He is not suspended, but warned next time he could be.

Shootout in Austin

Wild game yesterday. 102 points scored between Texas and Texas Tech! Unfortunately, Texas had 59 to Tech’s 43. Texas outscore Tech 24-23 in the 4th Quarter alone! Must have been a wild finish. (here’s the box score) I don’t know. I didn’t see it. There haven’t been many Texas Tech games on here in Tucson. It’s not because they aren’t good. In fact, I think it’s because they are good, and entertaining, that they aren’t on! Most of their games have been on ABC regional coverage. Here we get PAC 10 on ABC, so no Tech. Last year I saw a lot of Tech games on FSN, ESPN, and ESPN 2. I imagine Oklahoma at Texas Tech will be on ABC next week too. We’ll see (or not, I suppose)

NFL today. Seahawks play Monday Night, so I’m really glad I’m back on my normal schedule Not sure of the best games today (yet) but I’m sure there will be some good ones. Depending on when I go to church, and if I do anything after will determine what I watch, I suppose. I’d like to see Green Bay if they are on. I know Indianapolis plays San Diego tonight. Mom will be excited to see her Chargers on TV. Not sure if Arizona is playing today. If they are, it’ll be on TV for sure. I like Kurt Warner, and I find myself rooting for the Cardinals. Although it depends on who they are playing. It’s hard to get to excited about them since they aren’t very good.

Oh well. There’s always next year!

Tech Texas

Texas Tech travels to Texas today for a big Big 12 match-up. What a rivalry! I remember my first year in Lubbock. It was 1994 and Texas was heavily favored to beat Tech. I mentioned to our weekend sports guy that Tech was gonna lose. He let me have it! I ended up eating my words too. Tech won a close game and it was AWESOME! It was also my first game helping the sports department at KLBK shoot the home games. The atmosphere was absolutely electric! The sold out crowd was loud and I remember the hair standing up on the back of my neck more than once as I was shooting the game from the roof of the press box. I have been a Tech fan ever since. There have been some great games in this rivalry. Zebbie Lethridge passing for over 500 yards in a losing effort. Wes Welker scoring two TD’s in 2002 against Texas for the win.  Many more close wins for Tech and for Texas in years past.

Unfortunately, times have changed. Texas has won 6 out of the last 7 (or is it 7 of the last 8?) and many of them have been blow-outs. Texas looks shaky this year, but for the most part have managed to win. They are ranked 14 in the nation, which means this is a great opportunity for Texas Tech. The Texas running game has been looking better the last two weeks. Tech’s defense has trouble stopping the run. Otherwise, Tech would have beaten Oklahoma State in their first Big 12 game this year. Even without a dominating “D”, Tech is dangerous! In the OK State game, if Crabtree would have caught that last TD pass they would have won! No one feels worse about it than him, I’m sure. Point is, Tech has the potential to outscore anyone!

If the offense can get on track, and stay on track, they have a chance. If Texas Tech has ANY chance at a decent bowl game they have to win today at Texas, and they have to beat Oklahoma in a couple of weeks. It’s a tall order. I think today will be a game worthy of Tech/Texas games of old. It should be high scoring and down to the wire. GO TECH!

Texas Tech Disappoints – Again

Just when you think the team has a really good shot at competing nationally, or even in the Big 12… they choke two weeks in a row. I’m at a disadvantage in Arizona, not being able to see the games on ABC (we got other “regional” action, if Rutgers can be considered regional). However, scoring just 7 against a very good Missouri team, and having to come from behind against a good Colorado team (and falling short) is not the mark of what is supposed to be one of the countries best offenses. Too bad, because Graham Harrell was starting to get mentioned as a possible Heisman candidate. Those hopes are dashed. Looks like Tech will be heading for another lesser bowl games unless they can somehow beat Texas and Oklahoma. Yeah, right. I can’t remember who the commentator was when Tech played SMU at the beginning of the season. He mentioned how Tech always seemed to be in the middle of the pack. He said he thought the the fans in Lubbock must be happy with a team that goes to bowl games every year, but doesn’t really contend for the Big 12 title. I suppose that is true. Spyke Dykes got spiked because even though he could beat Texas and Texas A&M, he couldn’t beat Nebraska and Oklahoma. Mike Leach can beat Nebraska (so can everyone else these days) but not Texas or Oklahoma. Maybe being in flat, brown, Lubbock is too high a recruiting hurdle to overcome. Good thing Oregon and Oregon State are doing so well! Saturday’s are never a complete loss :-)