Must See Sports - Fifth Weekend of November 2013

Last week's advantage/disadvantage record, excluding series: 3-3

2013 Advantage/Disadvantage Record, excluding series: 89-74

2013 Advantage/Disadvantage FINAL Record (series only): 22-13-4

I completely ran the table in reverse on college football. That's why the Advantage/Disadvantage portion of Must See Sports is for entertainment purposes only. Understand? Do not send your bookie over to me!

I could expect an unwelcome visit from this guy if I bet a lot of college football last week. 1

Thursday, November 28

Happy Thanksgiving, Hat Trick Fam! You know what Turkey Day means? FOOTBALL!!!

NFL

Green Bay Packers (5-5-1) at Detroit Lions (6-5)

No Aaron Rodgers plus on the road equals doom for Green Bay.

Advantage: Lions

Reggie Bush is a one man wrecking crew out of the Lions' backfield. 2

Pittsburgh Steelers (5-6) at Baltimore Ravens (5-6)

This slug fest is always a war. It could also decide the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC playoffs. The Steelers have come to life, winning five of their last seven, after a catastrophic 0-4 start, The biggest difference has been the presence of a running threat, rookie Le'Veon Bell (455 yds., 4 TD).

Bell missed the first three games of the season. It's no coincidence that the Steelers running attack was almost nonexistent before then. The Ravens have also been unusually light footed on the ground. Ray Rice (450 yds., 4 TD, 2.9 avg.), the heart and soul of the Ravens backfield for the last several years, is averaging less than three yards per carry this season. In fact, the Ravens, as a team, are only averaging 2.9 yards per carry.

That has allowed defenders to drop more linebackers in coverage and spend more time spying on Ravens QB Joe Flacco (2,742 yds., 14 TD, 14 INT 59% comp.). This game will come down to the running game, as these are two teams that center their strategies around being able to run and stop the run. I think the Ravens have a slight advantage because of their defense, which appears to be improving each week after a mediocre start tot the year. Baltimore is also at home.

Advantage: Ravens

Le'Veon Bell and injected life into a once lifeless Steelers running attack. 3

Saturday, November 30

NCAA Football

The IRON BOWL

IRON BOWL JAM!!!

The Iron Bowl: It's like that.

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide at #4 Auburn Tigers

This is the de facto SEC West division championship game. It is also the biggest college game of the week with a ton at stake. The balance of the BCS National Championship picture hangs in the outcome.

The only people who will be root for Alabama are people who are Alabama fans in Alabama. The rest of the college football world, especially fans of Ohio State and Florida State, will be one day War Eagles.

As an LSU man, I'd love to see Bama coach Nick Saban get it stuck to him a little. I just don't think that is going to happen. Auburn has played well (and been smiled up by Lady Luck at times). Alabama has been exemplary from start to finish this season. I don't think the Tigers, in spite of their impressive rushing attack, have enough to keep the Tide from rolling on to the SEC Championship Game.

Advantage: Alabama

The Iron Bowl: It's ON! 3

The Palmetto Bowl

#6 Clemson Tigers at #10 South Carolina Gamecocks

This may be the biggest battle for the Palmetto State, ever, as both teams are ranked in the top ten and both have BCS bowl aspirations. Clemson has not recorded a victory over S.C. since 2008. Last year the Cocks frustrated Tigers quarterback Tajh Boyd (3,248 yds., 29 TD, 7 INT, 67% comp.) to no end. Still, Boyd, a senior, is playing the best football of his career. The only stumbling block the Tigers have encountered is unbeaten Florida State. I think the Clemson losing streak ends here.

Advantage: Clemson

Tajh Boyd (#10, center, being decapitated) has to keep his head against Jadeveon Clowney (#7) and the Gamecocks for Clemson to snap its Palmetto Bowl futility. 4

#21 Texas A&M Aggies at #5 Missouri Tigers

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel (3,537 yds., 32 TD, 13 INT, 69% comp.) has one last regular season game remaining in his college career. What better way to go out than by ruining the season for former fellow Big 12 rival and current SEC rival Missouri? Looking at the Aggies defense, that isn't likely.

Missouri has repeatedly answered the critics, unbeaten in regulation play, ranked #5, and one win away from clinching the SEC East division and facing either the Auburn Tigers or Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game in December. Mizzou has not one but two signal callers who have proven themselves to be capable in James Franklin (1,719 yds., 14 TD, 4 INT, 67% comp.), who is back from an injury that caused him to miss several games, and freshman Maty Mauk (1,034 yds., 10 TD, 2 INT, 51% comp.).

A&M's defense has not risen to any occasion and I don't expect it to happen at Missouri with a trip to the SEC Championship Game at stake. Missouri will be able to control the ball and should be in position to answer whenever Johnny Football strikes. He will not pick the Tigers apart on the road the way he's picked apart lesser defenses this season. The Alabama game (Texas A&M scored 42 points), which was still a loss and was played in College Station, TX, was a long time ago.

Advantage: Missouri

Johnny Football's two years at Texans A&M have been a brief but very exciting chapter in college football. Only two more entries remain to be written in this chapter. Enjoy while you can! 5

Sunday, December 1

NFL

Denver Broncos (9-2) at Kansas City Chiefs (9-2)

The Chiefs, losers of two straight, can prove that they aren't a fluke or the beneficiaries of a last place schedule and some lucky bounces (along with a 180-degree turn in caliber of coaching an QB play during the offseason). The Broncos are reeling after blowing a 24 point lead to Broncos QB Peyton Manning's (3,722 yds., 36 TD, 7 INT, 69% comp.) career arch-rival Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.

Arrowhead Stadium is one of the toughest places to win in the NFL. However, Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and, statistically, far-and-away the best in the game today. Good luck getting to Manning and company after a tough loss, Chiefs fans!

Advantage: Broncos

The Chiefs will need to lean heavily on their 12th man at Arrowhead Stadium to split the season series with the Broncos. Why NBC did not flex this game and instead chose to air the Giants and (hapless) Redskins is beyond me. Yes, it would be the third week in a row that the Broncos and Peyton Manning would be featured on Sunday Night Football. And the problem is...? 6

Monday, December 2

New Orleans Saints (9-2) at Seattle Seahawks (10-1)

I couldn't be more biased as my Saints go far, F..A..R away to the Pacific Northwest to play the team with the best record in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks, on Monday Night Football. So far, this is the NFC's game of the year.

The Saints defense, dramatically improved, is playing even better than they were at the start of the season. The run defense has tightened up significantly. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (925 yds., 9 TD, 4.4 avg.) and quarterback Russell Wilson (2,362 pass yds., 19 TD, 10 INT, 64%, 409 rush yds., 1 TD, 5.7 YPC) are going to have a tougher challenge against Saints Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan's defense than they may have expected when the 2013 schedule was released.

The reasons I expect the Seahawks to win this game are very simple. First, their defense is dominating, with borderline to bona-fide stars from top to bottom in their lineup. In my opinion, Seahawks conrerback Richard Sherman (31 tak., 4 INT, 8 PD, 1 TFL, 1 TD) is the best CB in the game right now.Secopnd, the Seahawks are at home. Qwest Field is arguably the loudest stadium in the NFL, giving 12th man support to an already elite defensive unit.

I'd LOVE to be wrong, Who Dat Nation, but I'm calling it like I see it.

Advantage: Seahawks

The last time the Saints traveled to Seattle in the 2010 playoffs, the Seahawks, a team of losers (7-9), served this gangsta-slap up to the Who Dat Nation to end their regin as defending Super Bowl champions.

Don't forget to vote in the fan polls! 

To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info. 

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

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Must See Sports - Third Weekend of October 2013

Last week's advantage/disadvantage record, excluding series: 2-4  
Last week's advantage/disadvantage record in series: 1-0
2013 Advantage/Disadvantage Record, excluding series: 65-50

2013 Advantage/Disadvantage Record (series only): 21-11-4

Thursday, October 17

NFL

Seattle Seahawks (5-1) at Arizona Cardinals (3-3)

The Seahawks travel down to the desert for what could prove to be a pivotal NFC West matchup. It could be pivotal if the Cardinals win. I don't expect the Cardinals to win.

The Seahawks are some kookie breaks against the Indianapolis Colts away from being 6-0. The Cardinals are playing good defense, but have only one win against a team with a winning record. Still, they are battle-tested and have only been out of the game at the start of the fourth quarter once this year, at New Orleans.

The problem is that the Cardinals have not run the ball effectively and they face a solid top-to-bottom defense. Yet they appear to have a ball-control game plan each week. Seattle, especially running back Marshawwn Lynch (487 yds., 5 TD, 4.2 avg.) can run over anyone, though the Cardinals front seven has been stingy against the run this year. However, Cards defensive end Calais Campbell (18 tak., 2.5 sacks, 2 TFL, 1 FF) has been a disruptive force in the trenches and will not be 100% (leg) if he plays at all.

Advantage: Seahawks

Richard Sherman owned the Cardinals last year. He's gotten better. 4

Major League Baseball

American League Championship Series - Game 5
Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers
Jon Lester (15-8, 3.75 ERA, 177 Ks) - Red Sox vs Anibal Sanchez (14-8, 2.57 ERA, 202 Ks) - Tigers

Jon Lester has been "money" in the postseason but Anibal Sanchez has been mostly unsolvable all season. Sanchez got his "clunker" out of the way in the ALDS against Oakland. The Tigers are at home, and Detroit manager Jim Leyland's unconventional toying with the batting order proved to be the difference maker in Game 4. There's a reason Jimmy Smokes has won three pennants and two World Series.

Advantages: Game - Tigers, Series - Tigers

Don't expect to see much of Justin Verlander's ex, Kate Upton. In fact, don't expect to see much of Verlander either; he isn't starting until Game 7, if necessary. 1

Friday, October 18

National League Championship Series - Game 6
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
Clayton Kershaw (16-9, 1.82 ERA, 232 Ks) - Dodgers vs Michael Wacha (4-1, 2.78 ERA, 65 Ks, 64.2 IP) - Cardinals

Round one went to the rookie, Wacha. Round 2 goes to the master. The Cards have never come up with a timely solution to Dodgers pitching while the Dodgers have pushed Cardinals pitchers into uncomfortable situations, though the Cards have held it together in their three wins. The Dodgers aren't losing another game in which Kershaw starts.

Advantage: Dodgers (original series pick: Dodgers)




Saturday, October 19

Major League Baseball

National League Championship Series - Game 7 (if necessary)
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-8, 3.00 ERA) - Dodgers vs Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.94 ERA, 219 Ks) - Cardinals

Again, a rookie vs master situation. Ryu was absolutely brilliant in the critical Game 3. That lightning won't strike twice, not in a Game 7 in St. Louis. I expect there to be a Game 7 and I expect Wainwright to earn his millions and sent the Redbirds to their fourth World Series in 10 years.

Advantage: Cardinals


American League Championship Series - Game 6 (if necessary)
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
Max Scherzer (21-3, 2.90 ERA, 240 Ks) - Tigers vs Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA, 96 Ks, 108.1 IP)

Clay Buchholz had daunting regular season numbers, but all Max Scherzer does is win, win, win (no matter what)! I'll take the Cy Young winner with the retooled batting order over the Man with the Bad Perm, who has had a sub-par postseason (6.17 ERA).

Advantage: Tigers


NCAA Football

#9 UCLA Bruins at #13 Stanford Cardinal

Head Coach Jim Mora, Jr. has made the Bruins into the torch holders in Los Angeles and a legitimate BCS contender. Sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley (1,469 passing yds., 12 TD, 4 INT 68% comp.; 260 rushing yds., 3 TD, 4.3 avg.) has got to be on the "long list" for the Heisman at this point in the season. While UCLA running back Jordon James (463 yds., 5 TD, 6.3 avg.) is considered doubtful (ankle) for the game, the Bruins have sufficient firepower to outgun their intrastate conference rivals to the north.

Stanford's real strengths are in their running game, particularly senior running back Tyler Gaffney (570 yds., 7 TD, 5.3 avg.), and its defense. The problem for Stanford is that UCLA's defense has been stout all year and should be capable of containing the threat posed by Gaffney and should be able to neutralize the Cardinal's best receiving threat, junior Ty Montgomery (31 rec. 514 yds., 5 TD). He can't throw the ball to himself and he has just been "okay" against Arizona State and Washington, the other two ranked opponents that Stanford has faced this season.

Advantage: UCLA


#5 Florida State Seminoles at #3 Clemson Tigers

Four words: Game of the Week! The ACC Atlantic Division will be decided on Saturday. The ACC Champion has as good a chance as ever to send its champion to the BCS Championship game, so this game could be one to ultimately award all of the marbles.

I'm a believer in Clemson. I'm a believer in Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney and what he has done with the program. I'm a big believer in quarterback Tajh Boyd (1,783, 15 TD, 2 INT, 67% comp.) and his top target, Sammy Watkins (36 rec., 582 yds., 4 TD).Their defense is ridiculously good.

On the other hand, Florida State's defense has been bulletproof so far and their QB, Jameis Winston (1,441 yds., 17 TD, 2 INT, 12 YPA) has been as good this year, as illustrated when they blasted then-#25 Maryland, 63-0. The Seminoles have scored 40 or more points in every game this year. They have a stable of running backs averaging six yards per carry. And they have two burners in Kenny Shaw (23 rec. 466 yds., 3 TD) and Rashad Greene (23 rec., 405 yds., 5 TD) who just need to run one route to be a scoring threat: "straight".

On paper, FSU looks like they are too much. That's why they play the games. This game is at Clemson's Death Valley. The Tigers are have not lost at home in a conference game in over three years. The Seminoles haven't won there in over a decade.

Advantage: Clemson

A win on Saturday will make a lot of folks in Clemson happy. 2

Sunday, October 20

Major League Baseball

American League Championship Series - Game 7 (if necessary)
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
Justin Verlander (13-12, 3.46 ERA, 217 Ks) - Tigers vs John Lackey (10-13, 3.52 ERA) - Red Sox

I don't expect this series to go seven games but if it does, I will not pick against the Red Sox. The Detroit Tigers are an excellent team but they aren't the '86 Mets; they aren't even the '84 Tigers.

Advantage: Red Sox


NFL

Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) at Detroit Lions (4-2)

The Bengals and Lions have a significant meeting with playoff implications for, possibly the first time this century. I didn't research that; I'm just assuming.

What is not an assumption is that the Lions are going to have a lot of trouble stopping the Bengals' one-two backfield punch of "The Law Firm" Benjarvis Green-Ellis (295 yds, 3 TD) and Giovani Bernard (237 yds., 2 TD, 4.0 avg.). Detroit can do some exciting things in the passing game, but Cincinnati's defense is a step up from those of teams the Lions have dominated, like the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, and Chicago Bears.

On the other hand, the Lions did have a break through running the ball against the stingy Cleveland Browns, against whom they ran up 31 point at the Dawg Pound. Reggie Bush (376 yds., 1 TD, 4.8 avg.) has 78 yards on 17 carries against the Browns. Only Ardian Peterson of the Vikings has posted a greater rushing total (88 yds.) against the Browns.

Detroit is at home and playing well. But I am going to go with my gut and pick the Bengals. I simply think they are the better team right now.

Advantage: Bengals



Denver Broncos (6-0) at Indianapolis Colts (4-2)

Football fans have been waiting all week for Sunday night! You may not have heard, but Peyton Manning (2,179 yds., 22 TD, 2 INT, 74% comp.) is returning to Indy. It's gotten a little attention in the media.

The Colts' revamped defense, anchored by star defensive end Robert Mathis (26 tak., 9.5 sacks, 2 FF), may provide the toughest challenge the Broncos' QB has faced all year. But the ferocious pass rush hasn't helped the Colts running defense, next-to-last in the NFL. That's where Knowshon Moreno (373yds., 7 TD, 4.7 avg.), having a breakout year, can be the X-factor for the Broncos offense.

The big news for the Broncos defense: linebacker Von Miller (68 tak., 18.5 sacks, 6 FF, 1 INT in 2012) is back, baby! His presence should help fill in some of the holes in the Broncos Swiss cheese pass defense (last in the NFL). Numbers can be slightly misleading, though.

The Broncos have scored so many points and led for so much of the season that opponents will be forced to pass. But Broncos' struggles in the secondary, absent of cornerback Champ Bailey (61 tak., 2 INT, 9 PD in 16 starts in 2012) until last Sunday, have been glaring this season, big leads notwithstanding.Bailey plus Miller times the Manning factor equals too much for the Ponies.

Advantage: Broncos

♫ "It's so hard...to say goodbye...to yesterday." ♪ 3

Don't forget to vote in the fan polls! 

To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info. 

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

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Must See Sports - Fifth Weekend of August 2013

Last week's advantage/disadvantage record, excluding series: 3-2
Last week's advantage/disadvantage record in series: 4-1
2013 Advantage/Disadvantage Record, excluding series: 39-32 

2013 Advantage/Disadvantage Record (series only): 12-9-4

College football is back. The MLB pennant races are fire-hot! And another sport played on grass picks up after this week!

Saturday, August 31, 2013

NCAA Football

#5 Georgia Bulldogs at #8 Clemson Tigers

The Georgia Bulldogs look strong this year. They came very close to reaching the BCS National Championship game a year ago and have returned more than enough players that should feel like they have unfinished business. Quarterback Aaron Murray (36 TD, 10 INT in 2012) is a Heisman hopeful coming into this season. Running back Todd Gurley (1385 yds., 17 TD in 2012) has fist team All-SEC potential. The defense, while sometimes allowing more points that most SEC defenses last season, is expected to be on par with last year's squad that sacked the quarterback 32 times last year. Mark Richt has a great opportunity to not be an NCAA bridesmaid this year.

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney has had the Tigers with high preseason hopes in the last two seasons. Each of those seasons delivered results short of those expectations. Still, the talent is evident, as reflected in their #8 preseason ranking. Quarterback Tajh Boyd (69 passing TD the past two seasons, 10 rushing TD in 2012) returned for his senior season. I believe that was the right choice and he has an opportunity to push his stock up toward the early rounds of the 2014 NFL Draft. Junior wideout Sammy Watkins (57 rec. in 2012) has an opportunity to break out of the shadows of DeAndre Hopkins, now with the NFL's Houston Texans.

I tend to be biased toward the SEC. But Clemson is on a different level than most non-SEC programs. They stunned LSU in last year's Chick-Fil-A Bowl and do not appear to have as many defensive vulnerabilities as Georgia. Being an LSU man, I am sure I have friends who will not approve of me "taking sides against the family", but I like the home ACC school in a minor upset on national television (ABC).

Advantage: Clemson

Clemson had plenty to cheer about in their last nationally televised matchup against an SEC team. 1

#12 LSU Tigers vs #20 TCU Horned Frogs
from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX

LSU is reeling after two consecutive underachieving seasons: a 2011 season in which their 13-0 start was soured in the BCS National Championship game by the team that finished second in the SEC West division: the Alabama Crimson Tide, now two-time defending BCS National Champions, and a 2012 season without 2011 Heisman Finalist Tyrann Mathieu due to disciplinary issues and a narrow, last-minute loss to Bama at home that likely would have sent the Tigers to the SEC Championship Game with a win.

TCU has remained competitive after its move to the Big XII. This is a school that can hang with the best in recruiting. This is probably why the Frogs are ranked in spite of a losing Big XII record and only seven wins overall last season. LSU sent 11 players to the NFL from last year's team. But this team reloads. The backfield is loaded, anchored by sophomore Jeremy Hill (12 rushing TD in 2012), junior Kenny Hilliard (5.7 YPC in 2012) and senior Alfred Blue (6.8 YPC in 2012). The embarrassment of riches that the Tigers have in the backfield is reminiscent of a video game rather than an actual backfield.

TCU has a pseudo-home field advantage, but not really. I expect this game to be competitive early, but not close at the end. I hope ESPN's advertisers get their spots run early.

Advantage: LSU

Jeremy Hill overpowers South Carolina for a touchdown last season. 2

Sunday, September 1

Major League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
Wei-Yin Chen (7-7, 3.76 ERA) - Orioles vs Andy Pettitte (10-9, 4.05 ERA) - Yankees

I understand why teammates of embattled Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (.272, 4 HR, 9 RBI) have publicly rallied around him. They've been a completely different team since he returned from a hip injury earlier this month. The good karma appears to have spread to the pitching staff. Andy Pettitte was consistently inconsistent, with more bad than good until the month of August. Pettitte is riding a string of three consecutive winning decisions and has only surrendered two earned runs in his last four starts, including seven scoreless innings against the heavy-hitting Toronto Blue Jays in his last start. The Yankees have gone from left-for-dead after the All-Star break to having a chance at the postseason, albeit in a crowded field.

The Orioles have been just on the outside looking in in the American League playoff chase. They are 3.5 games back of the Oakland Athletics for the second A.L. Wild Card spot as of Friday evening. Wei-Yin Chen is struggling to get his groove back. After being a vassal of control for most of the season, Chen has a 1-4 record and an ERA of 6.00 in an August that included a demotion to the minors. This U-turn could not come at a worse time for the O's. First baseman Chris Davis' (.303, 47 HR, 122 RBI) bat can only bring in so many runs if Chen gets blown to smithereens like he did in his last start (8 ER in 3.2 IP).

Advantages: Game - Yankees, Series - Yankees

Many critics mocked Rodriguez's comeback, but he's having the last laugh, so far. 3

Wednesday, September 4

Major League Baseball

Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
Rick Porcello (10-7, 4.39 ERA) - Tigers vs Ryan Dempster (6-9, 4.67 ERA) - Red Sox

ESPN.com is listing Ryan Dempster as the Red Sox probable starter for Wednesday's game. However, there is no guarantee Dempster will start. At the moment, he is serving a five game suspension for intentionally hitting Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees in his last start, an embarrassing loss. His sub-par pitching this season is not helping his cause to remain in the rotation when he returns.

This is a matchup of two teams in a dogfight. The Tigers are fighting for home field advantage throughout the American League playoffs while the Red Sox are struggling to pull away from the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays in the A.L. East division race. While reigning (probably will be "repeating") A.L. M.V.P. Miguel Cabrera (.358, 43 HR, 130 RBI) is listed as day-to-day with an possible sports hernia, he should play in this critical series. While Rick Porcello has been consistently average in his starts, the Tigers bats are so hot that they require a flame retardant so that they don't disintegrate. I also have zero faith in Dempster at this point.

Advantages: Game - Tigers, Series - Tigers

One door closes and another one opens. Tigers ace Justin Verlander may not have worked out with supermodel Kate Upton, but he and his teammates are in the driver's seat for the ultimate prize: a World Series championship. 4

Don't forget to vote in the fan polls! 

To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info. 

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/. 

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A regular contributor to the Hat Trick, Jasmine Hall of Online Colleges sent me the following for your perusal. With March Madness right around the corner, we can expect to see all varieties of collegiate traditions. The following discusses funny college traditions, some of which you may see later this month. Special thanks to Jasmine. The original article can be found at the news section at http://www.onlinecolleges.net/.

25 Funniest College Sports Traditions

It was Mark Twain who said, “The less there is to justify a tradition, the harder it is to get rid of.” Although some college traditions grew out of perfectly sensible circumstances, some exist simply because they have always existed. And some are simply the natural result of combining 18-year-olds with beer, competition, and school spirit. Of all the hallowed college sports traditions, we picked out 25 that are not so much steeped in heritage as they are hilarity.

1. The Stanford Tree
   After the school’s team was dubbed Cardinal (like the color) in 1981, the Stanford band thought the name was lame and decided to create its own mascot. The result is the ridiculous Stanford Tree, a guy in a 40-pound Christmas tree costume, complete with giant goofy grin and top hat.
   
2. UCLA Frisbee Cheer
   In 1978, a UCLA student nicknamed “Frisbee” borrowed a cheer from Pepperdine and started busting it out at Bruins basketball games with his friends. One student calls out questions and the crowd answers him: “Is this a basketball? Is that the court? Is that the llllooooosing team? Is that the winning team?”
   
3. Michigan hockey taunts
   At Michigan hockey games, the home crowd has a tradition of taunting the opposing goalie, like so: “You’re not a goalie, you’re a sieve! You’re not a sieve, you’re a funnel! You’re not a funnel, you’re a vacuum! You’re not a vacuum, you’re a black hole! You’re not a black hole, you just suck!”
   
4. Duke’s Cameron Crazies’ taunts
   Duke is the school everyone loves to hate, and the Cameron Crazies give them plenty of reason to. This student group is credited with originating the “air ball” chant, but their funniest stab is “You let the whole team down,” what the entire crowd chants when an opposing player makes a costly error.
   
5. Wisconsin “Jump Around”
   On October 10, 1998, a Wisconsin football tradition was born when this House of Pain song blasted through the stadium speakers and 80,000 people shook the place by jumping up and down to the song. After an uproar over an administration attempt to nix the song, the chancellor reversed the decision and it continues still.
   
6. Arkansas “woo pig sooie”
   Did you know there is a proper way to call a hog? Razorback students have been perfecting the hog call at sporting events for years. Raise your arms over your head and say “woo” for eight seconds, swing them down with clenched fists for the “pig,” and shoot the right arm up and yell “sooie!”
   
7. Alabama Rammer Jammer
   This cheer was originally performed by the Alabama crowd before football games. Today the chant is done towards the end of regulation when victory is certain, and students scream (for example), “Hey Florida! Hey Florida! Hey Florida! We just beat the hell out of you! Rammer Jammer, Yellowhammer, gave ‘em hell, Alabama!”
   
8. Cornell hockey taunts
   Cornell is serious about their tradition of taunting. For example, when the other team is announced, fans yell “Boring!” and shake newspapers, which they then crumple and throw on the ice. Fans are also fond of shouting “safety school!” during games as a way of belittling opposing teams’ alma maters.
   
9. Taylor University Silent Night
   At one basketball game each year, no Taylor fans speak until the 10th point the team scores, when they erupt. Students try to outdo each other’s crazy costumes, and at the end of the game everyone sings “Silent Night.”
   
10. Wisconsin Homecoming Cane Toss
    Believed to have been tradition for nearly 100 years, third-year law students at the University of Wisconsin run onto the field before the homecoming game wearing bowler hats and throw a cane through the goalposts. Legend has it if they catch the cane on the other side, they’ll win their first case.
    
11. Clemson’s Howard’s Rock
    When a Clemson alum gave the football coach a rock from Death Valley in the early ’60s, the coach first used it as a doorstop. But in 1966, after the coach order the rock “thrown in a ditch,” it was instead mounted atop a hill over the end zone and players have been rubbing it for luck before games ever since.
    
12. UNH fish tossing
    Traditions of throwing things on hockey rinks during games abound, but only at the U of New Hampshire do fans throw a fish every single game. A massive fish is chucked after UNH’s first goal, occasionally landing where it shouldn’t.
    
13. Penn toast throwing
    At the close of the third quarter, Penn football fans sing “Drink a Highball,” that ends with the line, “Here’s a toast to dear old Penn.” At that point, students fling thousands of pieces of toast onto the field.
    
14. Boise State’s blue turf
    Boise State’s Bronco Stadium has been adding a dash of color to ESPN highlight reels since 1986 when it installed the world’s only blue Astro Turf. That’s really all there is to this tradition: a funky blue football field.
    
15. Wyoming beer song
    Trombone players in this school’s band make their way around the stadium during the third quarter of football games, leading the crowd in choruses of the song “In Heaven There Is No Beer.” However, tradition dictates that students have to call out requests for the song before it is played.
    
16. Texas A&M yells
    Texas A&M yells are famous at the school but somewhat comical to outsiders. Before every yell, the yell leaders instruct everyone to “hump it,” and everyone bends over. Members of the Corps of Cadets take it one step further though, squeezing their testicles during important plays.
    
17. Rolling Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner
    TP-ing is a time-honored teenage tradition, and Auburn has been honoring it since 1963. Once reserved for away football game wins, today the intersection of College and Magnolia Avenue is rolled after every Tiger football win and big wins in other sports.
    
18. Rolling the Quad at Wake Forest
    TP-ing goes back even farther at Wake Forest, to 1961. After a campus move robbed students of a bell to ring in celebration, TP-ing Hearn Plaza became the victory dance of choice for everything from football wins to presidential elections.
    
19. Rolling the court at John Brown University
    John Brown University is probably the only place they start throwing the toilet paper before the game ends. At the basketball season opener, when the team makes its first bucket, everyone hurls TP onto the court. It’s a funny, technical foul tradition.
    
20. USC wrapping Tommy Trojan
    Tampering with another school’s campus landmark is a common practice, but wrapping your own statue? In the week leading up to the football matchup with UCLA, USC students now wrap their Tommy Trojan statue in duct tape and stand guard to protect it from being painted by Bruins.
    
21. Ohio State Mirror Lake Jump
    In 1990, 100 OSU students jumped in the lake at the end of a march around campus two nights before the Ohio State-Michigan game. Today thousands of students jump into the freezing waters of Mirror Lake in November, an activity roundly discouraged by school administrators.
    
22. Stanford Bearial
    Before the rivalry game against UC-Berkeley, Stanford holds a mock-somber “bearial” of UC’s mascot Oski the Bear. At the end of the procession, an effigy of the bear is impaled on top of White Memorial Fountain, or Claw Fountain as it is more appropriately called.
    
23. Berkeley’s Tightwad Hill
    In 1924, broke college kids at Berkeley found a way to watch Cal football games without paying for tickets. By climbing the hills next to the stadium they got a clear, free view of the field. Some students still forgo the stadium for the open air of Tightwad Hill.
    
24. UCSC’s banana slug mascot
    Students at University of California-Santa Cruz went the other way with their mascot selection. Since 1986, they have been known as the UCSC Banana Slugs. Sammy the Slug has been delighting students on campus ever since and inspiring slogans like “Banana Slugs: No Known Predators.”
    
25. Washington basketball game singing
    While waiting for basketball games to tip off, Washington fans are known to spontaneously break out into rousing renditions of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” or Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
    

BCS Shish Kebab

There are some years in which the two participants facing off for the BCS Championship is as crystal clear as the trophy awarded after the championship game. This year is not one of them. The BCS ship drifted into uncharted waters when LSU nipped Alabama in overtime, a game with no touchdowns scored and no winner after 60 minutes of play. Still, as recently as two weeks ago, the "if, and, & but" situations, including or excluding Alabama are fairly straightforward.

Today, there are, not one, but two non-division winners with a plausible argument to play LSU in the BCS Championship Game. There is a slim, outside chance of a two loss team working its way into the title game. Other than the fact that one of the teams involved will be LSU, everything in the BCS picture is as clear as mud.

The Daily Hat Trick ran a piece last week and the week before last with a variety of BCS scenarios. Typically, the field of possibilities becomes more narrow as the season advances. This is no typical season. This week, we will discuss BCS hopeful teams in order of current BCS ranking, with the original comments in black, last week's comments in blue, and this week's comments in green.

#1 LSU Tigers

LSU controls its own destiny. Its outlook is extremely simple if it wins its two remaining regular season games and the SEC Championship Game: LSU would play for the BCS Championship. In face, as long as LSU wins the SEC West division, regardless of the outcome of the SEC Championship Game, I doubt that a one loss division champion LSU team would be excluded from the BCS National Championship Game.

Should LSU lose to the Arkansas Razorbacks in their season finale, all hell breaks loose. Assuming Alabama wins its remaining regular season games, LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas would be in a three way tie for the SEC West division title that would be decided by the 8th step in the SEC tiebreaker (remember that Alabama beat Arkansas and LSU beat Alabama earlier this season). That 8th step would grant the division to the team with the highest BCS ranking. I cannot pretend to predict who that would be; I just know that whatever margin would decide such a tiebreaker would be negligibly close.

Monday, November 21, 2011 - Nothing has changed for LSU, who bludgeoned Ole Miss on Saturday.

Current BCS Rank: 1 - LSU is currently 12-0 with wins over seven opponents who were ranked entering the game, including three teams in the top five. They will be playing in the BCS Championship Game, regardless of the outcome of the SEC Championship Game against #14 Georgia.

The Honey Badger takes what he wants! 1

#3 Alabama Crimson Tide

Bama’s fate is tricky. The Tide needs help to play for the big prize, assuming it can win its remaining games. Unbeaten in regulation play, the Tide is the best one-loss team in the country, according to the BCS computers and the Associated Press voters. The problem for Bama is that the one loss came to an unbeaten team in its own division.

The best help that Alabama could receive are wins by Arkansas, whom Bama defeated earlier in the season, over Mississippi State next week and LSU on Black Friday. Should that scenario unfold, Alabama would be in a three way tie with LSU and Arkansas, to be determined by the BCS computers and voters. LSU would still likely have the slightest edge, given its strength of schedule, but nothing is etched in stone in this scenario.

The other help for Bama, which is a huge longshot, would be a win by Oklahoma over currently unbeaten Oklahoma State on December 3rd. Logically, one would think Bama, whose only loss was in overtime to an undefeated #1 team in the country, would move up to #2. However, voters are not going to be keen on rewarding a team that could not win its own division (due to a loss at home) with a BCS Championship Game appearance.

Monday, November 21, 2011 - Alabama's long shot bid for a rematch with #1 LSU in the BCS Championship Game just got a little shorter with OSU's loss. While the odds are still slim, in my opinion, the bottom line is that Alabama is #2 in the BCS poll and, should they beat Auburn this weekend, the voters will to jump another one-loss team over Bama for Bama to not play in the championship game.

Current BCS Rank: 2 - Alabama is the fly in the ointment. Few would dispute that Bama is the second best team in college football this season. Where the endless debate comes in, and will continue until Sunday afternoon, is that the best team, LSU, is a team that already beat Alabama in Alabama. This puts voters in the unenviable position of choosing between two options: 1) sending a team that failed to win its own division to a rematch with a team that it lost to, fair and square, in its own house. 2) Allowing a team, inferior to Alabama, to play for the championship.

I personally would not grant Alabama the rematch for reasons of basic fairness. LSU already beat them and did it on the road. Should Alabama play for the BCS Championship and win, it will have done so by splitting the season series with LSU while never visiting Baton Rouge. Still, life is not fair.

Bama fans are dying to get a second chance. 3

#2 Oklahoma State Cowboys

OSU came from out of nowhere, to anyone who is not an OSU fan. Mike Gundy’s team piles up a lot of points, but it also give up a lot. It can ill-afford to lose in the regular season. Its December 3rd showdown with Oklahoma will likely decide the Big XII. If they continue to win, they’re in. One loss, to any team, should eliminate Okie State from the BCS Championship picture.

Monday, November 21, 2011 - Oklahoma State appeared to be doomed after Friday night's shocking overtime loss at Iowa State. Now, Okie State may still be in the driver's seat as the highest ranked non-SEC West division team in the BCS poll. No team, losing its division, has ever played in the BCS Championship game.

Current BCS Rank: 3 - With a Big XII Conference championship clinching win over Oklahoma on Saturday, I think Oklahoma State's odds of playing for the BCS Championship are anywhere from 1 in 2 to 1 in 4. OSU will jockey, minimally, with Alabama for votes should they win on Saturday. They could also face competition from Virginia Tech should Tech win the ACC Championship Game against Clemson. Finally, Stanford is a name that continues to be tossed into BCS discussions in the media.

I don't care what his age is. Mike Gundy will always be "FORTY!" to me. 2

#9 Stanford Cardinal

Stick a fork in ‘em. They’re done. The only prayer Stanford has is for Oregon to lose to USC and 2-8 Oregon State.

Half of that prayer was answered. Don't count on the other half, in spite of being the highest ranked non-SEC West school in the AP poll at #4 and being ranked #6 in the BCS. No division championship (Oregon is still in the lead via the tiebreaker) means no conference championship which means another conference champion is likely to get an opportunity to play for the BCS Championship before Stanford.

Current BCS Rank: 4 - With losses by Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech on Saturday, LSU, Stanford and Alabama would be the only remaining teams from BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences with one loss or less. Stanford, whose only loss came to Oregon, currently ranked #9 in the BCS, would have, as plausible an argument as Alabama (maybe better, on paper). Non-division winner like Bama...only one loss like Bama...but LSU hasn't already beaten Stanford like it has Alabama or Pac 12 North champion Oregon. That said, I think that Stanford's BCS ceiling, after Saturday, is #3, regardless of any counter-arguments. 

Bad Luck 7

#8 Virginia Tech Hokies

Va. Tech would need everything Clemson needs in the regular season, AND a win in the ACC Championship Game, AND a lot of help from the BCS system, considering its earlier loss to Clemson.

Monday, November 21, 2011- Their fortunes took a turn for the better over the weekend, jumping to #5 in the BCS poll. Now, an Oklahoma State loss to Oklahoma and a Virginia Tech win in the ACC Championship game could vault the Hokies to the BCS Championship Game.

Current BCS Rank: 5 - If I had a vote, I would vote for Virginia Tech to play in the BCS Championship Game if they beat Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. They would be from a power conference with a division title, a conference title, and just one loss. The three teams in front of them, Alabama, Oklahoma State (who plays in the Big XII, which has no divisions and hence no conference championship game), and Stanford cannot make that claim. However, I do not vote and neither do the Hokies. All they can do is win and let the remaining chips fall into place. 

#6 Arkansas Razorbacks

The Razorbacks control their own destiny more than any other one-loss team. Should Arkansas run the table, they would be in a three way tie for the SEC West division, to be decided by the BCS system. Should Arkansas thrash LSU in Tiger Stadium, not likely but not impossible considering the strength of the Hogs’ offense and the lack of LSU’s passing game, Arkansas could win that tiebreaker. Should that happen, the Razorbacks would be all but assured a spot in the BCS National Championship Game by winning the SEC Championship Game. A win by Auburn over Alabama in the Iron Bowl would give Arkansas, from my vantage point, complete control over its own fate in the national championship picture.



The Darren McFadden led Razorbacks pulled of a BCS-shaking upset in Baton Rouge in 2007.

Monday, November 21, 2011 - Arkansas took advantage of the misfortune of the front runners, thrashing Mississippi State on Saturday. In spite of being ranked #3 in the BCS, Arkansas doesn't even control its own destiny in its own division. Should Arkansas win over LSU on Friday and Alabama win over Auburn, the BCS discussion, resulting in a three way tie in the SEC West (to be decided by the BCS poll) is going to make Bush v Gore from the year 2000 look like a high school debate project in comparison. 

Current BCS Rank: 8 - Stick a fork in them, they're done.

Note: I skipped #6 Houston and #7 Boise State because they were not in the picture two weeks ago, as Arkansas was and are not in the picture now, regardless of what happens.

#4 Oregon Ducks

Certainly the most sympathetic one loss team…. Oregon’s only loss, like Alabama, is to #1 LSU, a loss that happened in the opening week of the season. The Ducks have since run the table, including a decisive win over previously undefeated Stanford. Should Oregon win the Pac 12 Championship and Oklahoma State suffer a loss, I would bet the farm that Oregon will play for the crystal football.

Monday, November 21, 2011 - They are still sympathetic, with only one conference loss and an out of conference loss to LSU, the only major-conference unbeaten team remaining in the country. They won't get the sympathy needed to play for the big prize with two losses. Oregon blew their second chance for a national championship by losing to USC, falling to #10 in the BCS poll. They won't get a third chance.

Current BCS Rank: 9 - This team is still sympathetic, but its hopes are very slim, with two losses. Its two losses were to a USC team that it would play in a rematch in the Pac 12 Championship Game on Saturday were USC not on probation. Its other loss came to the only major conference undefeated team in the country, #1 LSU, in a neutral-site season opening game that it did not have to schedule.

Still, with a win on Saturday over UCLA, which is very likely, a win by LSU over Georgia, which is probable, and losses by Oklahoma State to Oklahoma (50/50 chance) and by Virginia Tech to Clemson (which already happened this year), Oregon has a sound argument for a rematch with LSU. Should the scenario I described unfold, Oregon would, in all likelihood, be the best conference championship winning two loss team, based on prior rankings and strength of schedule. The remaining teams in front of Oregon (as of today), in that instance, would be Alabama, a non-division winner, Stanford a non-division winner (having lost to Oregon), Houston, from a mid-major conference and an unacceptable schedule for BCS Championship consideration, Boise State, a one-loss mid-major school, and Arkansas, a two-loss non-division winner.

That may sound convoluted and unlikely. That does not mean it is not true. It also does not mean the Ducks would not be as deserving as Bama or Stanford. Stranger things have happened.      

LaMichael James has helped Oregon fly back into the BCS picture. 4

#5 Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma is going to need a lot of help. Its one loss was at the hands of a mediocre Texas Tech team that may not even be eligible for a bowl game at the end of the season. The Sooners would need to win their remaining games and hope for an Oregon loss and BCS voters who would dismiss a one loss Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas from the BCS Championship picture for not winning the SEC West. The latter is likely but the former, an Oregon loss, is not probable (though not an extreme longshot). However, there is no guarantee (in fact, I don’t think it is likely) that Oklahoma would jump a one-loss Oregon team should Oregon lose to USC, ranked #18 in the AP poll.

They lost to Baylor on Saturday, falling to #9 in the BCS. Stick a fork in 'em. They're done.

Current BCS Rank: 10 - With the Big XII having no conference championship game, Oklahoma has absolutely no chance. There is no way they jump Alabama or Stanford with just a 12 game resume and two losses.

With star wide receiver Ryan Broyles lost for the season due to a knee injury, Oklahoma's chances are fading. 5



#7 Clemson Tigers

Clemson would need the most unlikely and convoluted series of events to occur, amounting to multiple epic collapses by Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oklahoma. First, Clemson would need Oklahoma to lose to either Baylor (that could happen) or Iowa State (that is not happening), but win over Oklahoma State (unless OSU were to lose to Iowa State, which is probably not happening). Then, Clemson would need Oregon to suffer a loss to either USC (which could happen), Oregon State (that isn’t happening), or in the Pac 12 Championship Game. Last, Clemson would need to win its remaining games, including the regular season finale against #12 South Carolina, and the ACC Championship Game’ likely a grudge rematch with Virginia Tech, who Clemson beat earlier this season.

Monday, November 21, 2011 - A Clemson loss to North Carolina State on Saturday simplified this picture. Clemson is finished, ranked #17 in the BCS.

Current BCS Rank: 20 - I don't think zombies have any NCAA eligibility. Clemson was dead last week. Unless they rise from the dead, they're still six feet under in the BCS Championship race.

Dave Chappelle sums it up nicely for Clemson. 8

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