Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday Night Dessert: It's October...There Will Be More Upsets

As we near the halfway point of the season, I've seen more than a few references to there being multiple undefeated teams finishing the end of the season creating BCS chaos. As Lee Corso would say..."Not So Fast!" Up until yesterday afternoon, the assumption was that Alabama was going to run the table. Last season, the assumption was that Florida would run the table. There's a lot of football left to be played this season, and most of the remaining undefeated teams will lose down the stretch.  Could there be more than two left undefeated at the end of the season?  Possibly, if not probably.  But the idea that an SEC team (Auburn? LSU?), Oregon, Ohio State, a Big XII team (Huskers or Oklahoma), Boise State, and TCU will all stay undefeated is probably the least likely scenario at this point. Somebody is going to have a bad game, and several of these teams will be afterthoughts when it comes time to set the BCS standings.

Oh, and if there are more than two undefeated teams? That's what you get with the BCS.  I'm a playoff proponent, so don't look at me.

I was out of town this weekend, so only got to listen to the Maverick hockey games on the radio.  A serious offensive explosion this weekend, but once again, it's early and we really don't know much about the competition.  I know many people are questioning the attendance for the Stampede games, but I'm not so sure how attractive the Stampede is to fans outside the core UNO hockey base. RIT may have been a Frozen Four team in April, but I think more people would recognize RIT as a fabric dye than a school with a hockey program.  And that's the problem with the Stampede: games with teams that fans don't recognize during football season, when our attention is elsewhere. If UNO is serious about making the Stampede work, I'd suggest moving it to January and get it out of football season.

Driving home last night, I was pleasantly surprised by the reach of KVNO.  Ever since the Mav broadcasts left KFAB, I've pretty much given up hope of listening to games while traveling until I hit the Douglas County line.  KKAR's signal is simply too weak outside the city limits, but KVNO's signal powered well outside the city limits.  I picked it up nearly 70 miles from town and got to listen to the last five minutes of the game.

The Huskers aren't the only team with a big weekend coming up; UNO makes their debut in the WCHA by heading north to Minnesota for a weekend series with Dean Blais' alma mater.  The 15th ranked Gophers should provide an immediate measuring stick for where UNO's program is right now.

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