Monday Musings

I want to thank everyone who gave me such great suggestions on what to do and where to go while in South Bend, it was much appreciated. The bad news is I didn’t get to see every little thing I wanted to, but the good news is I saw enough to warrant a return visit. The folks in South Bend were more than hospitable and lived up to the advanced billing.

As for the rest of the weekend and the college football world:

• Last week’s “Biggest Game in the History of the Big East” gave folks plenty of excitement on Thursday night as Louisville capitalized on turnovers and field position to hold off West Virginia in Lexington. I’ve been on the Papa John’s band wagon all season and last week was no exception. West Virginia is good, but at home the Cardinals proved to be too much.
  
• And my how the tables have turned on the ACC. The Big East boys must be laughing all the way to the BCS rankings as they watch their once ravaged league make the ACC look less than smart for sacrificing basketball tradition in favor of pigskin. Everything ebbs and flows but the ACC is one of the worst conferences in football and the Big East has two teams that would crush any Atlantic Coast challenger.
  
• PS…Rutgers plays in the Big East too. Unfortunately for them, their fate was decided before the season started when no one thought they would be worth a bada-bing. (Sorry, I know. New Jersey, the Sopranos. It’s been done.) But the Scarlet Knights are undefeated and ranked 13th in the BCS. Dropping from 12th because they didn’t win this weekend, oh wait, they didn’t play. Don’t get me started on the frustration of that rationale. John Saunders on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters contended this is a shining example of why the polls shouldn’t even come out until later in the season, and I agree with him.
  
• Michigan, Ohio State, please don’t scare us like you did last weekend. I usually don’t cheer for the undefeated teams to win at the end of the season so #1 and #2 can play without controversy but when it’s Michigan/Ohio State and it’s in the regular season, I do. Take this past weekend as warning (and I believe you will) because two weeks from now will be special no matter what, but both of you being perfect will make it unreal.