Place a bet on tonight's National title game.

That really is your only chance to end up a winner.  There is no other outcome that I see where we all would win tonight.  Regardless of which team wins tonight, we know that the real National champion wasn't crowned.  You can 't say that LSU and Ohio State are the best teams in the country.  Ohio State played a meatball schedule, while LSU has two losses.  I'm not saying we don't have two good teams playing tonight, but I am saying we don't have the best teams playing, at least not for sure

But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Every year the Ringling Brother Circus come to the United Center, and the clowns head west for their annual beating.  The 2-8 Bulls haven't disappointed us with this year's effort with their only win coming against the hapless Clippers. At least they'll be in New York on Saturday so they should walk away with a win. The real question is which game would you rather watch the Pre-Season N.I.T. championship game on Friday or the thrilling Bulls v/s Knicks game on Saturday.

Stand Navy out to sea, Fight our Battle Cry;
We'll never change our course, So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh. Sail on to Victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, Hooray!

Anchors Away, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to foreign shores, We sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, Drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here's wishing you a happy voyage home!

Hats off to the Midshipmen of Navy! Nothing put energy back into an annual series like breaking a 43 year losing streak. Hell

College Football begins its furious run down the home stretch with the Top 12 BCS teams all having a legitimate shot at winning (and losing). If you shake your crystal ball and look into the future, you will see that the first half of the season was just a preview of the chaos that will ensue and that the best is yet to come.

Top ranked Ohio State inherited their position atop the polls and I don't think there is a person outside of Ohio who thinks they are the best team in the land. Their best win came against 2-4 Washington and the rest of their wins are against

Saturday was an exciting day in college football, chock-full of upsets and text messages saying "did you see that!" The dust has finally settled and what is clear to me is "Shakedown Saturday" didn't really shake up anything. Although Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia and Texas lost, only the Mountaineers and Longhorns were virtually eliminated from the BCS Title hunt with the Sooners and Gators still very much alive.

Hear me out before you accuse me of being drunk. The fallout from this past Saturday puts California, South Florida, Boston College and Kentucky

Before we get to this week's Contenders and Pretenders, I felt it necessary to comment on Mike Gundy's rebuttal to The Daily Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson column.

If you are reading this, you've seen, read or heard the tirade. In fact, you probably have heard numerous people comment on the explosion in question. Look no further than Accuscore's Zach Rosenfield.

I have been on the receiving end, not directly, as a college football beat reporter. Most of the time, the thing that ticks of coaches more than anything is when "journalists

It's time this week's contenders and pretenders, and in lieu of my new memo, a certain maize and blue will not be mentioned.

 Contenders:

Cal stays on here after another win, and another brilliant performance by Desean Jackson.  

South Carolina/Florida both get on here after winning big games for different reasons.  The Gamecocks solidified their place on the SEC's upper-echelon with a big win against Georgia.   The Bulls get on here for knocking off another SEC team, Auburn.  The Bulls however have plenty more to be excited about

This weekend might be the best set of early season games in years.  ESPN predictably hasn't been able to resist their strange need to name every weekend/day/year and is thus dubbing it "Measuring Stick Saturday."  Certainly nothing will be proved tonight by Louisville taking on another patsy in Middle Tennesse St. but there are a ton of other intriguing games going on in week two.  Here's a rundown of a few games that caught my eye:

South Florida vs. Auburn - The Bulls are the trendy sleeper pick in the Big East among experts this year. 

 

Get out the 'ol college jersey and strike up the band because its Christmas time...in September. While most "traditionalists" wait until December, I am celebrating three-months early with a full slate of college games. It is time to find out if Notre Dame can rebuild, LSU can reload, Ohio State can recover and if Florida will repeat.

 

The first weekend in September means its time to begin unwrapping 8-months of anticipation, highlighted by the nightcap of Tennessee-Cal. It also means My TIVO is no longer set