smokinandjokin

It has to happen sometime, right? They do have a tough stretch coming up, even though I'd consider the first nine a pretty tough stretch too, and we know how that worked out. A win at NYI means they play a talented Atlanta team at home to set the NHL record for wins to start a season. Also looming is the always-big game at home against the Leafs, followed by a 5pm game the next day at NYR. Obviously, at Philly (2nd game in two nights) and at Carolina could present problems, as both of those teams will want the Sabres badly. The two against Ottawa will not be easy. So what do we think? IMO, while I hope it never happens, 11/13 at the Canes and 11/18 at Ottawa seem to have the most potential for a hiccup...And playing the Rangers less than 24-hours after the HUGE rivalry game has stumble written all over it...

Tell them you would love to enter, but you are already in a raffle to win tickets to see the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If it's a penny for your thoughts, then why do I have to put my two cents in?

I would say the week before Super Bowl XXV, when the Bills roster took over the Tampa bar scene and drank the town dry, was the dumbest week in Bills history. But that's also what we LOVED about that team. They played hard and partied harder.

I agree, it would be nice to have a playmaker at wideout. However, for a young QB, the "just throw it up there" play can evolve into a crutch that ultimately stunts their development, and manifests itself when they don't have that option. See: Culpepper, Daunte

I don't know how you devised that. My logic for these meaningless rankings is as simple as can be. I look at each team and imagine if they were playing all of the other teams this Saturday at a neutral site. I rank them behind the teams I think they would lose to, and ahead of the teams I think they would beat. Obviously, number of losses, who they've played, and how they've played all factor into the equation. I can't believe that Rutgers is getting so much play in a BCS thread, but speaking honestly, I think they'd lose to BC this Saturday if they played in Rich Stadium. The only reason I think that is because BC was good enough to beat Clemson, VaTech, and FSU (on the road.) Rutgers thus far has zero reputable wins. Sorry man, Pitt doesn't count. The Navy win looks nice on paper, until you realize that Navy was without the guy who makes their offense go for 3.5 quarters. (And when your team is hanging their hat on a win at Navy to validate themselves, that tells you something right there.) Anyways, you think Rutgers is better than BC, and I think BC is better. Who cares? They are 16th and 17th in the rankings. I don't think it's an issue worth getting worked up about. I was willing to hear you out about your logic which qualifies Rutgers as being good, and you cited their 'utter domination' of opponents, followed quickly by excusing them for the games they didn't 'utterly dominate' bad teams. Rutgers will have several opportunities to prove themselves, and I will certainly keep an open mind about them as a potential New Years Day bowl team. Right now, I say no way.

I was going to reply with something similar, but I stopped typing when I realized I was arguing about a team that will be playing in the Meineke Muffler Bowl in El Paso, Texas on December 21st. Ed, I'm glad you are excited about your squad. 7-0 is a big deal, no matter who they are playing. You have to beat the team that lines up across from you. But take a step back and look at what they have done. It doesn't amount to much. I'm more impressed with Cincy going into Ohio State and Virginia Tech and hanging in the game for a half than I am about Rutgers beating UNC or Howard or Pitt. No offense, just my opinion. If Rutgers only loses once, I will be impressed and surprised.

22-20 vs. South Florida? 21-16 vs. UNC? And those teams are jokes. Look at what other teams are doing to UNC. They are 7-0 because of who they haven't played. I see them losing to Louisville, Cincy, and WVU. The ACC is a mess. You're right, every team is all over the map.

The whole point of this thread is to rank teams as you see fit. We will all have some disagreements, which are cool to discuss. My logic was based on: BC beat Clemson. They beat Virginia Tech. They beat FSU. I'm not saying those are world beaters, but they are not cakewalks. BC lost 17-15 at NC State, one of the strangest teams to try and figure out. Rutgers beat......Pitt? I'm sure if they played, it would be a fairly even game. Hell, they are neck-and-neck in the national rankings. But until Rutgers plays anybody of ANY significance, I will rank BC higher. Victories against UNC, Howard, South Florida, and Navy (without their star QB) don't do it for me.

1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. USC- At Oregon St this week, won't be a gimmee. Then Stanford (a gimmee.) Then we find out about them: Oregon, Cal, ND (all home) and UCLA (in Pasadena) four straight weeks to end the season. 4. WVU- Next game is 11/2 at Louisville. I expect them to roll. 5. Florida 6. Texas- Leap over ND by getting lucky against a ranked opponent on the road 7. ND- Fall behind Texas by getting lucky against an unranked opponent at home 8. Tennessee- They bump up one spot on the bye week. Still not convinced, but can't put them behind Cal 9. Cal- Favored by 23 points, they beat UW at home in OT. It must've been in the atmosphere Saturday- a lot of close calls, but the better team won in just about every case 10a. Wisconsin- Failed in their only REAL test at Michigan, but they are 7-1 and their running game is incredible. And I have been winning boatloads of money betting on them, so I have to put them in my top-10 10b. Clemson- One loss was 34-33 at Boston College (6-1) Next 5: Auburn, Louisville, Arkansas, LSU, BC I look for LSU to knock off Tennessee in Knoxville in two weeks.

Has anyone ever heard of the man spunk referred to as 'throat yogurt'? I thought that was pretty funny, just heard it the other day. My friend's girlfriend said she had a sore throat, and my friend offered her his throat yogurt to sooth the pain.

Huh?

Drive chart play-by-play: So, Willis picks up a 1st down with two good runs. On the next set of downs, the Bills are 3rd & 4 and execute a nice hitch to Evans for 13 yards. However, an Illegal Shift called on Peerless, 5 yard penalty. That sets up 3rd & 9, which the Bills manage to turn into a 3rd & 14 after a Delay of Game penalty. WTF??? Quick play clock? Poor awareness? Who knows... Back to the action, a well-designed shovel pass that Willis takes for 56 yards to the New England 17. Huge play, crowd is alive. The Bills break the huddle for the 1st down play...Play clock winding down again, forced to use a timeout. WTF??? And then, for the biggest WTF of the day, they come out of the timeout and line up Losman at WR and Josh Reed at QB in the shotgun. Reed takes the snap and runs into the line for 1 yard. After a run by Willis, Losman drops the shotgun snap and is sacked on 3rd & 6. They settle for the FG to cut the lead to 4, the closest they would be for the rest of the day. What a mess this whole drive was. Basically, it was the 2006 Bills offense summarized into one drive. A lot of bumbling and fumbling, with a big play mixed in, just to drive you crazy.

No idea. I hope not. That's just what I call him.

The Downer is definitely quality. A magical place. More than once, I've woke up in the morning after a night at Seductions/Downer with the credit card in the front pocket instead of in the wallet. "Uh oh, that can't be good..."

Most of you have probably seen the dude in the wheelchair who juggles (very impressively) outside of the Ralph and HSBC Arena. Well, I was walking out of the game yesterday, and I saw Juggles doing his thing, but one ball was taken by the wind and Juggles was nowhere near catching it. I said, "Oh man, come on Juggles, you're better than that!" He said, "The wind, man, the wind!" I said, "Yeah, it's too windy today..." He replied, "Oh yeah man. I had a girlfriend named Wendy (windy) once. She blew everybody!!!" And then he burst out laughing. I was nearly rolling on the pavement. It brightened my day...

Schobel played well, as did the whole DLine. The most glaring mistake was Denney drilling Brady after Brady gave himself up. That led to a TD. But overall, they contained the dangerous Dillon/Maroney combo pretty well, and got some decent pressure on Brady. I've said MANY times that I don't question Schobel's effort. It's not his fault, and I'm not trying to take anything away from his performance...I'm just noting the coincidence that it was another great showing from him in a blowout loss. Maybe if he showed up sometime after the first play of the game last week in a game that was hanging in the balance, the outcome would have been different..... Trust me, I know he's the best we have, that's why I demand more from him. Games like yesterday, when he played VERY well, make me wonder how he can disappear for long stretches in other games. The D (and the Dline in particular) is not good enough for Schobel to have 'off' games.

Nice assumption on TBD... Thread from weeks ago Nice work TDRupp!

Definitely true. Clarke somehow stayed on board while countless coaches that he hired were kicked to the curb, because they couldn't succeed with players that he brought in. He was one of the worst execs in the league, and the implementation of the salary cap just made his deficiencies more glaring. His solution in the past was to just throw money at every problem, and even that didn't work.

True. They did win four games in every series however, which is all that's required. I really didn't have any hatred for the Canes until game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, when Doug Weight was out with an injury. It was the first man-game lost due to injury for the Canes in the playoffs (minus Erik Cole of course, who missed much of the regular season but did end up returning for games 6 & 7 of the Finals.) Anyways, in the lead-in to game 6, I heard the announcer say, "Can the bruised and battered Carolina Hurricanes finish off the Oilers to win the Cup tonight?" And THAT'S when I got pissed. Bruised and battered??? Puh-lease. They beat a team missing their entire starting defense in the conference finals, they're playing a team with a backup goalie in the Finals, but all of the sudden THEY are 'bruised and battered' when they lose their 36-year old worthless forward? Oh man, I'm getting fired up over here....

The Canes are finding their groove after going winless in their first few starts. I expect they will come to play tonight, as everyone wants to give an undefeated team their first notch in the loss column. Add to that motivation the fact that the Sabres spoiled their banner raising by winning on their ice a few weeks ago, and I'm sure Carolina will be fired up. I'm sure the Sabres fans will be fired up too. The playoff loss is fresh in our minds, and I think with Buffalo's offense clicking on all cylinders, and actually facing Carolina with an NHL defense, the crowd wants to see another beatdown. I will be there, looking forward to it. I say Sabres win 5-2.

Keep me out of this schit show.

I can't believe Dick Jauron didn't make the list. But seriously, no Homer Simpson???

An even more amazing stat from the Beatdown in Buffalo- Somehow, in a 9-1 game, Hecht, Briere, and Pominville were all -1 and Robitaille for Philly was a +1!!! I would've thought that was impossible! The only line that didn't generate anything for Buffalo just happened to be out there when Philly scored. Pretty funny.

I thought I was giving them props by putting them at #8. Speaking honestly, I haven't seen them play since early on when they lost Bush. I just know they have an RB-by-committee in there- I haven't really assessed them. Brohm is a tough, solid QB. I don't question their record, I just question who they're playing. Putting them at #5 on my top-10...That means you see them beating Florida, Notre Dame, and Texas if they played at a neutral site this Saturday? I say no way. Look who Louisville has played: Kentucky (3-4) Temple (0-7) Miami (4-2) Kansas St (4-3) Middle Tennesee St (3-3) Cincinnati (3-4) Here's how those teams faired against Louisville, and against other various opponents: Kentucky lost 59-28 @ UL (UL had Bush.) Lost @ Florida 26-7; Lost @ LSU 49-0. Temple lost 62-0 vs. UL. Also lost 62-0 to Minnesota, and lost to UB (!!!) Miami lost 31-7 @ UL. Lost 13-7 to FSU. Four wins came against Florida A&M, Houston (14-13!!!), UNC, and Florida International. Combined record of those four: 8-18 Kansas St lost 24-6 vs. UL. Lost 21-3 vs. Nebraska. Wins came against Illinois St (1-AA), Florida Atlantic, Marshall, and Oklahoma St. Possibly Louisville's best win. Middle Tennessee St lost 44-17 vs. UL. Lost 59-0 @ Oklahoma. Three wins are against FIU (0-7), Tennessee Tech (2-5 in 1-AA) and North Texas (2-4). Cincinnatti lost 23-17 @ UL. Lost 37-7 @ Ohio St, 29-13 @ Va Tech, and 33-15 vs. Pitt. Three wins came against Eastern Kentucky (2-5 in 1-AA), and MAC schools Miami of Ohio (1-6) and Akron (2-4). Holy schit!!! Looking at that, I can't believe I have Louisville in the top-10. THEY'VE PLAYED NOBODY! Remaining schedule is Cuse, WVU, Rutgers, S. Florida, Pitt, and UConn. We'll find out soon enough if this team is a pretender or contender. Right now, I'd say pretender.