A Vegas Bearcat's Sports Opinion

Quick Update

2009-10-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update about my fantasy hockey league. Week 1 was extended to 10 days due to a short week because of the start of the season. Current results after this first week:

Rank	Team	W-L-T	Pts
1.	Vegas Ice	6-4-2	14
2.	The Matt Damons	5-3-4	14
3.	Broad Street Bullies	5-4-3	13
4.	Save Randy Jones	5-5-2	12
5.	GOAAAAAALLLLLLL	5-5-2	12
6.	knowshockey	4-5-3	11
7.	Yo quiero Taco Bell	4-6-2	10
8.	Prestige Worldwide	3-5-4	10

I'm in first place!

Even with a shaky roster, I ended up making 3 trades and now I'm currently holding the 1st place spot in the league. Hopefully some longer blog posts to come, school has been busy lately.

Brian Kelly Talks Cincy On ESPN

2009-10-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Tony Pike Talks About USF and Respect

2009-10-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

Week 5 Picks: Recap

2009-10-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

So after a bit of a shocking Week 5, I went 12-5 with my picks. Not exactly a record to boast about. I was wrong about most of the big games, unfortunately. The most shocking of all the results was Houston - UTEP by far. Seems like Houston as a team was just a bit too overrated. As was Cal, who was scored a total of 6 points over the past 2 weeks.

The best part of the weekend however, is the fact that the new rankings have come out. What do we notice? The Bearcats are now ahead of Ohio State, as it should be. Tony Pike didn't have the best day however so that may hurt his Heisman chances, however the Bearcats did prove they have a running game.

Fantasy Hockey

2009-10-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Haven't been as focused on the blog lately, not much to blog about in the college football world. However, I have decided to try something new this weekend, mostly due to my roommate Matt, and that would be Fantasy Hockey.

My draft strategy went out the window and I'm going to have to do a lot of work if I want to win this season. Here are my current players:

Vegas Ice

Eric Staal (Car - C)
Joe Thornton (SJ - C)
Loui Eriksson (Dal - LW)
Patrik Elias (NJ - C,LW) IR
Bobby Ryan (Anh - RW)
Mike Knuble (Was - RW)
Dan Boyle (SJ - D)
Rob Blake (SJ - D)
Brian Rafalski (Det - D)
Jamie Langenbrunner (NJ - RW)
Martin Brodeur (NJ - G)
Chris Mason (StL - G) Bench Players:
Joffrey Lupul (Anh - RW)
Phil Kessel (Tor - RW) IR
John Tavares (NYI - C)
Paul Martin (NJ - D)

Now this isn't one of the worst lineups possible. I had the 5th pick in the draft (8 Player league) and I felt good about the draft overall. Unfortunately, I didn't do my research well enough concerning injuries. Phil Kessel seemed like a great pick, up until the point where realized he was on long term IR about 15 seconds after I picked him. Patrik Elias is also on short term IR and unfortunately, I don't have another LW so I am in the process of trading for one (dropping Phil Kessel) so we'll see how that all works out. Until then, I'm forced to start Patrik. We'll see how it goes, and I'll be updating my blog with week by week results.

Tony Pike Videos

2009-10-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Just throwing up a few video's, the first highlighting Tony Pike, and the second comparing him with all the other Heisman candidates.

Tony Pike Profile:

Heisman Contenders:

Credit both videos to ESPN.

ESPN Sports Nation Chat

2009-09-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Currently listening in on the chat with ESPN Blogger Brian Bennett: Big East Blog

While watching the chat, which can be found here, I decided to ask a question out of the blue:

Out of all the people, my question was actually selected. That's right friends, I am on ESPN!

Top 25 Weekend Predictions

2009-09-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

Moving into week 5, going to give my predictions for the top 25 teams in the AP [Assuming they are playing this week].

#3 Alabama 33, Kentucky 10
Yeah, this game is going to be a blow out. We saw what Florida did to Kentucky, It's only right to assume that Bama is going to do the same thing. The only reason I'm giving Kentucky some points is hopefully they will be motivated after being embarrassed by Florida.

#4 LSU 13, #18 Georgia 24 - Game of the Week
Big upset in the SEC is going to come out of this game. LSU has looked shaky, and there are still questions about the offense. Georgia is 9-1 versus SEC West opponents during the past four seasons and 20-5 overall against that division. Look for Georgia to take control of this game.

#5 Boise State 38 , UC Davis 6
This game is going to be a Boise State scoring fest. Boise State looks to continue through the season unbeaten.

#6 Virgina Tech 34, Duke 7
Duke has no chance of winning this game. Stick with the basketball.

#7 USC 17, #24 California 21
USC came off of a huge upset and responded by... not winning by much at all. I still feel that USC looks a little too shaky at the QB position. Add that too the injury to their star RB Johnson, they are in for a rough time visiting Cal, who are coming off a blowout loss and looking to climb back up the ranks.

#8 Oklahoma 35, #18 Miami(FL) 14
This game almost earned my honors of game of the week, and it for sure would have had Miami not played like they did last weekend. They aren't going to recover from that game while playing Oklahoma, especially if Bradford comes back. Let's not forget that his back up just threw for 6 TDs as well.

#9 Ohio State 27, Indiana 16
Ohio State should win this game. Will they shut out Indiana like they did Toledo and Illinois? No. Indiana had every chance in the world to knock off a ranked Michigan last weekend but they just didn't close it out. Look to Ohio State to win the game, but not win big.

#10 Cincinnati 51, Miami(OH) 10
Cincinnati's high powered-high scoring offense is going to score early and often when they run (or pass) all over Miami. This may be Ohio's oldest college football rivalry, but this game will be over in no time at all.

#11 TCU 38, Southern Methodist 14
TCU has won this match-up nine out of the last 10 times. Look for a big game from them to help keep their BCS hopes alive after a close win at Clemson last week.

#12 Houston 49, UTEP 7
Houston needs to make a statement. Texas ran up the score and stat-padded Colt McCoy in this game. Case Keenum should just go ahead and do the same. Ok that's not the smart thing to do, but they need to show they have the same fire power as Texas in this conference game.

#13 Iowa 18, Arkansas State 3
This should be an easy win for Iowa helping them to a 5-0 start along with a lead in the Big Ten. Look for a relatively low scoring game, with some great defensive stands from Iowa.

#15 Penn State 31, Illinois 12
Penn State is going to be looking for revenge after an embarrassing loss at home to Iowa. 9-1 after losing a game, this is almost a sure win for Penn State considering how bad Illinois has been playing for far this season.

#16 Oregon 38, Washington State 7
Oregon showed the world that the Boise State game was just an off day for Oregon. They came back and shocked #6 Cal with a lopsided 42 - 3 victory. They will win this game and win big.

#20 BYU 27, Utah State 0
BYU's early fame in the season clearly got to them and more then likely their BCS hopes are gone for good. They still need to play big and Utah State isn't exactly a hard opponent. BYU has a high chance of posting the shut out in this one.

#21 Mississippi 18, Vanderbilt 15
This is a great battle in the SEC. Vanderbilt had a decent showing in the SEC last year and Mississippi is coming off of a hard loss. I think Vanderbilt will show up big at this game a play surprising well against Mississippi, but not good enough for the win.

#22 Michigan 24, Michigan State 21
After taking a look at the ESPN Accuscore projections, Michigan State is favored in this game. Michigan didn't look great against Indiana at home, but they did pull out the win. Look for Michigan to win this game, but not by much at all.

#25 Georgia Tech 28, Mississippi State 14
Georgia Tech is 3-0 against Mississippi State. They are going to make it 4 - 0 this weekend. Hopefully Mississippi State will put up a decent fight but I'm not thinking it will happen.

Give The Big East Some Love

2009-09-29T10:50:00.001-07:00

At that start of the season, the Big East was labeled as one of the weakest college football conferences in the nation. Yes, this statement was made because while the Bearcats did make it to the Orange Bowl, Pike threw 4 interceptions and UC was handled soundly by Virgina Tech. The symbol of Big East football went on to lose 10 starters on defense, and Rutgers (Rutgers?!) was given the title of the "Best Team in the Big East" in 2009. While I personally felt that this was a horrible decision, it seemed like every professoinal analyst agreed. Richard Cirminiello of College Football News went so far as to say the Big East should lose their automatic BCS bowl bid.

Well, well, well... look where we are now only 4 weeks into the season. Let's recap shall we? The Big East has defeated Northwestern, Maryland, Baylor, Oregon State, Fresno State, Florida State. Wins coming out of the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and 2 victories from the ACC. Not to mention a top 10 team out of Cincinnati which has the number five offense in the country and a QB ranked #4 on the current Heisman Watch.

Now let's take a look at who has actually beaten teams in the Big East. Penn State, Auburn, Minnesota, North Carolina, Kentucky, NC State, and Utah. Outside of Kentucky (Who is still an SEC team) the Big East has only been beaten by some fairly strong competition (Mind you Louisville and Syracuse have 4 of those losses between then).

This proves the Big East can still hang with the big boys, especially when most of the losses were very close (Kentucky[4], NC State[7], Minnesota[3], North Carolina[2]). I will go as far as saying we are better then the ACC as a whole, and on par with the Big Ten, if not better.

With Cincinnati on their way to another BCS Bowl, if not an argument to be in the BCS Title Game, the Big East should finally earn some respect on the national level.

New ESPN Heisman Rankings

2009-09-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

The new ESPN Heisman Rankings can be found here: 2009 Heisman Watch

Well, can't say I was too far off with my list. Obviously the Texas bias is keeping an undeserving Colt McCoy up in second place. I guess people don't care about stats, they care more about the name of the school. But hey, I'll take 4/5 any day. Tony Pike actually made the list, just beating out Jimmy Clausen for 4th (by 1 point actually). Maybe I'm not giving Case Keenum enough credit. The kid definitely deserves to be 3rd on the list and obviously Tebow is going to be #1 (Yes, I am aware the Florida name is helping his cause).

Be sure to vote for your own Heisman pick: Heisman Fan Voting 2009

Interesting Read

2009-09-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Just read a new article posted by Mark Schlabach of ESPN: On The Mark: Week 4
I want to cover some of the interesting points of the article concerning the Bearcats.

Cincinnati
"The Bearcats are clearly the team to beat in the Big East after their 4-0 start, which includes impressive road victories at Rutgers and Oregon State. They face two difficult Big East road games: at South Florida on Oct. 15 and at Pittsburgh on Dec. 5. None of Cincinnati's final eight opponents are currently ranked, and it should be favored over each of them with quarterback Tony Pike and receiver Mardy Gilyard playing so well."

Obviously this is great news for the Bearcats. I figure their hardest game for the remainder of the season is going to be the away game at Big East opponent USF, even though USF doesn't have their starting QB. Their backup looked pretty good against FSU, but it's beginning to look like FSU isn't as good as everyone thought. On the road at Pitt no longer looks daunting after seeing their abysmal passing deffense.

Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard also received mentions under the sidebar sections "Precision Passers" and "Big-Play Receivers."

Tony Pike, Cincinnati
"It's hard to imagine any quarterback being better than Pike during the first month of the season. He completed 18 of 26 passes for 300 yards with three touchdowns in a 28-20 win over Fresno State."

Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati
"Pike's favorite target caught nine passes for 177 yards with two touchdowns against Fresno State -- and the Bearcats only had possession for about 16½ minutes."

Just a quick edit after doing some more browsing after class...

This article sheds some great light on Cincy and one of my favorite teams to watch on the highlight reel Boise State. Bearcats, Broncos rise as others fall by Pat Forde of ESPN

My Heisman Watch

2009-09-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to see the current ESPN Heisman rankings: 2009 Heisman EPSN Watch

Now, this is obviously subject to change soon, so perhaps this blog is jumping the gun just a bit, but c'mon, the "big school" bias is all over that list. That being said, I'm going to try to give my personal top 5. I'm not worried about what people did last year [for the most part], nor how important there school is. This list is all about what people have done now, and who they have done it against.

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#1 Tim Tebow (Florida)
Class: Senior
Height: 6-3
Weight: 245 lbs.

2009 Passing Yards: 643
2009 Passing TDs: 6
2009 Interceptions: 1
2009 Completion %: 64.7
*Rushing Yards: 271
*Rushing TDs: 5

Florida hasn't played anyone that challenging yet. One could argue Tennessee but, I'm not going to. They have 2 SEC wins against a few of the worst SEC teams. However, both of these games only support the claim for Tim. He is the reason Florida beat Tennessee, not with his arm, but with his legs. Tebow can throw, Tebow can run, Tebow truly does it all. He will even help put up 31 points in 1 quarter while battling the flu if needed. Give him bonus points for taking that vicious hit like a champ in the Kentucky game. The only issue is the lack of accuracy in tight spaces but, until something terrible happens, Tim is going to remain #1 for a while.

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#2 Tony Pike (Cincinnati)
Class: Senior
Height: 6-6
Weight: 225 lbs
2009 Passing Yards: 1,223
2009 Passing TDs: 11
2009 Interceptions: 2
2009 Completion %: 70.5
*Rushing Yards: 38
*Rushing TDs: 2

Pike is finally coming back to an offense that he is familiar with. Getting the start every game so far this year (for once), he has proven himself quite a bit. Leading a season-opening road conference win, a stat-padding blowout at home, an underdog win in Corvallis (breaking a 26 game non-conference home win streak), and a home win against Fresno state where he was on the field for 16 minutes. Of all the top 10 teams other then Florida, Pike has truly carried the bearcats to victories, which gives him the #2 spot on my list. Don't forget the 70.5% completion rate, #4 in the nation.

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#3 Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)
Class: Sophomore
Height: 6-5
Weight: 240 lbs
2009 Passing Yards: 1,161
2009 Passing TDs: 11
2009 Interceptions: 0
2009 Completion %: 66.4
*Rushing Yards: 80
*Rushing TDs: 2

Gabbert is someone who has really been going under the radar. Chase Daniels was great last year, but now it's Gabbert's time to step up, and that he has. While Missouri hasn't been playing the best, or beat any teams with much worth, none of this should really hurt Gabbert. The most important stat in football is turnovers, and in 4 games, Gabbert is perfect [11 TDs - 0 INTs]. If he can finish the season with these kind of numbers, I say give the kid a shot. So far, he deserves it.

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#4 Case Keenum (Houston)
Class: Junior
Height: 6-2
Weight: 210 lbs
2009 Passing Yards: 1,160
2009 Passing TDs: 8
2009 Interceptions: 2
2009 Completion %: 69.4
*Rushing Yards: 43
*Rushing TDs: 3

"Case Keenum's composure in leading Houston's 16-play, 95-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes spoke volumes about the Cougars' junior quarterback" (ESPN). This is of course referring to the big win against Texas Tech which truly was a statement game. It proves that the Houston QB isn't a fluke and truly does have the talent to win this year. With arguably one of the hardest schedules of anyone on this list (including taking down #5 Oklahoma St.), Keenum is proving himself as one of the better Heisman candidates. However, only 8 TDs so far keeps him down my list for now.

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#5 Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)
Class: Junior
Height: 6-3
Weight: 223 lbs
2009 Passing Yards: 1,122
2009 Passing TDs: 10
2009 Interceptions: 1
2009 Completion %: 65.8
*Rushing Yards: -13
*Rushing TDs: 0

Yes, I do feel dirty putting the overrated ND QB on my list, but... he looks decent this year. 10 TDs and only 1 INT is good by any means, and let's face it, there aren't really any other players that warrant being on my list. Clausen gets on my list mostly by default, but at least he has the talent to pretend like he belongs here. We'll see how long this lasts with all the extremely close wins.

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This rounds out my current top 5 Heisman candidates so far. I can already hear people crying out "Where is Colt?!" Well, when he throws twice as many TDs as INTs I might put him on my list. He might also make it up there when Texas beats someone harder then UTEP. Until then, he doesn't get a spot. I had huge faith in Jacory Harris as well, until he looked terrible against a decent opponent. Let me know if you feel anyone deserves a spot on my top 5.

Let Me Introduce Myself

2009-09-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

First post on this website where I am actually blogging myself. I used it at one point for a 12th grade English project but I was never inspired to blog. However, as I have been following the ESPN Bi g East Blog I decided to give blogging a shot, mostly as a small side project while I'm in college. As this is my first post it would only be right to give the basic details:

My name is Brandon Lohide and I am currently attending the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. I have lived everywhere (no seriously) but have spent the last 5ish years of my life as a resident of Las Vegas.

That's about as basic as things can be. I suppose it really explains the title of the blog at least. Anyway this blog will be used to give my opinions about sports, focusing on college football and the Bearcats for obvious reasons.

So now that all that's out of the way, look for a blog every few days or so, or everyday if the news warrants it.

Go Cats!