The Big 5 College Football Games of Week 14

Honestly you can't really get a better weekend to close out the college football schedule. You get the normal three conference championship games from the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 plus you get psuedo title games in the Big East and Pac 10.

5. Army Black Knights at Navy Midshipmen
I could go with the ACC title game, but that seemingly lacks appeal each year when the blimp pans over an empty stadium. Thus, I choose Army vs. Navy which is always fun when competitive. Unfortunately the Naval Academy continues to be in a different stratosphere than the Black Knights. The Pick: Navy by 18

4. Pac 10 Title Game: Oregon Ducks at Oregon State Beavers
So who had the Pac 10 coming down to a battle between Oregon vs. Oregon State on a Thursday Night in December? Me, that's who*. The Ducks are a better team than the Beavers but the Beavers have homefield advantage. The Degrees are leaning Beavers but I'm going with the Ducks and Masoli.The Pick: Oregon by 3

3. Big East Title Game: Cincinnati Bearcats at Pittsburgh Panthers
Could this be Brian Kelly's final game for the Bearcats? Could this be the game that catapults him to the National Title Game? If the Longhorns get upset by the Cornhuskers than the battle should come down to TCU vs. Cincy and I think I'm coming out on the Cincy side of the equation. Regardless an undefeated season for the Bearcats awaits with just the Wannstache and his choking in the way. The Pick: Bercats by 3

2. Big 12 Title Game: Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Texas Longhorns
It's Colt McCoy's last attempt to secure the Heisman Trophy. It's his last attempt to get the Longhorns to the title game. I think he succeeds on both accounts even though I will be pulling for a Longhorns loss and a BCS debacle. The Pick: Longhorns by 13.

1. SEC Title Game: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida Gators
This is obviously the biggest game of the weekend and quite possibly the biggest game of the season. Many, many, many people believe that Alabama and Florida are the best two teams in the country and with the SEC winning the last three BCS Title Games who is to argue? This game comes down to whether or not the Bama can control the ball and control Tim Tebow. I don't think they accomplish both. The Pick: Gators by 6

*Completely lying.

Numbers On Steroids: Mickey Mantle

Numbers on Steroids is a look at baseball players during the 90s to see if anything screams out at you. This week it's throwing a curve ball and looking at All Time Great Yankees. Players that we know did not take steroids to see if this gives a defense to any of the players 'convicted' by Numbers on Steroids. Time to look at my dad's favorite athlete of all time, Mickey Mantle. Averages Say: What's with the mysterious dip at 27 and then the uptick? At Bats Per Home Run Says: That's a mighty jump from 22 to 24 Explaining As If It Was the 90s If you take a look at the numbers there are two time frames which in the 1990s would be questioned. First would be the incredible leap he took from his first year in the big leagues to his first MVP season in 1956. His batting average jumped 50 points. His slugging percentage jumped 90 points and he hit 15 more homers than his previous high. This wouldn't merrit a conviction nowadays though because the young age he...

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Guest Post: Thoughts on Sabathia Signing

I asked Grutt what his thoughts were on the Sabathia signing and I thought his response pretty much nailed it. So here it is. I don’t know. Every year I get a little more disenchanted with baseball. Yea, it’s great we signed the top pitching free agent. But we were supposed to. No team was even in the ballpark of the Yankees offer yet they still needed to jump from the already ridiculous price of $140 million to $160 million to close the deal. Now I hear we are going to sign more pitchers who will also get large contracts and the position player gaps are still glaring. Each new, large contract just adds to the feeling that the Yanks are supposed to win it all. “I think we have a good chance this year.” That is a lost feeling. If they don’t win I’ll wonder why, like there has to be some other reason besides that it’s a sport you can never predict how things will work out and some years just aren’t yours to be won. If they win I will be pleasantly smug. It gets a little more...

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