the tindog coffeehouse

I wondered at the beginning of this year’s college football season how accurate EA Sports’ NCAA College Football 09 for the Wii was at predicting the outcomes of the real games. Each week, I played the game as the University of Texas versus their scheduled opponent for the week and then compared that score to the real score.

A few of the Wii scores were fairly close to the actual ones (Florida Atlantic, Rice, Texas A&M) while others were way off (Arkansas, Missouri, Baylor), margins of error probably not too different than what you’d get from ESPN and other “expert” prognosticators.

Continue reading…

Well, rooting for Tech against OU did absolutely nothing. I can’t say I’m surprised. Tech only plays well at home.

So here’s where we stand: Texas moved up to No. 2 in the BCS while OU is No. 3 by a razor-thin margin, with Tech dropping to No. 7. Texas has to beat A&M, period. That shouldn’t be hard this year since the Aggies are 4-7 for the year. And Tech will almost certainly beat Baylor. That leaves the OU-OSU game as the wildcard.

If OU wins, they’ll probably leapfrog UT in the BCS and will face Missouri for the Big 12 Championship. A win there would probably put them in the National Championship against the SEC Champion (either Alabama or Florida). Texas still ranks higher than Tech and would probably go to the Fiesta Bowl.

If OSU wins, Tech wins the Big 12 South tiebreaker and heads to Kansas City to play Mizzou for the Big 12 Championship. If the Red Raiders win there, they are guaranteed a BCS bowl, but it wouldn’t be the National Championship. Texas would move back up ahead of OU in the polls, and it’s very possible they could end up in the National Championship game.

So as long as the Horns beat A&M, they should be fine regardless of the outcome of the Bedlam game. But an OSU win would probably be more beneficial. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? I think it’s 50/50, but only because they’re playing in Stillwater, so the Cowboys will have the home field advantage.

Of course, all of this is ammunition for the anti-BCS crowd, and I kind of agree. How would it look for the Longhorns to be playing for a National Championship when they didn’t even win their own conference?

I’d like to find out.

Here we go again.

Another week, another match between a Top 10 undefeated Texas Longhorns team and a Top 10 undefeated Oklahoma team. To quote the great Yogi Berra, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

Well, except for the fact that this week Texas is ranked No. 1 in the nation and is playing at home against the No. 6 Oklahoma State Cowboys. (You know, the same Cowboys that are 0-10 against Mack Brown’s Horns. Right, that one.)

Of course, give the Pokes some credit. On the same day Texas crushed Bob Stoops’ dreams (such a good feeling, isn’t it?), the Cowboys defeated a Missouri team that at the time was undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the nation. And they did it on the road in Columbia.

Continue reading…