The Short List To South Beach: Week Five

At week five of the season The Shortlist to South Beach stops looking at the losers and starts concentrating on the survivors in the race for one of the two coveted spots on the final Shortlist.  Only 47 teams remain in the running and they are listed in no particular order as follows:

Southern Cal, UConn, Louisville, Ohio St., Minnesota, Clemson, Iowa, Miami (FL), UNC, Michigan St., Duke, Ball St., Florida, BC, Texas, Arkansas, Auburn, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Purdue, Colorado, FSU, Cincinnati, WF, KSU, California, TCU, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Kentucky, Oklahoma St., LSU, USF, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, PSU, Utah, Nebraska, Northwestern, GT, Missouri, BYU, Boise St., Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Kansas.

Five winners found themselves bucking the odds and staying for at least another weekend on the Shortlist by pulling upsets from marginal to monumental and include the following:

1) Ball St. refuses to bow out for the umpteenth time this season and wins the battle for the state of Indiana against the Hoosiers on the road.  Brady Hoke's team is one of, if not the, feel good story of the season so far but how long can he continue to ride the tiger as the season slogs on?  So far the Cardinals have had all the answers but it seems to me to only be a matter of time until it all falls apart.

2) Michigan St. hands the most popular college team in America and in the world it's first loss of the season while shutting the Irish of Notre Dame out for three quarters.  Mark DiAntonio was obviously the brains behind the Sweater Vests' miracle run to a tainted title in 2002 with the Ohio State Buckeyes and continues to make a name for himself as a builder of second tier schools.  The last coach who suceeded at Michigan State was Nick Saban, is DiAntonio on the same career track?  I wouldn't be shocked if he was.

3) Boise St., the poster boys of BCS party crashing, catches another break as they spoil the Oregon Duck's season after destroying another quarterback on the roster and edging out a victory.  With only a game against Fresno State looming as the last major hurdle to another undefeated season the question now becomes is the Pacific 10 bad enough to discredit Boise's upset?  I would say of course.

4) Louisville starts to turn things around from last year's debacle with a solid victory over Kent State.  With Big East play now looming the Cardinals have a puncher's chance to run the table and finish with only a single loss to Kentucky on their record by season's end.  They will need a lot of help to reclaim what little squandered prestige last season cost them in the public's eye but don't be shocked to see them ranked higher and higher as the wins should begin pilling up on the cupcakes that litter the remainder of their slate.

5) Georgia Tech lays an absolute thumping on Mississippi State in a battle of mid-level SEC and ACC programs.  Paul Johnson proved his worth year in and year out at Navy and now tries to bring the Yellow Jackets up to the big boys' table in the BCS discussion.  Expect this well coached team to cause problems for every opponent they face from here on out.

Five BCS schools find themselves eliminated from championship discussion in embarrassing fashion last week and the victims read as such:

1) Oregon provides another punch line for picking on the perennial whiniest of all BCS conferences by falling at home.  Southern Cal's road to an undefeated season is paved with pretenders and this Boise St. result simply underscores that fact.  At this rate I'd rather see a one loss SEC champion against an undefeated Big 12 champion over an undefeated Trojan team getting handed their first BCS championship game berth simply for wearing a fashionable piece of laundry while scheduling Notre Dame on top of a rebuilding Virginia and an overrated Big 10 also ran.  Of course keep an eye out for all the questionable Pac-10 official calls to start breaking Souther Cal's way from here on out as they are the only thing that conference has to promote itself with now.  Collusion is alive and well in 2008 in college football, trust me.

2) Tennessee turns the heat back up on Phil Fulmer by talking a great game and then delivering anything but against Florida at home.  I've chimed midnight for the big orange pumpkin many times before only to watch him find a way to weasel his way back into job security but this time just feels different to me.  The 1998 National Championship was one that defined the word "lucky" on Rocky Top but a decade later the, "What have you done for me lately," mentality in Knoxville may have finally reached a critical mass in the fan-base.  Whether the same can be said for the athletic department will remain to be seen.

3) Baylor finally falls by the wayside by the slimmest of margins on the road as Art Briles proves that he although he's a great coach, he doesn't walk on water.  Still Briles will be a force to be reckoned with in Waco as the Bears have finally gotten a man who can work within the limitations of the program and still deliver results.

4) Indiana falls to Ball St. and suddenly the feel good story of last year has woken up with a hangover less than one year later.  The Hoosiers will have their work cut out for them from here on out as they attempt to return to bowl eligibility.  No word on whether the hardwood payback game in basketball will actually go down this year or at a later date but you can be sure that the hoops Cardinals have a major receipt due at some point in the future.

5) Iowa St. falls in overtime on the road to UNLV as Gene Chizik doesn't impart the importance of handling business before pleasure enough on a trip out to Sin City.  I'm sure the strip clubs after the game took some of the sting out of the Cyclones pain, but not all.

I expect these teams to find themselves outside looking in by next week on The Shortlist to South Beach:

Arkansas, Purdue, TCU, Illinois, UNC.

The BCS conferences begin to feast upon themselves in earnest this week and only TCU has the chance to pull another shocker of all time this week on the road against Oklahoma.  Butch Davis returns to face his former team while hoping to find a way to keep his new starting quarterback alive under a heavy Bill Young blitz.  I like TCU's chances slightly better to pull the upset as I expect the Hurricanes to make a statement to the rest of the ACC as to who should be considered the slumbering giant of the conference with an alarm clock going off in their ear. 

That sound you hear Saturday is the knocking of the knees of the rest of the league when the final gun sound.  Nothing in college football goes as planned anymore these days though so don't bet the house or anything, if your rate hasn't adjusted you right out from under your roof that is, but expect Miami to use this week to send a message about just how far back in the pack the Heels are while their bandwagon continues to fill up.  Enjoy the games this week and I'll be back next week as we start to bring the championship race into clearer focus here on the Shortlist to South Beach.

Copyright 2008 by Christopher Whelpton for Canespace.com

Comments

[Old Skool]

Bammo

[412Cane]

first?

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

FIRST

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

DAMN THIRD

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

To everyone, great game tommorow hope to see the stadium packed. Go CANES

Posted by: nOrThMiAmIcAnE | September 26, 2008 at 10:22 PM

[412Cane]

always a bridesmaid...

[SOUP]

POST YOUR PREDICTION BELOW

82 at 35/9
Cat at 42/16
RealCanesFan at 24/13
Sarasota at 48/10
UMike at 31/17
Carlos at 33/20
Chinese Punisher aka Cavaleer at 38/7
dlu at 48/10
DTX at 31-10
CGNC 38-14
CanezNC 38-10
LatinCane 33-13
DATCane 29-16
INCane 41-17
BamaCane 35-20
WMD at 34-21
roachcane77 35-17
diehard tx fan 35-10
dj moonbat 27-17
CVS 31-20
Sy-Cane 29-13
pb 28-10
NMC 42-13
86 27-13
USAFCane 27-17
bhamcanesfan 35-17
OCALACANE 38/14
Montreal-Cane 24-14
Seoul Cane 27-16
O R A N G E 27-3
Butch Davis 7-28
Randy Shannon 42-3
Gin & Tonic 49-3
LutherCampbell 68-0
phillyscott 44-17
DelrayCane 24-17
solarcane more-less
Keoki 21 - 17
JameriCANE 28-17
jimmy 31-13
canechic 28-10
slim32 27-23
RaizeCane 28 - 17
MinnesotaCane4Life 38-17
splarfy 35-12
Brian-24-20
Elbow-Foot: 41-24
TortugaCane 28-21
Macjones 27-13
Loco too much, not enough
Six 23-21
1MiamiFan 35-10

[412Cane]

politics suck. I'm so over voting for the lesser of the two evils...that's all I wanna say about that.

[solarcane]

ogv,
great article, The teams you picked to bow out will do just that

peace

[412Cane]

If you can't persuade someone to agree with you using the first amendment, use the second!!!

[Carlos]

lol.

this article was written before Thursday's game, huh?

[raizecane]

9th????? :-)

[Chinese Punisher aka Cavaleer]

Speaking of fools and comically shortsighted-half-brained decisions and contracts, why didn't anyone say Charlie Weiss has become so friggin' OBESE that he's injured both his MCL and ACL?? And can barely walk!!!

LMAO!!

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

quick ?
bosher over or under 3 touchbacks

[solarcane]

Carlos,

this article was written before Thursday's game, huh?

what makes you think two undefeated teams will play for the NC Carlos?

peace

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

i say under

[solarcane]

under,
peace

[Carlos]

solar,

"At this rate I'd rather see a one loss SEC champion against an undefeated Big 12 champion over an undefeated Trojan team getting handed their first BCS championship game berth simply for wearing a fashionable piece of laundry while scheduling Notre Dame on top of a rebuilding Virginia and an overrated Big 10 also ran."

undefeated Trojan team?

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

another quick ?'s

RM over or under 250 yards throwing

JH over or under 3 series hes playing in this game

[solarcane]

carlos gotcha,
reread that
I was honing in on who was picked to fall out this week.

peace

[solarcane]

under

peace

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

i say over for marve my prediction his he'll go 15-23 268 yards 2 tds

JH i say he'll get 3 exactly so no over or under

[solarcane]

If one things stands out tomorrow watch the Canes intensity in the first quarter and again in the fourth.

I think these guys realize they have to score early. I know Shannon has mentioned a couple times they gotta play in the fourth quarter

peace

[Carlos]

I'm concerned about our secondary....Carlos Armour and Bruce Johnson are both seniors who should be doing more....hopefully, they'll both play out of their minds and see DVD get more physical.

[solarcane]

carlos,

I'm very happy Yates isn't playing.
Tate is going to get open on us.
I don't think either of the two Heels qbs have the composure to face the blitz and get the ball deep

peace

[Chinese Punisher aka Cavaleer]

Carlos, Armour isn't the one, he never was. He was a Coker kid who would never be offered by Shannon. Plus, he's behind BH and DVD, so I'm not too concerned about him.

My concerns are whether Bruce and Chavez are ready to step up and truly shut someone down.

They played 3 1/2 strong quarters against UF which says a lot. Against A&M that QB broke some things down when he scrambled, as Shannon said. The DBs looked bad but it was actually the LBs fault.

So, to me, their performance against UF is the benchmark. And they're better now. I could honestly see them shutting those boys down. Tate is elusive but he's not a blazer. And without a scrambling QB or plenty of time, I don't see him doing to our boys what he did to Rutgers and McNeese. Definitely not McNeese.

Did anyone see how VT bottled him up?? Like I said, if VT can do it, I like our chances. How long did Yates play before he went down?

Bottom line, it's a statement game. These kids know it. They embrace it and expect to dominate UNC. They're just not saying anything.

[True Cane]

Now guys this is going to be a hard game, I have been saying it all week. I just hope the team actually plays to its full protential.

[AngryCane]

PREDICTION:

The U wins...

34 - 23

[Canesfan2121]

Prediction Canes 49 UNC 17

The stadium better be packed tomorrow!!!!ill be there!!!

[SOUP]

Under on Bosher. Over on Marve.

AJ has to score 2 TDs to match Collier's TD last week. Can't let Solar win...

[SOUP]

UMAA Oralndo area Game Watch Party at O'boy's BBQ in Winter Park tomorrow!

[Chinese Punisher aka Cavaleer]

True, why are you so convinced this game is going to be "hard" as you say??

I think it's going to be hard, hard-nosed, hard on Butch, hard-headed hits on UNC helmets.

That's how I think it's going to be hard.

Butch will be crafty with how he uses Tate but otherwise, they don't have the weapons to do any serious damage. As it stands they're about as skilled on offense as A&M. Tate's more of a playmaker/difference maker but all around they're close. UNC's OL's probably stronger I don't think too much. They had to come from behind to beat McNeese, with Tate putting on a one man show. That doesn't say much about the rest of the offense.

They shot their load against Rutgers. lol
Then came back to reality against a rebuilding VT team.

I've seen them play and I just don't see the weapons, the talent, the depth or the experience. You have to have a few of the above to beat us, or even hang with us.

If they had a few more Tates on offense and defense, I'd say, yeah we'll have to play our azzes off to beat them. But they don't have any more Tates.

If they had a few more Tates they'd be close to us and UF. But they don't so they aren't. haha

Tell me what you see.

[Chinese Punisher aka Cavaleer]

86, your boy's lagging behind Jones and Green so far. Hell, he's even lagging behind Collier and Benjamin.

In his defense of course, is the fact that we have about 20 WRs whereas Bama and UGA have about four, so they're going to get more balls.

But I haven't seen him shown the moves and explosiveness he showed in HS. I know the competition's bigger and faster but not THAT much.

I don't know what to make of it.

[SOUP]

C-PAC...yeah I know, I know. Time to get busy THIS week and save it up for a BIG finish!

[Montreal-Cane]

Now guys this is going to be a hard game, I have been saying it all week. I just hope the team actually plays to its full protential.

Posted by: True Cane | September 26, 2008 at 11:35 PM

TRUE!

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Carlos, I have the advantage to cheat on these articles all the time if I want to and make myself look smarter with the picks and comments than I really am, but I don't do it. Why? Because, I'd rather just give my take steam of consciousness style, but you can see, I'm not sold on Southern Cal regardless of their record and their play yesterday only justifies my skepticism. DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Cav, I'm thinking The Truth is a little worried about some guys in the orange and green believing their own press and that's why we might be in a tougher fight than expected. UNC is a wounded animal and you know Butch will have them ready to play Miami more than any team on the schedule, yes, even Duke.

[Sarasota 'cane]

In case this has not been noted before, UMAA party in Sarasota has moved to Big Al's Sports Bar, 1 block south of Stickney Point Rd. on US 41.

Better TV's, better food!! I had to choose between the NC or the FSU game, so I'll be at Big Al's this week, and at Joe Robbie next Saturday!

YOU'RE NOTHING TO ME BUTCH, NOW GO GET YOUR SHINEBOX

Go 'canes!

[dj moonbat]

412 Cane endorses extortion:

"If you can't persuade someone to agree with you using the first amendment, use the second!!!"

Hilarious!!

[Cat5 Cane]

Damnnnn 86...
Had I not gone back to read last article's ending posts from yesterday, I wouldn't have known of your "Threatening" last warning removal comment... I'M A BADDD BOY!

OK OK OK... I promise... I'll try to be good and NO MORE POLITICS!!!

Cat5

[NativeCane]

POST YOUR PREDICTION BELOW

82 at 35/9
Cat at 42/16
RealCanesFan at 24/13
Sarasota at 48/10
UMike at 31/17
Carlos at 33/20
Chinese Punisher aka Cavaleer at 38/7
dlu at 48/10
DTX at 31-10
CGNC 38-14
CanezNC 38-10
LatinCane 33-13
DATCane 29-16
INCane 41-17
BamaCane 35-20
WMD at 34-21
roachcane77 35-17
diehard tx fan 35-10
dj moonbat 27-17
CVS 31-20
Sy-Cane 29-13
pb 28-10
NMC 42-13
86 27-13
USAFCane 27-17
bhamcanesfan 35-17
OCALACANE 38/14
Montreal-Cane 24-14
Seoul Cane 27-16
O R A N G E 27-3
Butch Davis 7-28
Randy Shannon 42-3
Gin & Tonic 49-3
LutherCampbell 68-0
phillyscott 44-17
DelrayCane 24-17
solarcane more-less
Keoki 21 - 17
JameriCANE 28-17
jimmy 31-13
canechic 28-10
slim32 27-23
RaizeCane 28 - 17
MinnesotaCane4Life 38-17
splarfy 35-12
Brian-24-20
Elbow-Foot: 41-24
TortugaCane 28-21
Macjones 27-13
Loco too much, not enough
Six 23-21
1MiamiFan 35-10
NativeCane 51-0

[NativeCane]

Does anyone on this blog know what color we're wearing at tnp today?

[Hassan]

I love Calvin's classic quote on the blog the other day "he broke on that ball Dade county style"

Guys think about this who are we really losing this year? no one that can't be replaced. How good will we be next year. Bill young another year with these guys he will get our secondary straightened out it all starts upfront. Baily and Fortson will anchor our DL. we will still have Fox and Franklin on our OL. by next year 90% of Coker's kids will be gone and we will have Shannon's boy's running things. All of our young guns will have game experience and bowl experience. Van Dyke will be stronger and more physical. Harris will be locking down the other side. we will have more depth at Safety. our LB's will be Deep and experienced. our RB's will be the best in the country we are not losing anyone so we will be 5 deep i RB's 7 Deep in WR. our Special teams is getting better by the week. Who is going to want to play us at the end of this year? NO ONE. Next year you will see that respect come back. Chew on this for a minute. there major teams that battle us for recruits i predict will start to slide if not get santions. #1. FSU like it or not but they still are a team we recruit against they still have a lot of talent despite being in a down time, they are definately going to lose ships and i do not care how you look at it but somehow some of those recruits will end up in our lap. #2. Florida Tim Teabag is leaving and that is going to hurt that program because you just do not have anyone with his talent behind him to play in that system, not to mention the fact that Urban cryer is losing his coaches now and the truth about his tactics are coming to light, recruits are not dumb and in a year or two watch them to fall back to 8-4. that will def help us in the state of FLA recruiting wise. And finally #3 USC they seem to get everyone they want and we all know sanctions have to come against them real soon i predict Petey will bail on them, once this ish hits the fan. I think this can help us on the national recruiting front if that program gets hit and looses ships, all the while we start to win bowl's I think this ship is officially turned around and we are headed in the right direction. Guys tell me put your hand up if you think between the 3 teams we battle recruits over if these 3 issues helps us win over 3-4 recruits per year in the next few years that will be huge. just 3-4 recuits total from all this situation i think is the minimum.

[Cat5 Cane]

Back to FB

Carlos... Per U... "I'm concerned about our secondary"

My exact sentiment, derived from my postings of defensive stats, yesterday.

But tomorrows game might be deceiving and our rating will probably skyrocket because of the quality QB/Offense we are playing.

IMO... Yates was the teams real weapon and without him scrambling and throwing to good receivers, they are less then half strength. Of their defense, their stats of takeaways look great on paper but they have only played against weak or rebuilding teams... in McNeese, Rutgers and VT (A skeleton team of what they were, last year). Given that Marve plays good ball control and our D shuts down the OL and running game, it should be a WIN, providing the secondary plays their position with tenacity.

Either way, IMO, I think we win, but the secondary will determine whether it is a close game or a runaway

[Lizard Zquizher]

Happy game day Cat.

[Cane Space 1982]

Woops forgot to change my name back on this computer

[Cane Since 1982]

Wow, sorry its early in the morning.

[Cane Since 1982]

Now that I got the name thing correect.

What time are you making it to the game Cat?
What time does the Canespace bus arrive?

I just got back from picking up my room mates car of 95 so it didnt get towed after his DUI. Dumbass was passed out in the HOV. After I told him not to get hammered because we had a noon game today. Needless to say he will not be making todays game as he is currently a member of the Gun Club road county jail system.

Im getting ready to pick up my tailgate supplies from Publix and start driving down.

LETS GO CANES

35-9

[Old Skool]

Interesting article on the NCAA and technology in today's NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/sports/ncaafootball/27tech.html

[nOrThMiAmIcAnE]

this best feeling in the world... Waking up on a gameday.... well i got to go get ready to make it to pro player.....

Go CANES