Joe Banks? Are you Joe Banks?

Marquette and Duke are approaching half time of the finals of the Maui Invitational.

Still waiting on that volcano to erupt, God.

Power Play

Two sets of football power rankings: The end of the regular season rankings and the rankings of each team's bowl appeal:


Regular Rankings:

1.OSU: The best team and the sole champions
2.Illinois: Beat OSU, must be kicking themselves for losing to Iowa
3.Wisconsin: As of right now they have to be considered the third best team.
4.Michigan: Still too much talent to be any lower, but they have been bad as of late
5.Penn State: This team had one good week, and it was unfortunately against Wisconsin
6.Michigan State: The best win during the last month for any of the remaining teams. They also played Michigan tough three weeks ago.
7.Indiana: Gets the nod after the win over Purdue.
8.Purdue: I'm betting they start 4-0 next year and then go 3-5 the rest of the way.
9.Iowa: 4-4 in conference, and an inexcusable 2-2 out of conference. And they didn't even have to play OSU or Michigan. They are lucky to be 6-6
10.Northwestern: Just not a terribly good team. How can you lose to Duke? I mean, not even Notre Dame lost to Duke!
11.Minnesota. Maybe the Gophers can win a conference game in 2008


BOWL APPEAL
-based on 4 categories: On field appeal, noteworthy players, fan appeal, backstory

1.OSU
ON Field: ****
Players: ***
Fan: *****
Backstory***

No real interesting backstory and this team lacks the stars of last year, but the Buckeye faithful will sell out their Rose Bowl allotment and then some


2. Illinois
On Field: ***
Players: ****
Fan:**
Backstory *****

The 5 star backstory for a showdown of Ron Zook vs Florida will get them a spot in the Cap One Bowl. Their only problem is the fact that very few fans north of I-80 cares about Illini football

3. Michigan
On Field: *
Players: ***
Fan:****
Backstory: ***

I'm sorry, but the Lloyd Carr Bacsktory does nothing for me and probably very little for most fans around the country. The question the Cap One and Outback Bowls need to ask themselves is Will fans choose to watch our game over the other three in the same time slot because it will be Carr's last? The answer is no, which is why they are probably headed for San Antonio.

4. Wisconsin
On Field:***
Players:***
Fans****
Backstory:**

No real interesting backstory, but the Badgers are a solid solid invitation. They will sell out of their tickets, or come close, and their defense is so bad that you'll certainly have enough points scored to keep people tuned in

5. Penn State
On Field: *
Players: *
Fans: *****
Backstory: **

This is a bad year for on field play in the Big 10 and no teams exemplify that more than Penn State and Iowa. Penn State's fans are real their only appeal. Speaking of which...

6. Iowa
On Field: *
Players: *
Fans: *****
Backstory: *

If it wasn't for the nutsy Iowa fans would they even be considered for a game? But even if 20,000 white shorted Iowans show up for your bowl, good luck getting a ratings point for anyone who wants to watch them play.

7. Michigan State
On Field: ***
Players: **
Fans: **/*****
Backstory: **

They get the fan 5 stars if they are invited to the Motor City Bowl. Otherwise, this isn't a bad team and they can score a ton of points, which is why they will be playing an extra game this year

8. Indiana
On Field: **
Players: **
Fans: **?
Backstory: ****

Interesting backstory in regards to Coach Hepp and their first bowl since 1993. Their problem might also be their strength, bowl officials don't really know what to expect from Hoosier football fans. Think of them like you'd think of Penn State basketball fans. My guess is that whatever Bowl invites them will be pleasantly surprised.

9. Northwestern
On Field: *
Players: **
Fans: **
Backstory *

Their fans have money, but that is about all they have going for them. That loss to Duke is a disaster


10. Purude
On Field: **
Players: *
Fans *
Backstory *

This team is bad, they aren't exciting, no one cares, and their fans are probably sick and tired of crappy bowl games.

11. Minnesota (can't go, but lets break them down anyways)
On Field *
Players: *
Fans: *
Backstory: *****

Can Minnesota lose 12 games in one season??? Hell, I would invite them just for that.

Say It Ain't So

The New York Times suggests that Lloyd Carr's anticipated resignation today could ignite a carousel of coaches as his timing may be calibrated to reduce the probability of bring Les Miles back to Ann Arbor. No Miles means a more open field, with Coach B listed as one of the candidates.

A Bowl full of Jelly

Well since the Big 10 is once again stupidly done before Thankstaking the conference's bowl picture brightened a little bit in the last 16 hours. Since Hawaii pulled out a squeaker in Reno and since their SOS will get the much needed bump in the next two weeks with games against Boise State and Washington we still need to split off two scenarios. I still believe that if the Rainbows lose, Illinois will be in the driver's seat for a BCS game. The Illini could still move up if the Pac 10 circular firing squad continues to off its potential BCSers, but I think that either ASU or USC will survive with 2 losses and my coveted by the good folks in Tempe or New Orleans. Oh yeah, and OSU still has a good shot to play for the whole marbles.

SCENARIO 1, Hawaii gets the birth:

Title game: LSU vs West Virginia
Orange: Va Tech vs Mizzou
Fiesta: Kansas vs Hawaii
Sugar: Georgia vs USC

Big 10 Bowls:

Citrus: Illinois vs Florida
Outback: Wisconsin vs Tennessee
Alamo: Michigan vs Texas A&M
Champs Sports Penn State vs Clemson
Insight: Indiana vs Nebraska
Motor City: Mich State vs MAC Champ
Purdue will also get a birth somewhere as at at-large


SCENARIO II, Illinois to the BCS

*Change the Fiesta to Kansas vs USC and add Illinois to the Sugar Bowl


Citrus: Michigan vs Florida
Outback: Wisconsin vs Tenessee
Alamo: Penn State vs A&M
Champs: Mich State vs Clemson
Insight: Indiana vs Nebraska
Motor City: Iowa vs MAC Champ
Purdue receives at-large


I think IU and Wisconsin should feel pretty safe in their destinations. IU could jump up to the Champs Sports Bowl if Illinois makes the BCS, but I see MSU as having a slightly better draw for the Orlando people. Purdue appears to be on the outside looking in no matter what happens. They Boilers have had a poor second half and their loss yesterday will probably put them behind IU in the bowl pecking order.

Nice work by the Hawkeyes yesterday. Apparently their players had 0 interest in going to Phoenix in December. I guess Iowa City is too nice around the holidays.
At 6-6 the Hawkeyes can only go to a game with a Big 10 tie in, but they are really behind the 8 ball in scenario I as the Motor City Bowl would probably prefer inviting the Spartans to come down the road for the game. In scenario II, however, I can see Jim Delany "strongly encouraging" the bowl officials to take Iowa since Purdue has the 7 wins necessary to award them an invite somewhere. Plus, I believe Iowa is much more appealing to the bowl committee than Purdue.

In other news, the Citrus Bowl probably wants nothing to do with the Badgers and probably would salivate over the chance to be the site of Lloyd Carr's final game. With Penn State having visited Tampa last year and with Michigan being dreadful the last two weeks the Outback Bowl is probably begging for the chance to take the Badgers. Works for me.