Computer Rankings

Not that the BCS standings are finally out, it is time for my rankings. I used a Supercomputer (my brain) to rank the teams:

10. Okie St
9. tOSU
8. LSU
7. Fla
6. USC
5. UGA
4. OU
3. PSU
2. Bama
1. Texas

My Top 10 HC list

Each week I will update my list of Top 10 choices to replace GRob. I will only use guys who I think we have a realistic chance of getting.

10. Al Golden (-2)
9. Chip Kelly (-2)
8. Bud Foster (-2)
7. Turner Gill (-3)
6. Skip Holtz (-1)
5. Glen Mason (-2)
4. Mark Whipple (-2)
3. Gary Patterson (NR)
2. Chris Petersen (-1)
1. Tommy Bowden (NR)

Dropped Dean Hood (9), Don Treadwell (10)


Bowden wasnt available until now. Gill barely beat Army and needs to win out to be seriously considered. Patterson joins the list because of his UC Davis connection. It is a slight connection though so I am not sure if I will keep him on this list.

TATTOO: Syracuse Orange vs South Florida Bulls

Welcome to this weeks Team Against Team: Trivia and Obscure Observations (TATTOO). Facing off are the Syracuse Orange and the South Florida Bulls. This weeks TATTOO is a set of Orange Bull Balls:

Born on Date
USF: 1956 vs SU: 1870
Ottos Edge: SU... my parents are older than USF, which was built on Henderson Air Field, an old WWII airstrip.

GPS (location)
USF: Tampa vs SU: Syracuse
Ottos Edge: USF… there is a reason people choose Tampa over Syracuse for vacay

Area known for
USF: sunshine, beaches and babes vs SU: snow, snow, and more snow
Ottos Edge: USF... sign me up

Speaking of babes…

Strip Club
USF: Mons Venus vs SU: Adult World
Ottos Edge: USF... where they show you their butt and their trap stays shut, at the nudie bar

While we are on bars…

Party district
USF: Ybor City vs SU: Armory Square
Ottos Edge: USF... they built this city on cigars

And sticking with drinking…

Joy of Beer
USF: free samples at Busch Gardens vs SU: actually sold at a CFB stadium
Ottos Edge: USF... you cant beat free beer

Staying with stadiums…

No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around (Home Field)
USF: Raymond James vs SU: Carrier Dome
Ottos Edge: SU... we have our own place

Inside the stadium you will find the….

Band
USF: Herd of Thunder (HoT) vs SU: SUMB
Ottos Edge: SU... heard of lame names?

The band plays the…

Fight Song
USF: Golden Brahman March vs SU: Down the Field
Ottos Edge: SU… although we dont hear it often enough

That song is part of our FB tradition…

1st year of FB
USF: 1997 vs SU: 1889
Ottos Edge: SU... close, oh wait that is 1997 and not 1897

Some notes on USFs brief history:

They lost their first game to Kentucky Wesleyan 80-3. That maybe bad but they have never been shut out in a regular season game. Their only shut out L was their 100^th game in the Meinke Bowl (14-0 NC St).

All Time Ws
USF: 85 vs SU: 672
Ottos Edge: SU... 8 times as great Head to Head
USF 3 Ws vs SU 0 Ws
Ottos Edge: USF… they will keep the shut out going

Bowl Games
USF: 1-2 vs SU: 12-9-1
Ottos Edge: SU... slight edge

Rivalry
USF: UCF vs SU: ???
Ottos Edge: USF… wait a minute they have been a program for a dozen years and have a rival but we dont? WTF?

We are going streaking
USF: at one time had a 21 game home W streak vs SU: 15 straight winning seasons (1987-2001)
Ottos Edge: SU… a lot of those 21 games werent against real teams, while our streak was legit.

From streaks to…

Circus freaks
USF: live in area during winter vs SU: only come when circus is in town
Ottos Edge: SU... they are scary. Although they usually have some midgets. Speaking of Freaks…

Crazy local
USF: Tony Little vs SU: Tom Cruise
Ottos Edge: USF... you can do it As long as you train, say your prayers, and eat your vitamins….

Wrassler
USF: Terry Bollea vs SU: Mike Rotunda
Ottos Edge: USF... he is the greatest of all time brother Terry is also known as…

MSG Hero
USF: Hulk Hogan vs SU: GMac
Ottos Edge: SU... an atomic leg drop isnt as devastating as a GMac bomb. Whatcha gonna do when GMac goes wild on you?

Games at MSG are often aired on…

WFAN
USF: Ann Liguori vs SU: Mark Malusis
Ottos Edge: SU... she couldnt be any more annoying, boring, or clueless

Sticking with The Fan…

Zero Point Zero (alumnus who didnt graduate)
USF: Mike Francessa vs SU: Lou Reed
Ottos Edge: SU… maybe one day Adam Schein can be as big as Mike (his career not his waist)

And continuing with sports…

Hockey
USF: Lightening vs SU: Crunch
Ottos Edge: USF... NHL beats AHL but how does Florida have an NHL team? It just doesnt seem right

Minor League Baseball
USF: Tampa Yanks vs SU: Chiefs
Ottos Edge: USF... baseball season lasts a month in Syracuse

Horse racing
USF: Tampa Downs vs SU: Vernon Downs
Ottos Edge: USF... and while you are in the area you can hit the greyhound track too Mail used to be brought by horseback aka the Pony…

Express
USF: Serengheti at Busch Gardens vs SU: Elmira
Ottos Edge: SU... ED was faster

Staying on trains and travel…

Transportation
USF: Streetcars vs SU: Centro
Ottos Edge: USF... trolleys are cool

But they cant get you to…

Italy
USF: Florida's the boot of America vs SU: Siracusa, Sicily
Ottos Edge: USF... better to be the boot than the ball

While we are on balls…

Lottos
USF: Bolitas vs SU: State run
Ottos Edge: USF... tax free if you win

Sticking with the underworld…

Zoo
USF: Lowry Park vs SU: Burnet Park
Ottos Edge: USF... where you can also see Henry Hill and Jimmy Conway holding people over the lion cage.

Mafia
USF: Santo Trafficante Jr vs SU: Conn Mafia
Ottos Edge: USF... he was rumored to be involved in the Kennedy assassination

Speaking of Kennedy…

JFK link
USF: alum Ruth Paine (friend of Oswald's Wife) vs SU: commencement speaker as a Senator
Ottos Edge: SU... how can you be friends with a Commie?

We were protected from Commies by soldiers stationed at...

Military Base
USF: MacDill Air Force Base vs SU: Fort Drum
Ottos Edge: USF... it is home to US Central Command and US Special Operations Command Who give us the freedom to choose…

Miss America
USF: Nicole Johnson (1999) vs SU: Vanessa Williams (1983)
Ottos Edge: SU... we have the first African American Heisman winner and Miss America winner. Although she lost the crown due to nude photos.

While we are on controversies…

Controversial alum
USF: Debra Lafave (teacher got with a student) vs SU: Marv Albert
Ottos Edge: SU... getting with a student is wrong. Plus who hasnt worn women's underwear? But he was also accused of biting, which is often associated with…

Scary Movie
USF: Once Bitten (Lauren Hutton alum) vs SU: Jaws (Carl Gottlieb alum)
Ottos Edge: USF... I rather be bitten by Hutton than a shark And vampires suck just like…

Nick Carter
USF: lived in Tampa vs SU: born Jamestown
Ottos Edge: Push... there are no winners here.

Famous Alumni
USF: Tony La Rusa, Elayne Boosler, Mark Consuelos (Kelly Ripa hubie) vs SU: Marty Glickman, John Zogby, Megyn Kelly (Fox News)
Ottos Edge: SU… we can add many more to that list

Sticking with famous people…

Celebrity look alike
USF: Leavitt looks like Jim Haslett vs SU: GRob looks like Bam Bam
Ottos Edge: USF… his record speaks for itself

Bam Bam had an early version of the Sledge-O-Matic…

Watermelons
USF: Gallagher vs SU: Marcy
Ottos Edge: SU... juicy Sticking with food…

Let's put the women and children to bed and go lookin' for dinner
USF: Outback vs SU Dino
Ottos Edge: SU… OSI Restaurant Partners (Carrabbas, Outback) HQ is in Tampa

Which is why the Outback Bowl is in Tampa. Staying with Bowls…

Major sporting event
USF: SuperBowls vs SU: Sweet 16s
Ottos Edge: USF... its the biggest event of the year

Another big event…

City holds State Fair of
USF: Florida vs SU: NY
Ottos Edge: SU... NY is the emperor of states

Florida is the sunshine state. Speaking of sun…

Dome
USF: Sun vs SU: Carrier
Ottos Edge: SU... loud house wins this one. Interesting note the Sun Dome opened in 1980 as well (November) but broke ground in 1977 (vs 1979 for SU).

Sticking with buildings…

Structure easily seen from higway
USF: Sulphur Springs Water Tower vs SU: Lawrinson
Ottos Edge: SU... one holds something to drink the other people who drink

While we are on dorms…

School known as
USF: commuter school (13% live on campus) vs SU: communications School
Ottos Edge: SU... 99.9% of the reason to go to college is to get away from the parents

While they aren’t getting away they obviously must be partying hard…

Edumactation
USF: Tier 3 vs SU: Tier 1
Ottos Edge: SU… with all these academic powers in the BE, Memphis would be an awful fit should the BE expand

Getting back to the student body…

Enrollment
USF: 9th largest in country vs SU: small private school
Ottos Edge: USF... larger pool of hotties Which means they have a larger circulated…

School Paper
USF: The Oracle which was first student paper to use color vs SU: Daily Orange
Ottos Edge: SU... we are good cuz of content not pretty colors

Sticking with color…

Orange
USF: what you pick off trees vs SU: what you call your teams
Ottos Edge: USF... oranges are healthy, watching SU isn’t

The most famous orange…

Mascot
USF: Rocky the Bull vs SU: Otto the Orange
Ottos Edge: SU... Otto can roll over any opposing mascot

Speaking of rolling over opponents…

SB winning NY Giant
USF: Kawika Mitchell vs SU: David Tyree
Ottos Edge: SU… that catch was like something out of the movies

While we are on movies and FB…

Bobby Boucher (best current defender)
USF: George Selvie vs SU: Art Jones
Ottos Edge: USF… he may get more sacks then SU points

More fun with movies…

Great Fictional Character
USF: Drew Office Space O Face guy (Greg Pitts USF Alum) vs Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller)
Ottos Edge: SU… the SU fan base may collectively have an O Face Monday if GRob is fired

Remaining with fictional characters and the category of the week…

I love the 80s
Fictional Icon
USF: Hulk Hogan vs SU: Coach Mac
Ottos Edge: SU… wait Coach Mac is for real?

And the TATTOO goes to…

The Syracuse Orange as they pull off a big time upset.

KingOttos Konclusion

I didnt watch the game live. I heard it on the radio until it became 10-6 in the 4th. I then missed the rest. But I was able to go back and watch the game.

HC
I wouldnt have gone for any of the three 4th downs. But I cant kill GRob for going for the first two. The last one just made no sense. You need two scores why go for the 4th and 18? Also the 2nd 4th down I would like to know if the 3rd down call was GRobs or MBs. You DO NOT used 3rd down to make the 4th down more makable when you are on the 8 yard line. You should be trying to score on 3rd down. That was backwards thinking running it there.

OC
I thought he called a good game. The O killed itself the first few drives with mistakes. Too many penalties and that fumble on the first drive killed. I thought there was a good mix of run and pass. My biggest issue was the 3rd down call mentioned above. Also there was a 3rd and inches in the 4th Q I believe that we ran the ball and was stopped. Either QB sneak it or give it to the FB. And we tried to throw to the FB waaay too much. MB is doing a good job overall, especially with the OL.

DC
We played good D for once. We made some personel changes (about time). Cant complain too much here.

STs
Nice kick by Shadle. Good for him. I was actually surprised GRob went for the long FG with that much time left. I woulda punted.

QB
Dantley played well overall. His only problem is he has no touch. But he is good enough to get the job done. We should be fine at QB next year.

RB
CB has been great this year. I worry that it will be hard to replace him next year.

WR
We have a lot of decent young WRs. Can you say Spread next year? I like what I am seeing for Davis (a perfect #2) and Sales has looked good as well. Imagine if we get Mike Williams back to join these two to go along with Lobdell, Chew, Fairchild, Cervino, Sheerhan, and Merk.

OL
They are opening holes and keeping guys off Dantley. Too many penalties early though.

DL
Jones still making plays. This group is still young.

LB
Smith has been good in pass coverage all year. This game he made plays at the LOS as well. Previously vs the Spread he played over the slot. Suter was there this time freeing up Smith. Makes you wonder why we havent done this all year. We still need to find 2 other LBs though.

DB
Graham made a nice pass break up in the end zone. Holmes made so nice plays as well. Suter was very disruptive out there. WTF hasnt he been in at all this year?! He was blowing plays up single handedly. There was no excuse to not have him in vs the Spread teams earlier this year. Even vs non Spread teams he should be playing SS and be near the LOS. I dont care if he isnt great in pass coverage. Play Cover 1 or 3 with Bruce at FS. Suter needs to be on the field.

Final Four

The Final Four is set

HCRE- who makes his second straight Final Four (finished 3rd)
Turner Gill- who didnt make last years tourney due to Nebraska rumors
Al Golden- first year in tourney
Mike Locksley- defending champ looking to make it back to back



Semifinal Results

Semifinal I
Gill 75%
Cowher 16%
OLeary 8%
Kiffin 0%

Semifinal II
HCRE 54%
Golden 27%
Holtz 18%
Mullen 0%

Semifinal III
Locksley 72%
Coughlin 18%
Whipple 9%
Graham 0%