<![CDATA[Deadspin: oklahoma state]]> http://tags.deadspin.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/deadspin.com.png <![CDATA[Deadspin: oklahoma state]]> http://deadspin.com/tag/oklahomastate http://deadspin.com/tag/oklahomastate <![CDATA[College Football Preview: In-State Rivalries Take Center Stage]]>
Texas beat Texas A&M 49-9 yesterday. They're now 11-1. But unless you were in Texas you had no idea this game was happening. Even I didn't think to check this score until late Thursday night. That's because I spent Thanksgiving with family. Included in part of my day was a trip to Ford Field to watch the Titans destroy the Lions in person. Watching a team get beat as badly as the Lions was kind of uncomfortable. Especially when your wife's family is mostly Lions fans. It's kind of sad. Don't get me wrong, as a Titans fan it was great, but the Detroit fans were so abusive of their team it was like watching a couple you know is about to be divorced get into a nasty verbal fight in a room full of people. You want to tune it out and enjoy your day, but you just can't. The infinite variety of unique and fascinating ways I heard the Lions cursed yesterday could fill a novel. And the entire time I felt like I shouldn't be hearing it all, like this was something that should be happening behind closed doors. Anyway, on to a weekend in college football where Oregon, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Virginia, and Florida State all have a chance to ruin their most-hated in-state rivals' season.

By the way, hate the BCS? Root for this implosion to occur. Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma. Sending Texas Tech to the Big 12 Title Game. Oregon State beats Oregon meaning the Beavers win the Pac-10. Florida State beats Florida who then beats an undefeated Alabama in the SEC Title Game. What happens in this scenerio? Three different one-loss teams that didn't win their own conference are all competing for a shot at the BCS Title. Even more interesting two of them might play for the national title. All would be ranked higher in the BCS than the teams that did win their conferences. Meet the Texas, USC, and Alabama one-loss derby. I know we've seen it before with Oklahoma but can you imagine if three of the top five contenders for the national title didn't win their conference? (The other two teams contending for the national title that did win their conference would be Texas Tech and Penn State.) Anyway on to the most intriguing games of the weekend.

Fresno State at Boise State (-21)- Can Boise State close out their season 12-0 with a win over Fresno State? Yeah, it's looking like it. Little known fact, since taking over Boise State from Dan Hawkins (who I believe is now working as a bike valet in Boulder) Boise State head coach Chris Petersen is 34-3. Seriously, 34-3. Including, of course, a BCS bowl win over Oklahoma. How is Petersen not an extremely hot coaching candidate? Why wouldn't, say, Washington mortgage their soul to get him? And, be honest, you had no idea he was 34-3, did you?

Georgia Tech at Georgia (-8)- Georgia's defensive gameplan: Try and keep Georgia Tech from rushing for over 300 yards. This Paul Johnson offense is way too gimmicky to work in a major conference. Right? Meanwhile, Georgia fans will silently weep at the end of this game over the presumed exit of Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford. That redshirt year on Knowshon really worked out well.

Virginia at Virginia Tech- Win and the Hokies are your Coastal Division champs. Lose and Georgia Tech advances to the ACC Championship. At least there's no animus between Virginia and Virginia Tech fans. These guys love each other. By the way, is Al Groh really safe for another year? Has Virginia just given up on ever being good at football? It's fine if they have but I feel like they owe it to their fans to hold a press conference and allow the AD to say, "I know there's been a lot of question and rumors surrouding this football program. Let me be clear: we are not ever going to be very good. If you're hoping for more than 8 wins in a season, you should root for another team. Like Virginia Tech or Richmond. We just aren't about winning football games here. We're going to focus on law school softball championships, instead. That's all. Go 'Hoos."

Kentucky at Tennessee (-4)- Tennessee has beaten Kentucky more consecutive years, 23, than any team has beaten another team in the country. Once, when I was a kid, I witnessed one of UT's coaches running off the field after a win over Kentucky screaming, "Go to hell Kentucky, now you can have your damn basketball season!" Why do I feel like a Kentucky coach could say the same thing at the end of tomorrow's game?

Syracuse at Cincinnati (-22)- - Win and Cincy is BCS bowl bound. Lucky for Cincinnati there's no history of a twenty-plus point underdog Syracuse team going on the road and winning a game no one anticipated they could win. Nope, this one is going to be completely easy.

Florida (-16.5) at Florida State - Hopefully this is Tim Tebow's final regular season college football game. If only so we can spend the next three months hearing Mel Kiper and Todd McShay incessantly debate Tebow's draft status. Here's a guess, one guy will think he's a stud and the other guy will think he isn't. Then they will repeat these positions 4 billion times until the draft arrives. Then, on draft day, a team will select him and, guess what, they'll debate about Tebow again. If there's any irony in the world, Tebow will get drafted by the Titans. My wife will deliver our second son, I'll go down to the nursery and Tebow will be circumcising babies on his day off.

Maryland at Boston College (-6.5)- Beat Maryland and BC is in the ACC Championship Game. Lose and that honor goes to Florida State. Has anyone else noted that it's possible the ACC regular season is going to end without any team winnning 9 games? Has this ever happened in a major conference before, where the best team only has 8 wins? Especially now that there are 12 regular season games.

Auburn at Alabama (-14.5)- Auburn has beaten Alabama six consecutive years. If they find a way to march into Tuscaloosa and win again, Tommy Tuberville, the original beaver pelt trader, Alabama fans are going to come undone. I don't know what will happen but I feel like I'll turn on the television and the entire state of Alabama will look like Jonestown, Guyana.

Oregon at Oregon State (-3)- The final obstacle to Oregon State's first Rose Bowl since 1965 arrives. I've never been to a rivalry game in the Pac-10, but I've heard this game is the one to attend above all others. think if you're a college football fan, you have to be rooting for Oregon State to go to the Rose Bowl, right? Can you imagine what odds you could have gotten on this when Oregon State was 1-2 (with a loss to Stanford and a blowout loss to Penn State) and about to play USC on Thursday night back in September?

Oklahoma (-7) at Oklahoma State- The over/under on this game is 72. Meaning, if you have a hearbeat, you should be watching come Saturday night. Oklahoma State hasn't beaten Oklahoma since 2002. Is this the game where people finally sit around and realize that Sam Bradford has 42 touchdowns against 6 interceptions? I think the Heisman is his to lose today. Either that or all the Big 12 voters will conflict with one another and Tim Tebow will snag another one. We'll see. Personally, my vote is for the Oklahoma girl at the top of the preview.

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<![CDATA[College Football Preview: John Parker Wilson's Cell Phone Belongs to the Cajuns]]>
Alabama's John Parker Wilson is the latest SEC player attempting to overcome the LSU fans snagging his cell phone number and listing it everywhere on the internets. Confounding Cajuns. You'll recall that earlier this season Knowshon Moreno and A.J. Green were the victims. They joined Tim Tebow from last year. Imagine what people in Louisiana would be capable of if they focused as much energy on literacy. Anyway, for the record, John Parker Wilson's old cell phone number was 205-910-2876. It's already been disconnected, so it's too late for you to call and make fun of his 'Bama Bangs. How pissed would you be if LSU fans put your cell phone number on the internet and you had to switch to another number? Especially if you were a starting quarterback in the SEC and didn't even remember the names of most of your regular, ahem, post midnight lady calls. Yeah, thought so. Nick Saban should thank his lucky stars that his number didn't get out there. Anyway, here are 9 interesting games worth noting.

Ohio State (-11) at Northwestern- Who's rooting harder for Ohio State to finish the rest of the season without a blemish than Penn State fans? The answer is no one. Back in 2004 Northwestern upset Ohio State. Fresh off their road upset of Minnesota can Northwestern pull off another shocker? A noon kickoff probably helps. But having intelligent football players probably hurts. Damn.

Georgia Tech at North Carolina (-4)- The ACC is a swamp of mediocrity. Every team in the Coastal Dvision of the ACC already has two losses. The loser of this game will definitely be eliminated from contention. I think. But who really knows? A win and UNC has their first winning season since 2001. Tech's quarterback, Josh Nesbitt, may not be able to play. Enjoy.

Alabama (-3.5) at LSU- - Coming soon, a congressional inquiry into how LSU fans are capable of figuring out football player's cell phone numbers. Two weeks ago Knowshon and Stafford responded to their cell phone numbers being leaked with their best games of the season? Can JPW do the same? Who knows? Better question, how many people in Alabama commit suicide if Bama loses to LSU and then finds a way to lose to an awful Auburn team for the 7th year in a row, meaning they don't even win the SEC West. Over/under is 15. Including the always eloquent Cowboy.

Kansas State at Missouri (-27.5)- The over/under on this game opened at 74. That's truly unbelievable. Well, that and the fact that everyone has written off Missouri as a factor in the national scene. Am I the only one who sees Missouri upsetting the Big 12 South winner in the Big 12 title game? Yeah? Oh well.

Florida (-24) at Vandy- Since losing to Ole Miss 31-30 Florida has outscored their past four SEC opponents 201-43. Included were two top ten wins over Georgia and LSU. That's an average of 50-10. Now they get Vandy. A team that scored 7 points against Duke to lose their third consecutive game. This is going to be incredibly ugly. It's a good thing ESPN picked up this game for national broadcast.

Penn State (-7) at Iowa- Can Penn State stop Iowa's tailback Shon Greene from running? If so, they'll blow Iowa out. If they can't, this game might give Joe Paterno heartburn. That's provided, of course, that he actually realizes what the stakes are for his team that remains slotted at BCS #3. Earlier this week Paterno was confused whether it was BCS or BSC. This is Penn State's last road game.

Arizona (-41) at Washington State- In their last two games Washington State has been outscored 127-0. That's bad. What's worse? In their last five games WSU has been outscored 284-30. WSU's defense averages giving up 49.4 points a game. Is there any doubt that the Washington-Washington State game is going to be the most futile "rivalry" game in the country this year? 1-10 vs. 0-10. I can't wait.

Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (-3)- If you don't really have a rooting interest, don't you have to favor Mike Leach in the BCS Title game? Most coaches are circumspect and reserved. Leach is an insane lawyer who graduated from Pepperdine and, wife and child in tow, took a coaching job for $7,000 a year . By the way, if you haven't read Michael Lewis's profile piece on Leach from three years ago in the New York Times, now is the time to do it. One of the best profiles I've ever read. Sample line: Each off-season, Leach picks something he is curious about and learns as much as he can about it: Geronimo, Daniel Boone, whales, chimpanzees, grizzly bears, Jackson Pollock.

Cal at USC (-22)- Do you ever get the feeling that no matter how much the linemaker installs USC as favorites by the line is going to move higher? And USC is still going to find a way to cover. I'm picturing some sallow-skinned man sitting in front of a bank of computers slowly pulling out his red hair while game film of Pete Carroll strutting down the sideline plays on a constant loop. Yep, it just happened again. USC opened as 17 point favorites and now they're up to 22.

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<![CDATA[College Pitcher Sues NCAA, Scott Boras Somehow Involved]]> Oklahoma State star pitcher Andrew Oliver was barred by school officials from pitching in a tournament game in May. They claim that he violated NCAA rules involving meetings with professional teams. Oliver is now suing the NCAA.

They said Oliver, a left-handed pitcher who went 7-2 last season with a 2.20 earned run average, had violated a rule intended to preserve amateurism in college athletics. As a high school senior, he allowed his adviser to be present at a meeting with the Minnesota Twins, who had selected him in the 17th round of baseball’s amateur draft.

Under N.C.A.A. rules, amateur players are permitted to select “advisers” who can guide them through the negotiation process, but the advisers may not communicate directly with professional teams.

Apparently Oliver might have a mound to stand on. In August, a judge granted a temporary restraining order, allowing him to pitch until his trial in December. But it seems that the issue isn't so innocent and super agent villain Scott Boras has pushed himself into the spotlight as usual.

The violation probably never would have become public had Andy Oliver not angered the Barattas by replacing them with the prominent baseball agent Scott Boras this spring, a year before he would become eligible, as a junior, for the draft. The Barattas then mailed the Olivers a bill for their services, totaling more than $100,000.

We'll be looking out for Oliver's $350 million contract demands. Any day now.

H/T The College Baseball Blog

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<![CDATA[Mike Gundy Lectures The Oklahoman Newspaper]]>
Via Sports By Brooks, here's video of Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy absolutely losing his shit on the media following Saturday night's 49-45 win over Texas Tech.

Gundy was disgusted with Jenni Carlson's recent column that suggested OSU quarterback Bobby Reid had a questionable attitude. As you can clearly see, Gundy wasn't having any of it. Hell, it was almost enough to make him want to puke. (And that, my friends, is not an easy thing to do!)

Man, I can't wait to have kids.

Mike Gundy Rants And Raves Over Columnist ... [Sports By Brooks]
Reid Is Still The Most Talented Signal-Caller, But Attitude Is Reason For Change [The Oklahoman]

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