| 1 | Texas Wins In Final Seconds | <p class="byline"><strong><span style="font-size: 21px;">Texas Wins In Last The Second</span></strong></p><p class="byline"><img style="width: 459px; height: 257px;" src="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts__28/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-69781189-1260076560.jpg?ymQINUCDXpJTM34Q"><br><span property="sioc:User foaf:Person vcard:VCard"><span property="vcard:fn foaf:name"><a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday?author=Matt+Hinton" title="View posts by Matt Hinton"></a></span></span></p>
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<p align="left"> </p><p align="left"><strong><a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/boxscore?gid=200912050023">Texas 13, Nebraska 12</a>.</strong>
Pollsters and pundits have to ask Does it matter that the Longhorns
were just one second from blowing their slot in the national
championship against a 14-point underdog? A 14-point underdog which
didn't score a touchdown in the game? And which sacked Colt McCoy an
astonishing eight times while picking him off three more? Do any of the
details of their whisker-thin escape change any of the assumptions
about the Longhorns' automatic trip to the BCS Championship?</p><p>
Probably not. According to ABC/ESPN, <em>certainly</em>
not -- no member of the Worldwide Leaders's in-game or post-game teams
has questioned the 'Horns' spot in Pasadena. There's no precedent for
the Coaches or Harris polls making any radical move from the status quo
without a loss, especially for nouveau riche outfits like TCU and
Cincinnati. When the final standings come out Sunday, Texas will be No.
2 barring an unprecedented revolution for the little guy.</p><p>
But your hides couldn't have come any closer to the cutter, Longhorns,
and for that you deserve to sweat it out as long as possible. May your
mild and probably unfounded paranoia of dropping behind TCU take you
through the night.</p>
</div> | 2009-12-06 18:29:29.658 | 1 |
| 3 | Tebow | <p style="font-family: yui-tmp;" class="byline"></p><p class="byline"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">A Heartbreaking Loss </span></strong></p><p class="byline">By <span property="sioc:User foaf:Person vcard:VCard"><span property="vcard:fn foaf:name"><a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday?author=Dan+Shanoff" title="View posts by Dan Shanoff">Dan Shanoff</a></span></span></p>
<p><img src="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts__28/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-472690722-1260204374.jpg?ymWVsUCDQZWr60i0" align="right" hspace="4">
<em>Tebow gazing from the proprietor of <a href="http://www.timteblog.com/">Tim Teblog</a>.</em></p><p>
Somewhere out there in the multiverse, there is an alternate reality
where Tebow leads Florida past Alabama in a hard-fought win, then
steamrolls over Texas to complete the undefeated national-championship
season that has been the expectation of this player and this team since
the moment Tebow announced "I'm coming back."</p><p>
In this reality, there are tears. And failure.</p><p>
For the biggest college football star of the Google generation, there
was no more appropriate symbolism to Tebow's career than Google's own
data on Saturday night: For much of the afternoon, "John 16:33" from
Tebow's eye-black was the most-searched term -- until nightfall, when
it was bumped to the No. 2 slot by "Tim Tebow crying."</p><p>
And why shouldn't he cry? This was no Adam Morrison-style bawling --
this was choking up in the most disappointing, frustrating and,
perhaps, defining moment in the career of the most celebrated college
football player of all time.</p><p>
Ah, yes: About those "all time" superlatives. <em>Most decorated?</em> Yes. <em>Most competitive?</em> Probably. <em>Most respected?</em> Arguably. <em>Most popular?</em> Clearly.</p><p>
But <em>greatest</em>? That was what was on the line this season: Greatest College Football Player of All Time.</p><p>
However, there was a single condition: <em>Win the national championship.</em>
As I said here last week: Anything less than a championship would --
and should -- be considered a failure for Tebow, for Urban Meyer and
for the team.</p><p>
Tebow embraced that. He would agree that you don't earn a "greatest
ever" superlative by winning a watered-down SEC East. Whatever his
non-football goals might have been, Tebow came back for this season --
the offseason insanity, the in-season roller-coaster -- for a national
championship. When he accepted that challenge, he accepted the risk of
failure -- both institutional and personal -- that came with it.</p> | 2009-12-07 20:34:06.797 | 1 |
| 4 | Can Alabama Win | <strong><span style="font-size: 17px;">Can Alabama Win The National Title?</span></strong><br><br><img style="width: 275px; height: 415px;" src="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts__28/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-490697175-1260065087.jpg?ym_UKUCDMmWULbZe"><br><br>When Alabama beat Florida a lot of people believe Alabama can win it all now going into the National Title. With Nick Saban now returning to the National Title Stage this years Championship may seem like when Saban won it with LSU a few years back. With Mark Ingram shining in the Heisman Spotlight I think Alabama will be to much for Texas in the National Championship. I really thought Florida would come out and play better than they did in the SEC Championship,but it's true defense wins championships and Alabama's Defense won it on big time defense and great blocking by their offensive line. Colt McCoy is a great a quarterback,but if Colt plays like he did against Nebraska in the BIG 12 Championship then he can kiss his National Championship Dreams goodbye cause Alabama will be all over him on defense. We will have to see how all of the hype surrounds Alabama now that they are #1 in the country and this game will be a great test to see who is in fact the best team in the country.<br><br> | 2009-12-08 02:55:32.962 | 1 |
| 5 | St.Petersburg Bowl Preview | <strong><span style="font-size: 24px;">St.Petersburg Bowl Preview</span></strong><br><br><br><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/BOB_Bowl.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br><br><strong>St. Petersburg Bowl Preview<br><br>By TigerStripe, </strong><br><br>The
Rutgers Scarlet Knights expected better than 8 wins this season, but it
was not to be. Three of their four losses were to the Big East leaders
Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and West Virginia, but the blowout loss to
Syracuse was a big disappointment for them. On the other hand, Central
Florida turned it around after getting just 4 wins last season. Both
teams have had its share of inconsistencies and its highs and lows.<br><br>In
the four losses for each team, the common theme has been the
disappearance of their respective running game. In its season opener
on Labor Day, Rutgers' defense got shredded for 564 yards. The Rutgers
offense? Well, it was limited to 293 total yards and only 50 yards
rushing. The rushing yards would go as follows in their other three
losses: 38 yards against Pittsburgh, 26 yards against Syracuse and 65
yards against West Virginia.<br><br>As for Central Florida, there was
that close win over FCS team Samford, 28-24. Here's how Central
Florida's running game did in its losses: 15 yards against Southern
Mississippi, 70 yards against East Carolina, 53 yards against Miami and
75 yards against Texas.<br><br>So it is safe to assume that the team
that can have a better success running the football will have an
advantage. Statistically, Central Florida brings in a rushing defense
ranked fourth in the country, and Rutgers certainly need some help in
the running game since it will feature a freshman QB Tom Savage, who
was last in the Big East in completion rate at 52.3%. <br><br>On paper, it looks like advantage: Central Florida. | 2009-12-17 13:43:36.872 | 1 |
| 6 | TigerStripe's Las Vegas Bowl Preview | What a compelling matchup in Las Vegas!<br><br>It is a matchup between the Pac-10 Conference and the Mountain West Conference. Both teams were in the position to win their respective conferences. <br><br>This is the fifth straight appearance for Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl with the record of 2-2 in the previous four appearances, while Oregon State is in its fourth consecutive bowl game and looking to remain undefeated in that stretch and 2-0 in this bowl. And statistically, it is a game between two evenly matched teams. Both averaged over 400 yards of offense this season.<br><br>BYU will feature QB Max Hall, TE Dennis Pitta, who holds the NCAA record for tight ends with 2,856 career receiving yards, and the program's all-time leading rusher Harvey Unga, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Defensively, BYU will need that 23rd-ranked rushing defense to stop that prolific Oregon State.<br><br>OSU will counter with QB Sean Canfield and RB Jacquizz Rodgers. Canfield is a prolific passer with a completion percentage of 70% who passed for over 3,100 yards and 21 touchdowns. Rogers ran for 1,377 yards and 20 touchdowns, a school record. The OSU will also add to its arsenal WR James Rogers, who had 1,007 yards receiving.<br><br>OSU has a 5-3 lead in this series, but they last met in 1986 in Provo when the Beavers escaped with a 10-7 victory. In a matchup between two evenly-match teams, perhaps the one statistic in which one team is has the advantage is in the turnover margin category. OSU is tied for 27th in that category, while BYU is ranked 66. | 2009-12-21 20:30:16.423 | 1 |
| 7 | Shanahan New Redksins Headcoach | <strong><span style="font-size: 17px;">Shanahan Becomes Redskins New Head Coach</span></strong><br><br><img alt="http://sports.cbsimg.net/u/photos/football/nfl/superbowl/xxxiv/afc/championship/img12751444.jpg" src="http://sports.cbsimg.net/u/photos/football/nfl/superbowl/xxxiv/afc/championship/img12751444.jpg"><br><p><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size="2"> ASHBURN, Va. -- At the
podium stood Mike Shanahan, who has a $35 million, five-year contract
that gives him final authority over football decisions as head coach
and executive vice president of the <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/WAS/washingtonredskins">Washington Redskins</a>. </font></p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica" size="2;"> </span><p><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size="2">
Seated at a nearby table was Bruce Allen, the first general manager Dan
Snyder has hired in 11 years of owning the team. </font></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica" size="2;"><a href="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12751636/shanahan-introduced-as-new-redskins-coach-vp">http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12751636/shanahan-introduced-as-new-redskins-coach-vp</a><br></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica" size="2;"><br></span></p><br><br><br><br><br><br> | 2010-01-06 20:33:41.495 | 1 |