College Football Week 11: Indiana is playing for a Big Ten title. In football.

The Round Mound of Touchdown was my favorite. We did a feature on him before the IU game my senior year and he also gave a great quote about "I hope I can meet the other J. Lo."

 

I can't stop reading the thread title.

This is the most giddy I've ever been before a certain loss.

 

Wisconsin 142, Indiana 27

Combined score of the last 2 years.

 

Yup.

Still excited to fill a seat this Saturday.

 

Is it still possible for an Indiana-Northwestern Big 10 championship game?

With Iowa a total nonfactor this year, I'd love to see it.

 

Toledo beat Cincinnati but lost to Ball State. The top of the MAC is better than the top of the Big East.

 

Yes, but it requires two Nebraska losses. So your Hawkeyes likely would have to beat the Cornhuskers because Minnesota isn't doing it.

 

What's a TigerVol to do?

I've always been a 50/50 kind of guy, when it comes to fandom.

Reared a Chief Knock-A-Homa Braves fan, I've married into an Angels household, so my Rally Monkey knows the Tomahawk chop.

An original Oilers/Titans PSL holder, I became a Colts fan when a certain quarterback joined the team.

But my sports split is most obvious when it comes to my beloved college athletics: The son of a Vol letterman (in swimming) and the Phi-Mu sorority girl he met at a bus stop on Cumberland Avenue in the late 40s, my blood ran deep orange...until the world's finest journalism school lured me to Columbia, Missouri. Suddenly, Truman the Tiger was sharing desk space with Smokey. Thanks to covering Mizzou for the Associated Press, I met more Tiger hoops stars in a month than I have Vol players in a lifetime of singing Rocky Top. And yet despite two years spent sitting in the pressbox at Faurot Field, my favorite CFB memory is being on the sideline at Neyland when Jay Graham raced 80 yards to score against the Tide in 1996.

So, you get the picture: When it comes to sports, I'm a TigerVol. That's the moniker I go by on a number of message boards that thread throughout the Internet. I can hang out in Missouri ones, commiserating about fifth downs and Tyus Edney and first-round losses to Norfolk State. Or I can drop into Tennessee ones and bitch about Fulmer not being fired, Cuonzo being a great hire, and -- for more than two years now -- Dooley being in way over his head.

And never have the worlds collided..until Mizzou joined the SEC.

And now, here it is: Mizzou/Tennessee week. Missouri brings its 1-5 conference record to Knoxville, where it will face a historically inept Volunteer squad that is winless in the SEC. Needless to say, this ain't exactly what I was expecting. Or even dreading. In fact, over the summer, I even sometimes let my mind wander to the thought that maybe, just maybe, if James Franklin stays healthy and Sal Sunseri can bring some Saban magic to the defense, then maybe the MU/UT game would be for the SEC E championship.

No, I wasn't mixing Tennessee's finest whisky with St. Louis' most famous export!

But this season is bad enough to lead the staunchest teetotaler to drink. So maybe the lost season of both the Tigers and the Vols is a good thing after all. I mean, just imagine the conflicted emotions if UT was to end Mizzou's undefeated run. Or if somehow Mizzou would be in position to derail Tennessee's march to the Sugar Bowl. Instead, I've got a game coming up that, for once, I can't lose.

But what fun is that? Aside from Mizzou's hanging-by-a-thread, minor bowl chances, the game is about as meaningless as they come; the outcome will leave me with a personal 2-11 SEC mark. So after mulling through some options, like cheering for the team that needed the win the most, or even just flipping a coin, I've decided on a pretty simple solution for my torn loyalties: Whenever Mizzou plays UT, TigerVol will be cheering for the home team.

 

FSU -13 at VT. Ugh. Could be ugly.
Georgia -15.5 at Auburn. Could be real ugly.
Texas A&M +13.5 at Alabama. I'm 1-0 betting against Alabama. Roll Tide.
Clemson -31.5 vs. Maryland. Clemson might score 60. And give up 3.
TCU +7 vs. Kansas State. Is Klein even playing?
Cuse +2.5 vs. Louisville. No reason. Just a hunch.

 

Agreed. The MAC has owned the Big East recently, it was also Kent St. that a couple weeks ago exposed what a fraud Rutgers ranking was. Perhaps the only reason Louisville remains unbeaten is they had the good sense not to schedule a MAC team this year. I wouldn't hesitate to bet on the top half of the MAC this year (Ohio, No. Ill, Kent, Ball St. Toledo) over the Big East's.

The Big East having BCS status has been a farce for some time now, but this year it's reached hysterical proportions.

 

I've given up betting against Kansas State.

 

Yeah. They're 7-1-1 ATS this year. Hasn't exactly been a smart bet. There's a great chance I re-think that one before I take action. And then they won't cover.