The College Football Season is Coming to the End

We are down to the final, crucial weeks of the college football season. Wins could secure conference championships, bowl games, or even a BCS National Championship. As it should be, the college landscape has plenty of top 25 match ups this week. Though I didn’t have much luck last week, I guess it’s time that I take another crack at it. Here are my picks for this week!

#22 Notre Dame vs #6 Stanford – At the beginning of the season I told you that Notre Dame was over rated. I still believe that to this day. The Irish’s schedule wasn’t the strongest and they still lost three games. They will have to be nearly perfect if they want to knock off the Stanford Cardinal. Andrew Luck will have no problem beating up the terribly weak Notre Dame secondary. Look for Luck to cap off his Senior season with a win as the Cardinal wins 47-17.

#17 Clemson vs #12 South Carolina – The Gamecocks and Tigers have had up and down seasons. Both have lost key games in their respective conferences and won some big games too. The one issue is that all this has happened for Clemson in the ACC. That should tell the whole story of how this game will unfold. The Gamecocks are bigger, stronger, and faster than the Tigers. Plus, they have played way bigger and better games than Clemson. To me, this is a no brainer. I got SC 35-14 end of story.

#19 Penn State vs #16 Wisconsin- The Leaders division title is up for grabs in this big time game. Penn State has had a rough couple of weeks. They were able to pull out a big win last week against the Buckeyes. They will take their top 5 defense into Camp Randle to take on the explosive Wisconsin offense. The Badgers are literally two Hail Marys from being in the national championship. They are highly underrated at #16. They have one of the top defenses and offenses in the nation and will easily over power the Lions. Bucky destroys as they win 45-21.

#2 Alabama vs. #24 Auburn – The Auburn Tigers haven’t had the championship victory lap they were hoping for. Numerous losses in the SEC took them out of the National Championship run early. Now they have the chance of ending their rival’s dream of the crystal ball in the Iron Bowl. Alabama has had a great season this year. The Loss to LSU barely counts as a loss in my book. They will be fully prepared to take down the Tigers this year. Auburn is very one dimensional this season with the departure of Cam Newton. The passing game isn’t there which makes it just a bit easier for the Tide’s defense. Auburn’s running game will cause problems early, but will eventually be put into place by the Alabama defense. This will give A.J. McCarron all he needs to lead the Tide to a 34-21 win.

#13 Georgia vs. #23 Georgia Tech – This is the Rambling Wreck’s biggest test of the season. They could cause a whole lot of trouble if they are able to beat the Bull Dogs. Home field advantage will give them the energy to win and their triple option running threat will be rocking. The Georgia D is very strong though and will put up a fight. I can see this becoming one of the best games of the weekend. It will be very balanced, but I see Georgia pulling away at the last possible moment and winning 24-21.

Other Picks:

Ohio State vs. #15 Michigan

#14 Michigan State vs. North Western

UCLA vs. USC

Missouri vs. Kansas

Texas Tech vs. #18 Baylor

Well, that’s my picks for this weekend! Looks like all you Michigan sports fans are going to be having a great weekend after your Lions lost. I hope you go and follow me on Twitter @Neilandsports. Thanks for reading sports fans! 

Another Week In College Football

Hey sports fans! Sorry that I couldn’t make these picks sooner or longer, but I have been very busy with the Central game last night and my school work. Also I think I’m still going crazy from last night when Iowa State beat OKState!

Without further delay, here are the picks!

#16 Nebraska @ #18 Michigan- Nebraska looks like the better team to me. They will be able to contain Denard Robinson and Taylor Martinez should have quiet the game against the Wolverines. I got Nebraska 31-21.

#5 Oklahoma @ #22 Baylor – Oklahoma will find some trouble early, but they will be able to dig themselves out of it. Laudry Jones has a good enough game to get the Sooners over the hump beating the Bears 41-28.

#14 Kansas State @ #23 Texas- I see a Longhorned upset here. Kansas State really hasn’t been the same since the Oklahoma beat down. I will be a good game, but Texas prevails 21-17.

USC @ #4 Oregon- The Ducks have all the speed in this one. Both Thomas and James will be a step ahead of the Trojans D and the Oregon Defense will have a good game because the crowd will be with them. I have Oregon big, 59-21.

#21 Penn State @ Ohio State – The scandal bowl has arrived. I can see ESPN just going on and on about these two interesting situations. That will over shadow the game, but Braxton Miller will lead the Bucks to a classic 14-10 win.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter! 

The State Semi-Finals are Upon Us!

                There is a special pride in the state of Michigan that thrives when the High School Football State championships. The drive to the Motor City entices many people across both the lower and Upper Peninsula. I was lucky enough to experience a District title game when my Alma Panthers beat Escanaba. Sadly, they lost in the following round, but I still have the excitement for all these great state semi finals that will be accruing over the weekend. Of course, I have to test my knowledge of these games and pick them! What else did you expect?  So with that, I give you my high school football picking extravaganza!

Division 1

Rockford vs. Detroit Catholic Central – The Battle at Battle Creek! Ever since they lost to Lowell, Rockford has been on fire! 11 straight wins for Rams looks really good, but they are taking on a real tough DCC team.  Detroit has a higher playoff point record and has a very impressive win against a really Orchard St. Mary team. I see DCC edging the Rams in one of the better games of the weekend.

Detroit Cass Tech vs. Utica Eisenhower – This one looks easy to me. Cass Tech has been the darling of the D-1 tournament. They will have a real wake up against UE. On a neutral field I see the high power UE defense taking care of business with the Tech offense. UE wins big.

D1 Championship- Detroit Catholic Central vs. Utica Eisenhower

Division 2

Lowell vs. Walled Lake Western – Walled Lake is coming off one of the biggest games of their season.  I find it hard to believe that they will be focused coming into this game. Lowell has had a great season and is a power house in D2 football. Red Arrows beat Western in a very lopsided game.

Birmingham Brother Rice vs. Detroit Martin Luther King – Brother Rice has had an unprecedented run in these playoffs. I expect a tough MLK team to take the field and break the Cinderella’s slipper to advance to the State Championship.

D2 Championship- Detroit Martin Luther King vs. Lowell

Division 3

Mt. Pleasant vs. East Grand Rapids – This is almost a déjà vu of last season, an undefeated Mt. Pleasant team going to Ferris State to take on a tough East Grand Rapids team at Ferris State. I find it hard to believe that it will happen again. EGR doesn’t look the same as it did last year. Mt. Pleasant gets revenge in a very hard game.

Battle Creek Harper Creek vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – Battle Creek will run rampant in this one. They have played a much harder schedule than OLM and are undefeated. Once again, a very hard game to pick, but I do see BCHC coming out victorious in this one.

D3 Championship - Mt. Pleasant vs. Battle Creek Harper Creek

Division 4

Comstock Park vs. Zeeland West – Zeeland West is the much stronger team here. I saw them winning this side of the State Championship bracket when it was first released. Comstock park will put up a fight, but Zeeland will be the better team in this one.

Grosse Ile vs. Marine City – I thought Marine City was going to win it all since the beginning of the playoffs and that isn’t changing. It’s as simple as that!

D4 Championship -  Alma Zeeland West vs. Marine City

Quick Picks

D5

Almont vs. Flint Powers Catholic

Lasing Catholic vs. Grand Rapids West Catholic

D5 Championship – Almont vs. Grand Rapids West Catholic

D6

Ithaca vs. Iron Mountain  

Ecorse vs. Constantine

D6 Championship – Iron Mountain vs. Constantine

D7

Traverse City St. Francis vs. Saginaw Nouvel

Hudson vs. Pewamo-Westphalia

D7 Championship - Hudson vs. Saginaw Nouvel

D8

Mendon vs. New Lothrop

St. Ignace vs. Fowler

D8 Championship – Mendon vs. St. Ignace

Well that’s it for today! Please support the young men in the upcoming weeks! You can catch all the State Finals on FSN Detroit. Thanks for reading!

Just Some Routine Maintenance

Hey Sports Fans!

As you can see, Iv'e made a few minor changes to the blog.

All your interactive gadgets are over

<<<<<---- Here

I added the total page views as a little stat for all of us to watch as it hopefully rises a whole bunch in the future! There is also the poll, google search for the site, and the button that allows you to follow the blog.

Over Here ------->

You can find my Twitter feed (Be sure to follow me @NeilandSports and use the hash tag #NeilKnowsSports!), ESPN feed, Bio and, all that cool stuff.

I'm looking forward to bringing you more picks and information about the sports world as it comes to me!

Looking Ahead to the BCS Bowls

It’s that time of year again. The college football season is down to the final weeks as teams bid for bowl games. The BCS bowls are a team’s ultimate goal. With a few weeks left, let’s see who I think will be playing in the big ones.

Bowl Projections

Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs Clemson – And I’ve found the blow out of the bunch. Clemson will win the ACC Championship game and in doing so they will also qualify for this game. Cincinati will be the only automatic qualifier left and the Orange Bowl will have to deal with it. This game will be a total blow out if it happiness and I will be sorry for whatever bowl gets stuck with the Big East bid because the game will be very lopsided.

Fiesta Bowl: Stanford vs Oklahoma - I see Stanford winning out after their loss to Oregon. Andrew Luck came back to finish what he had started. He won’t win the National Championship like he wanted to, but a match up against a tough Oklahoma team will be his consolation. Why Oklahoma you may ask? Well, that loss to Texas Tech looks worse every week and I also see them losing to Oklahoma State. The Fiesta Bowl has the first round of picking this year. They will want a formidable opponent for the Sooners and the Cardinal will be the best bet.

Rose Bowl : Oregon vs MSU -This was an easy one; I believe both of these teams will be their respective conferences and that is all you need for a Rose Bowl. The Ducks won’t be in the National Championship, its plain to see. The only team that might lose is Oklahoma State and if they lose it will be to Oklahoma. A one loss Oklahoma beats a one loss Oregon. Another aspect to take into consideration is the fact that LSU and Oregon have already played each other.  That doesn’t look good for the ratings, but a Rose Bowl birth is another great option for the Ducks. MSU will be looking to make a splash after beating Nebraska in the Big Ten Title Game.

The Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs Boise State - Alabama is a no brainer for this one. The Sugar bowl always features a SEC team. Alabama will narrowly miss out on playing for the National Championship just because of a few missed field goals in the loss to LSU. Now Boise might be a stretch, but they will be ranked higher than Cincinnati. As a non-automatic qualifier, Boise just needs to be ranked higher than an automatic qualifier. Plus it would be great ratings for the Bowl. The only other option for the sugar bowl would be Arkansas. They won’t do that because of the SEC rematch. Boise clearly looks like the top pick for the Sugar.  

BSC National Championship: LSU vs Oklahoma State- The biggest game will come down to the SEC vs the Big 12. LSU will come in as the number one team in the nation and off a Big SEC Championship. Oklahoma State won’t have a conference title game to shine in, but they will have a big game against the rival Sooners in the bedlam game. This will be a great game and be one of the best of the year.

Thanks for reading! I will have an article up on gcmag.org tomorrow! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @Neilandsports and be sure to use the hash tag #NeilKnowsSports 

A Week for the West

Welcome sports fans, sorry for the wait. There has been a lot of writing for me recently so the blog has suffered. Of course, I couldn't miss my weekly picks, so here we go!

TCU vs. #5 Boise State - The Horned Frogs defiantly started off on the season off on the wrong foot. They looked like a pre-season BCS bowl buster. Baylor and SMU had other plans. The Boise game is a chance for them to get back to that status. This is TCU's hardest game this year and I expect it to be a battle. Casey Pachall  has helped the TCU offense rank in the top ten in points scored, but most of the offensive production has been run through Waymon James and Matthew Tucker. Both running-backs have eclipsed  over 500 yard this season. Boise State also has it's weapons. Boise's Kellen Moore has been having a Heisman year and Doug Martin has carried the team. They have a better defense than TCU as well. This will be the deciding factor in today's game. I see the Broncos beating the Horned Frogs 40-21.

#2 Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech - This is possibly OSU's biggest test until they meet up with Oklahoma for the Bedlam rivalry game. Tech will still be an easy win for the Pokes. State has one of the top offenses in the nation and the Red Raiders have one of the worst defenses. Brandon Weeden will have a hay day against a secondary that often looks like Swiss Cheese. The Pokes will score early and often as they cruse to a 51-14 win.

#7 Oregon vs. #4 Stanford - The Pac-12 game of the year has arrived! Andrew Luck and LaMichael James finally square off in Palo Alto. Oregon looks like a very complete team even with injuries to key players. They have a great rushing game and they are able to put up a ton of points on the board. The defense plays under a bend but don't break mentality and it really works them. The only thing they are missing are a consistent passing game. Once again, the game will hinge on the Ducks passing efficiency. Andrew Luck will have no problem passing. He will take full advantage of the bending in the Duck's secondary, but he must preform in the red zone to beat Oregon. I see the Ducks winning a close one because of their experience against LSU. They win 37-30.

Other Picks

#20 Auburn at #15 Georgia - The Tigers don't look the same as last year, but they still have enough to beat the Dawgs. Auburn wins 24-1.

#17 Michigan State at Iowa - MSU's Cousins will be too good for the Hawkeyes. He leads them to a comfortable 30-10 win.

#19 Nebraska at #12 Penn State - Too much has gone on at Penn Sate this week. On an emotional day, the Nittany Lions faultier as the Huskers win 24-7.

Thanks for reading everyone! I will be sure to give you more content in the coming weeks! Follow me on twitter @Neilandsports and be sure to use the hash tag #NeilKnowsSports!

I wonder what's going on this week?

... if you guessed more picks, you're correct! I am trying to to more in depth articles and videos, but college has been busy. Plus, I'm now also writing for Grand Central, an online magazine, and you should all go check it out! gcmag.org is the place to go, then just click the sports tab and you should find my story.

Anyway, back to the business at hand. This will be one of the biggest weekends in college football. We have SEC Armageddon as #1 LSU head to Tuscaloosa to take on #2 Alabama. Essentially this is the BCS semi final game. There is no doubt in my mind that the winner of this game will be going to the national championship this year and possibly all the way. Before we get to the nitty gritty of that game, let's take a look at the other variety of games taking place this weekend.

CMU vs Kent State - I decided to start off local this week. The Chips really need this win. It would be a sign of improvement from last season. I expect the Chippewas to be hungry and take an early lead in this game. Their problem has been the second half and see that persisting. CMU will fight off a surging Kent State to win 24-17.

#8 Oregon vs. Washington - The Ducks will still be beat up for this game. Thomas and James both don't look like they used to. Oregon needs to be wary of U Dub. The Huskies have improved greatly over the years and playing host to the rival Ducks will also factor in to the outcome. Bryan Bennett and Kenjon Barner will both need to come up big for the Ducks. So far, I haven't seen any information that would lead me to think that they wouldn't. Oregon wins a wild one, 45-39

#14 Kansas State vs. #3 Oklahoma State - After being demolished by Oklahoma at home last week, KSU has to go on the road to play OSU. Look's like Cinderellas slipper is starting to crack. The Wildcats got a huge wake up call last weekend and they need to get everything figured out quickly. Weeden and the Pokes will be a tough opponent. They have one of the best passing offenses in college football and it doesn't take them long to get a run game going. The Wildcats are going to be in trouble early and often as the Pokes win 45-17.

#9 South Carolina vs. #7 Arkansas - Take Alabama and LSU out of the mix, and these are the two premier teams in the SEC. Arkansas have really mad a name for themselves this past year. The terrible loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl last year was a real killer. Along with the loss of Mallet to the NFL, it looked grim for the Razorbacks. I wasn't really sure what to think of them. I know now. Tyler Wilson will command this game and win it for the Razorbacks 35-21.

And now for the game of the week..... (dramatic drum roll)

#1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama - The SEC National Championship, or as I like to call it SEC Armageddon. This will be the game of the year just by the weight that sits on it's out come. Alabama as looked strong all year and the play of their defense has been phenomenal. The Tide only allow 6.9 points per game which is first in the country. They also have an explosive offense that is lead by Trent Richardson and the rest of the ground game. Though the passing game has been a bit rough this season, so AJ McCarron has to have a astounding game. The Tigers also boast a stout defense. They have the second best in the country and only allow 11.5 points a game. LSU has an even worse passing game and the running backs aren't nearly as good as Alabama's. And with that....













ROLL TIDE 35-31


Thanks for reading!

An Ode to Fall

               As every Fall usually goes, all of the focus of the sporting world is on Football. Questions such as: “How far will Wisconsin drop in the BCS standings?” and “Will the Bills Make the playoffs?” are incredibly common. ESPN never fails to show me how much this wonderful country loves its football. Every year it is very surprising to me that the World Series is sometimes drowned out.  Our National pastime’s greatest moment is being over shadowed by the NFL Sunday. I guess I can see the logic. World Series games not airing until 8:00, a very slow game, and uninteresting match ups were all a buzz kill to the Series. This year was completely different.

                I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like this series when a first looked at it. Slowly but surely I saw the true potential of it. Albert Pujols looking for a second ring verses a young Rangers team looking to avenge last year’s loss to the Giants, sounds like a great Series! I saw the potential of it going to seven games and my mind really started to race. I couldn’t wait for the Series now! I wanted to see which bull pen could hold the explosive line of the opposition and whether the hitters could capitalize on the chances they would be given. Then on October 19^th, all my energy for the Series could finally be let out as I watched maybe one of the most unforgettable World Series ever.

                The Cardinals were not to supposed to get into the playoffs. Many people wrote them out when they trailed Atlanta in the wild card standings by double digits with only a few weeks left in the season. Even if they made it all the way back, there was no way they would be able to beat the Phillies right? Well, we were all wrong. Carpenter and the Cards went on an amazing streak and accompanied by the Braves meltdown, they made it in. Once in they didn’t stop there. They thrashed the Phills in five, then took the Brewers down in six. On the AL side, it was supposed to be all about the Red Sox and the Yankees. No one was talking about the reigning champs. The Rangers took care of business out west by handing the Angels down the stretch, taking down the Rays in four, and throttling the Tigers in six. Two teams that weren’t in the conversation at the beginning of the year were now in a series for all the marbles.

                As the World Series started, I was sure of a Rangers win in seven and one of the best series in recent memory. All but a Rangers win was proven to me over the next seven games. I was thrilled by Carpenters gem in the first game. All the passion and drama was seeping out of the field. A one run game was the icing on the cake of this World Series opener. The Rangers responded with a one run game of their own in game two. At this point, I was hooked by this series. There were so many story lines to follow now. Would Ron Washington get his first ring? Would Larussa finally call it quits after this series? And where in the hell was Pujols going if they lost? Well, he did his best to make sure that they wouldn’t. Albert caught fire in game three to give us one of the all time greatest games in World Series history. Not only was his 5-6 night with three home runs going to be remembered forever, but I was sure that this series was over now. There was no way the Rangers could come back after a loss like this. Their bullpen was shot, they would have to walk Pujols every time he came to the plate, and their fans looked to be losing hope. Oh how naïve I was. Behind a great outing from Derek Holland and a MVP showing from Napoli, the Rangers made a 4-0 statement game and breathed life back into the series.

                By this time I was nearly exploding with excitement; a best of three to decide everything in the 2011 baseball season. I don’t know too many fans that wouldn’t get excited about that. Game five lived up to all the hype. I know it’s cliché, but this was a must win game. Napoli wouldn’t disappoint and Feliz would record his second save of the series.  With a little help from a bullpen phone (trust me, I could do a whole blog post on that fiasco), the Rangers were now a game away from closing out the Cardinals and winning their first series in franchise history, but then came game six. To me, the first six innings of this game were ugly. I hadn’t seen such an ugly game since the Phillies took on the Rays in the rain. Then, just before I was going to change the channel (I thought it was that bad!), Beltre and Cruz hit back-to-back home runs. Now the series was over. It looked as if the luck had run out on the Red Birds. Just as every good sports fan should do, I decided to keep watching. I am so glad I did. The Cardinals worked their way down to their final strike. David Freese was up to bat and I was sure I was about to witness a happy Nolan Ryan and a celebration from the Rangers. As the pitch was released I got ready to put one of the first “Congratulations Rangers” tweets on Twitter, but he lined it out toward the wall. Nelson Cruz was there for the out, but it was lined off the wall. It was a big triple from the home town kid when his team needed it the most. I went crazy as the tying run crossed the plate. Never before had a seen a clutch hit such as that one. Now I know a lot of people coin football as a game of inches, but the truth is all sports are a game of inches. If the ball would have hit that pitch just a quarter inch higher, we could be looking at a Rangers championship. The best part is that the game wasn’t over. It once again looked very grim for the Cardinals as they were down to their final strike again. This time it was Lance Berkman with the big play. I was in disbelief as the tying runs came around again. The game would end on a walk off home run from Freese and ensured a game seven.

Now I was all smiles. I had gotten the game seven I wanted and a great series that had been played before it. I was positive now that the Cardinals would win the series because it would be so hard for the Rangers to swallow the bitter pill they took the night before. Sure enough, I was right. The party in St. Louis was much deserved. A team that looked like they were dead in September was now on top of the Baseball world. I was so happy to see quality people like Larussa and Pujols get their second ring. Now that the dust has settled, we can really look back at the 2011 World Series and say wow. Almost in story book fashion, Tony Larussa retired on top and rightfully so. Now the questions turn to next season. Who are the teams to beat? Will the Cardinals repeat? And were in the hell is Pujols going? I say let’s not even focus on 2012. Let’s give the Cardinals all the respect that World Series Champions deserve. Congrats Cardinals, you really deserved it.