MafiaMan

I give lots of credit to Gary Patterson and how he kept TCU focused and didn't let that team sulk over not being one of the final four. Oklahoma has missed out on a title game appearance a couple of times recently and promptly been upset by cinderella Boise State and pounded mercilessly by Alabama in the bowl games immediately afterward.

Florida State over Oregon. Not impressed with what I've seen out of Arizona and Arizona State and think the Pac-12 is over-rated and ACC under-rated. Ohio State over Alabama. Heads will roll after this game. Baylor beats Michigan State. And it won't be close. Minnesota beats Missouri. The SEC is in flames.

So, going forward for team USA, get the puck in the crease and have someone pummel the goalie and get the puck across the goal line by any means possible. Good goal.

Well, there is the whole "evening out the whole season" issue. It was several years ago when Mankato and St Cloud had similar records near the end of the season. Mankato was on a roll and St Cloud had lost something like 5 or 6 in a row. Mankato even went into St Cloud and swept the Huskies in the 1st round of the WCHA playoffs. Thanks to the Pairwise, sputtering St Cloud made the NCAA tournament and the hot Mavericks were left at home. Not surprising, St Cloud was hammered in the first game of the tournament, I believe by Maine if memory serves me right.

That same rule will probably apply to any Alabama or Ohio State football message board today as well.

Chaminade over Ralph Sampson and Virginia is a nice upset win. North Carolina State over Phi Slamma Jamma is a nice upset win. Villanova over Georgetown is a nice upset win. Let's not over-react to one bad Big Sky team possibly beating another bad Big Sky team on their own court.

We had 2 TV channels out in SW ND back in the late 1970's/early 1980's...CBS and NBC. I'm not sure how they were allowed to do it, but CBS would show ABC's Saturday college football games as well as the NFL's Monday Night Football game. Most of those Saturday games involved the Michigan Wolverines. I fell in love with the fight song and winged helmets probably by the time I turned 10 years old. I also followed college basketball at the time and remember the players Antoine Joubert, Gary "The General" Grant, Roy Tarpley, and other great Michigan players who were there a few years before the great 1988-1989 team with guys like Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, and Sean Higgins. Since that area of NoDak was already dominated by Vikings and Twins fans, I decided to not join the bandwagon and instead cheered for Michigan across the board - Tigers, Lions*, and Pistons* specifically. Didn't follow a lot of hockey back then, but quickly adopted the Red Wings as well once I got to college in Grand Forks and started catching tons of games on CBC. *In the interest of full disclosure, the Pistons and Lions of the late 1970's/early 1980's were a mess, so I had a wandering eye with respect to the sports of professional basketball and football. I liked watching Dr J and his unbelievable moves on the court and my friends all knew me as a big-time Philadelphia 76er fan. Similarly with the NFL, the Miami Dolphins caught my eye in about 1980 and I would say that they were my favorite NFL team until I kind of lost interest in them after Dan Marino retired. Today, I don't follow the NBA and NFL nearly as much as I do college football, the NHL, and MLB.

Why couldn't they be successful in the SEC? GT went 11-3 this season and was 2-0 against two of the SEC's supposed best in Georgia and Mississippi State. 450+ yards of rushing against MSU? I'm impressed by that statistic.

The puck was inside the blue paint before the Canada player was is how the referee interpreted the play. However, just because the puck is inside the area doesn't mean the opposition can shove the goalie with the purpose of pushing the puck across the goal line.

...and to think that Baylor beat them. I won't be stunned if Baylor man-handles Michigan State tomorrow.

It's going to cause me great distress to root for Minnesota against the Big XII SEC tomorrow...

Happy New Year to you as well, darell. And to everyone else here on the big Sioux board.

You ok, scpa? LSU...Ole Miss...Mississippi State...oh no...what if Alabama...no, don't think it...don't think it...

Solid performance out of Georgia Tech tonight. Paul Johnson churns out a good program year in and year out at GT. 49-34 final...and this game wasn't nearly as close as that score.

Pools are based on last year's results, hence you see #1 Finland in one pool and #2 Sweden in the other. #3 Russia goes into the pool with #2 and #'s 4 and 5 join #1. Canada was 4th last year and USA was 5th.

No surprise there...another Georgia Tech TD...49-27 Yellow Jackets.

42-27...but Tech is gonna get the ball back.

42-20...it's SEC beat-down day today. Brent Musberger: "And suddenly, ladies and gentlemen, the SEC is reeling."

...and another 32 yard TD run for the Yellow Jackets...MSU just cannot stop that offense. 35-20 now Wramblin' Wreck.

But GT literally runs right down the field to start the second half and make it 28-20...

Poor job of defending that by Georgia Tech...two Yellow Jackets standing nowhere near the trailer receiver watching the play.

Finland 2 Germany 0. Final. Medal round quarterfinals: Canada vs Denmark Sweden vs Finland USA vs Russia Czech Republic vs Slovakia

Germany with great pressure on a PP...but still 2-0 with 3:05 left in the game.

Still 2-0 Finland...8:50 remaining. Looks like Switzerland will get Germany in the relegation round, a best-of-three set starting on Friday. The winner stays...loser heads down to Division IA next year. Belarus will be a newcomer at this tournament next year as well.

Bulldogs score a Hail Mary TD with no time left...21-20 at the half.