The FedEx Orange Bowl, what a strange name for a BCS Bowl Game don’t you think?

The battle for positioning is over in the 2008 NCAA college football season as Big East champions, Cincinnati Bearcats, are slotted to face the Virginia Tech Hokies for the Orange Bowl.

The 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl will be the 75th edition of South Florida’s showcase game. Cincinnati and Virginia Tech will meet on January 1 in Miami. The last time these two teams met, it was back in 2006 with Virginia Tech prevailing, 29-13.

The Virginia Tech Hokies have been to the Orange Bowl twice before, losing to Nebraska in 1996 and Kansas at the end of last season.

The Cincinnati Bearcats on the other hand, have been on a tear, winning 28 of its past 35 games since losing to the Hokies a little over two years ago. Over that span, only seven teams; Boise State, Oklahoma, BYU, Florida, Southern California, Hawaii and Ohio State, have won more games than the Bearcats.

The Virginia Tech Hokies finished the regular season ranked seventh nationally in total defense, allowing just 277 yards per game, while…

Read More » Cincinnati meet Virginia Tech in 2009 Orange Bowl

It’s in Orlando, Florida where both Georgia and Michigan State will be looking to do their own magic for the Citrus Bowl title.

The 2009 Capital One Citrus Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Michigan State Spartans is one of the BCS bowl games we have to start the new year. This is a New Year’s Day matchup containing two teams that are both coming off losses.

Neither the Georgia Bulldogs nor the Michigan State Spartans are ranked in the Associated Press top 15, which makes this Capital One Bowl different from any other since 1992, when the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten began meeting in Orlando. Yet this game does have at least two things going for it.

Michigan State’s Javon Ringer and Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno.

Ringer leads the Big Ten in rushing and ranks third nationally after amassing 1,590 yards (132.5 yards per game) and 21 touchdowns on 370 carries. Moreno leads the SEC and is 16th nationally with 1,338 yards (111.5) and 16 touchdowns on 227 carries.

Though the No.16 Georgia Bulldogs rely on Moreno, Michigan State rely heavily on Ringer.

The 5-foot-9, 202-pound senior from Michigan State, has 32 more carries than the second-busiest running back in the NCAA bowl subdivision. In a three-week stretch in late…

Read More » Georgia V Michigan State in 2009 Citrus Bowl

The Central Michigan Chippewas need to win this one since they are the team from the Motor City in a BCS Bowl game named after their city.

After opening the season 1-5, a bowl game seemed bleak for the defending Sun Belt champion Florida Atlantic Owls. However, since that time, the Owls have reeled off 5 wins in 6 games, receiving an invitation to the 2008 Motor City Bowl.

The Florida Atlantic Owls suffered a brutal start before claiming its bowl berth. Since then, the Owls averaged 35.0 points while winning five of their final six games, overcoming a 1-5 start, becoming bowl-eligible with a 57-50 overtime win over Florida International on Nov.29.

Considering the last Motor City Bowl and each team’s most recent contests, with the Central Michigan Chippewas also on fire, it’s possible the 2008 matchup could be another shootout.

Florida Atlantic boasts a top defensive presence in senior linebacker Frantz Joseph, the nation’s second-best tackler with 141 to lead the Sun Belt in that category for a second straight season. He also earned all-conference honors while breaking his own school record for tackles in a season. Joseph also set the school’s single-game (16) and career (333) tackle mark.

The Owls’ offense is directed by junior quarterback…

Read More » Central Michigan V Florida Atlantic in Motor City Bowl

Merry Christmas people!

By now, I’m already off to a much needed vacation. (More specifically, playing Madden all day long without anyone bothering me…) But before I leave ya’ll here, I’m going to give ya’ll my very last weekly preview of the 2008-09 NFL football season. It’s already Week 17 people. Boy, time sure flies huh? And after 16 weeks, we learned that the Lions are only a loss away from becoming the most fucked up team in years, Tom Brady continues to lose his job to Matt Cassel and the Cowboys desperately need to win this Sunday to make the playoffs.

Yes, the Dallas Cowboys, after losing to Baltimore, 33-24, need to beat the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday to give themselves a shot of making the playoffs. And since Philly can only put up three points in their game against Washington last Sunday, this is probably the perfect opportunity for the Cowboys to steal one in Philly.

Dallas Cowboys by 3.

The Atlanta Falcons, with a playoff berth already secured, will probably just look for some momentum heading for the postseason when they face the struggling the St. Louis Rams, who have now lost nine in a row. The Rams won’t have anything to gain on this game and they’d probably just rest some of their starters to give those guys a chance to rest up and…

Read More » 2008 NFL Football Week 17 Betting Picks and Tips

It’s do or die for the Bears on Monday Night Football.

In what would be the very last broadcast of ESPN’s Monday Night Football this 2008-09 NFL football season, the Bears are hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Packers.

Thanks to the Minnesota Vikings dominating the high-flying Arizona Cardinals, 35-14 last Sunday, the Chicago Bears were pushed further to playoff elimination. It would’ve been a nice Christmas gift for the Bears if the Cardinals defeated the Vikes and gave them an even better chance of catching up to Minnesota in the NFC North.

Instead, even though the Bears defeated New Orleans to go 8-6 last Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings, with the win over Arizona, are still a game ahead of Chicago at 9-5 with only two more games left to play this weekend.

For what it’s worth, the Bears know they still have to do their part to stay in playoff contention. A win over the Green Bay Packers is big and Bears defensive tackle Anthony Adams is aware of it.

‘’I don’t know, man, we’ve just got to let that stuff play out,'’ Anthony Adams said. ‘’I try to simplify things when I look at [scenarios]. We’ve got to get this win against Green Bay, then get the next one [at Houston], and then just…'’

Read More » Bears play for NFL Playoffs spot against the Packers

Yes, even Bodog is in the Holiday spirit.

Bodog is hosting the ‘’12 Days of Poker'’ Series for the Christmas season, giving you more than enough reason to stay at home, enjoy the week off while cashing in on some big pots online.

The online poker room is running a 45-event series aptly called, the ‘’12 Days of Poker.'’ The series will run for 12 days starting from December 21 to January 1.

As a Christmas gift, Bodog Poker will pump $100,000 in bonus money into the series so this should be more than enough reason for poker aficionados to get in the action.

Aside from the prize money you can win, the ‘’12 Days of Poker'’ series will have a leaderboard and a Grand Finale.

The top three finishers in the Grand Finale get to take home a complete package of buy-ins to the Bodog Poker Open III which is happening in the Spring of 2009.

To get into the Grand Finale, you either automatically qualify by being in the top four at the series leaderboard, or you can be in spot 5 to 100 and play in a two-tier playoff where another 18 Grand Finale seats will be awarded.

Bodog will add 1,000 to 20,000 dollars in each tournament. The events are usually titled according to the bonus money…

Read More » Bodog offers 12 Days of Poker Series this Christmas

The BCS Bowl Games kick off with the EagleBank Bowl. Hopefully, the first one will be as good as the big game in Miami.

The 2008 EagleBank Bowl is the first of what would be an annual college football bowl game. The first one will be played on December 20 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. It is one of the two newest BCS bowl games to be approved by the NCAA and this year, we have quite an interesting match-up.

The Navy Midshipmen and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will play for the EagleBank Bowl and since unfamiliarity with each other won’t be an issue for both teams, were hoping to see an exciting finish.

The Dec. 20 contest at RFK Stadium will be a rematch of the Sept. 27 game, when the Navy Midshipmen upset then-unbeaten Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 24-17. The Demon Deacons were ranked 16th at the time.

Navy (8-4) accepted the invitation to the bowl at RFK Stadium when it became bowl eligible. Navy, which is coming off a 34-0 rout of Army, is 6-7-1 in bowl games. This will be the sixth straight postseason appearance for the Midshipmen and since they play in nearby Annapolis, Md., those guys will undoubtedly have a strong following.

The Demon Deacons’ invite came from the EagleBank Bowl’s…

Read More » The Wake Forest Demon Deacons play the Navy Midshipmen in the 2008 EagleBank Bowl

It’s win or go home for some teams still looking for playoff berths.

Yes, it’s already Week 16 of the 2008-09 NFL football season and nothing, absolutely NOTHING has been decided as far as the final playoff picture is concerned. And after 15 weeks into the season, we learned that Matt Cassel can put up points, Terrell Owens is letting Romo and Witten have their thing together (for now…) and the Lions STILL can’t win shit. (Surprise… surprise…)

Heading to NFL Week 16, we’ll have the last Thursday and Monday night games of the season and since we’re giving you a heads up for the coming football action, we’ll start on Thursday night when the Indianapolis Colts visit the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Indianapolis Colts want to extend their six-year streak of making it to the playoffs. That’s exactly what they can do with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will try to partially salvage their season of failed expectations by at least delaying the Colts’ seventh straight entry into the postseason. However, the 10-4 Colts won seven in a row to put themselves at the top of the AFC wild-card standings. That’s why you should stay away from Jacksonville for this one.

Indianapolis Colts by 7

For the first time this season, we’ll have NFL football action on a Saturday when the Baltimore Ravens visit the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium in…

Read More » 2008 NFL Football Week 16 Betting Picks and Tips

In case you didn’t notice, Charles Barkley is stupid.

With the 2008 NCAA college football season over, its reshuffling time for some football programs that failed to produce a successful campaign worth talking about around the campus.

One of which is the Auburn Tigers football program. These guys are looking for a new direction, hiring Gene Chizik of Iowa State to take over their team as head coach. A defensive coordinator for Auburn back in 2004, the Tigers finished a perfect 13-0 then, ranking as high as No.2 all over the country.

The Tigers hope that they would be able to get back on top with Gene Chizik returning to the program. Chizik replaces Tommy Tuberville, who was forced to resign a few weeks ago. He won 85 games in 10 seasons.

On the other hand, despite Chizik’s remarkable resume as defensive coordinator of the Auburn Tigers four years ago, he is still the guy who had a dismal 5-19 record as head coach in two seasons with the Iowa State Cyclones. Auburn hiring him was a shocker to some and you can’t blame them.

One guy, however, took it to another level.

Auburn alum Charles Barkley, lobbying for Buffalo’s Turner Gill, was enraged about the fact that his school hired a white dude as head coach. He claims the Tigers didn’t hire Gill just because of the fact that he’s black. And while that may be the most stupid…

Read More » Auburn alum Charles Barkley claims the Auburn Tigers didn’t hire Turner Gill because he’s black

How’s that to attract a pie of sports fans to pay attention to college hoops eh?

In case you didn’t know, the 2008-09 NCAA college basketball season is already heating up and last Monday night, we saw one powerhouse team get stunned by a virtual unknown, 60 feet away from the hoop.

That’s right, Cedric Jackson swished a 60-foot shot at the buzzer to stun the Syracuse Orange, leading his Cleveland State Vikings to a 72-69 win at the Carrier Dome.

The Syracuse Orange, ranked No.11 in the nation, was favored by most bookies to beat the lowly Vikings team from Cleveland State handily. After all, they had the support of their fans at the Carrier Dome ready to heckle any Viking who puts up a shot to their hoop.

But for some reason, Syracuse just can’t seem to finish the Cleveland State Vikings off. Syracuse let Cleveland State hang with them up to the final minute of the game. And with the game tied with 2.2 seconds left, it happened.

The Vikings were more than happy to go to overtime with the game tied at 69-69. After all, surviving this long into the game against the powerhouse Syracuse Orange was already a huge accomplishment anyway.

Cleveland State senior Cedric Jackson, however, had other plans.

Jackson took the inbound pass from J’Nathan Bullock at the other end of the floor, turned and put up a two-handed Hail Mary shot, 60-feet away from…

Read More » Cleveland State stuns Syracuse with 60-ft. buzzer beater