Chase for the FIU Cup

Few teams in college football really get to play for anything these days. There's really only a handful of teams that have a shot at the national title every year. All the other teams are pretty much screwed. That is until now.

CFB 365 has given these teams a reason to play the games. I introduce to you the first annual FIU Cup. This prestigious award will be given out at the end of every season to the last remaining winless team. If there are multiple winless teams at the end of the season the award will be given to the team that most closely resembles the play of the vaunted Florida International Golden Panthers. If there are no winless teams the award will be given to a team with the worst record (or FIU by default).

Here are the teams that are still in the running for the Cup.


1. Virginia Cavaliers

Record 0-3

Losses - William & Mary, TCU, Southern Miss

The opening day loss to William & Mary pretty much seals the fate for Al Groh. He's don after this season. The Wahoos almost screwed everything up last week by going out and beating Southern Miss. Good thing for them, the Golden Eagles came storming back to eek out a victory.

Next best chance to win a game - Oct. 31 v. Duke. - Who knows. It's Halloween. Anything can happen.


2. Rice Owls

Record - 0-4

Losses - UAB, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St., Vanderbilt

The only loss that really looked bad was against UAB to start the season. However, the Blazers just went out and upset Southern Miss last night. That makes the Owls look a little bit better. Sadly to say it, but I don't like Rice's chances of staying in this chase.

Next best chance to win a game - Nov. 14 v. Tulane - Rice has some winnable ball games before this contest, but they're all on the road. Tulane at home should be a piece of cake.


3. Miami (OH) Red Hawks

Record - 0-4

Losses - Kentucky, Boise St., Western Michigan, Kent St.

Unfortunately for the Red Hawks, I think they have the worst chance out of the remaining MAC teams in the chase to win the FIU Cup. All of their losses have been to at least somewhat decent teams. Plus, they haven't looked entirely inept all season.

Next best chance for a win - Oct. 24 v. Northern Illinois - If Idaho can beat Northern Illinois, anybody can.


4. Eastern Michigan Eagles

Record - 0-3

Losses - Army, Northwestern, Michigan

Eastern Michigan has actually made significant strides under first year coach Ron English. They were in close ball games vs. Army and Northwestern before stumbling late, and they played Michigan tough for about a quarter. They've already accomplished more than they ever did under Jeff Genyk.

Next best chance to win a game - Oct. 3 v. Temple - I know Temple is coming off of a pretty big win against Buffalo last week, but the Owls are very inconsistent. I think the Eagles will be fired up by a rare occurrence: crowd noise at home.


5. Ball St. Cardinals

Record - 0-4

Losses - North Texas, New Hampshire, Army, Auburn

As of right now, the Ball St. Cardinals are the favorite to win the FIU Cup. They have easily played the worst schedule of the teams remaining in the chase and they have looked horrible in every game. I never knew how much this team would miss Nate Davis and Brady Hoke. Even when the administration made the unfortunate mistake of hiring Stan Parrish as the next head coach, I figured they could at least beat North Texas and New Hampshire. I was wrong.

Next best chance to win a game - Oct. 31 v. Ohio - This is a real big stretch. The Cardinals should be the underdog in every game they play this season. And for good reason.


6. New Mexico Lobos

Record - 0-4

Losses - Texas A&M, Tulsa, Air Force, New Mexico St.

The Lobos got rid of Rocky Long because they were sick of being average, How do you think they feel now that they are below average under Mike Locksley. The loss to New Mexico St. may set this program back for a long, long time.

Next best chance to win a game - Oct. 24 v. UNLV - Las Vegas is another team that has unexpectedly struggled this season. The Lobos should be able to man up at home and get the win.


7. Florida Atlantic Owls

Record - 0-3

Losses - Nebraska, South Carolina, Louisiana-Monroe

I'm a little surprised that FAU is still in the running for this award. I was sure they would have taken care of UL-Monroe last week. I guess when it comes to the FIU Cup, anything is possible. I don't think the Owls will be in the chase much longer.

Next best chance to get a win - Oct. 3 v. Wyoming - This is a definite win.


8. Florida International Golden Panthers

Record - 0-3

Losses - Alabama, Rutgers, Toledo

Of course the trophy's namesake will be in the running for the Cup. I think the Panthers will find a difficult time remaining on this list as they are actually quite talented this season. As you can tell, they have lost to some pretty decent teams.

Next best chance to get a win - Oct. 10 @ Western Kentucky - I went against the grain and picked a road game for the Panthers. They should be able to knock off the Hilltoppers away from home.


9. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Record - 0-4

Losses - Tennessee, South Florida, Central Arkansas, Navy

Western Kentucky maybe the biggest threat to Ball St.'s chances of winning this thing. The Hilltoppers are just plain awful. After looking somewhat competent against South Florida in week 2, WKU went out and lost to 1-aa Central Arkansas. That's sure to get you on this list.

Next best chance to get a win Oct. 17 v. Louisiana-Lafayette - This is a long shot, but it could kind of be considered a winnable game.


10. Nevada Wolfpack

Record - 0-3

Losses - Notre Dame, Colorado St., Missouri

Nevada is probably the best team on this list. They won't be here for long.

Next best chance to get a win - Oct. 3 v. UNLV - I still think Nevada will make a bowl game. Their turnaround starts this week.

Week 4 Preview

Conference play will begin for most teams around the nation this week. No conference has better match ups than the SEC. Here are a few of the showdowns that will be taking place on Saturday.

Florida travels to Knoxville to listen to 3 and a half hours of god awful Rocky Top. The only thing worse than having to sit through that travesty of a "song" is to listen to 100,000 dumb ass hillbillies sing it off key. I swear I wanna vomit every time I hear that piece of shit.

As a side bar to the raping of our eardrums by the UT band, the Gators and Volunteers will actually be playing a game in front of the aforementioned hillbillies. I'm sorry to inform Cletus and Maude that their Vols have no chance in this game. Sure, some Gator players have given the UT players a LOT of bulletin board material, and yeah, the Vols have revenge on their mind after getting destroyed in the Swamp last year. None of that matters, the Gators will win this one comfortably. I hope Kenny Chesney is ready to wear a Gator helmet at his next concert.

Two top ten teams will be meeting in the SEC West when LSU travels to Auburn. I hope Tony Franklin and his bunch can put up more than 3 points against the Bayou Bengals. If not, this game could get ugly early.

I admit I was a little down on LSU due to their QB situation, but with the way they run the ball and play defense, they might not need a QB. Speaking of not having a QB, Chris Todd and Kodi Burns have not been overly impressive thus far for Auburn. I was expecting Burns to thrive under Frankiln's spread offense. I guess I was wrong.

Both of these games pale in comparison to the monumental throwdown between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Ole Miss is very close to making this game a battle of unbeatens. I am thoroughly impressed with the way Jevan Snead has performed. I knew Snead was good, but not this good. Marshay Green and Mike Wallace are both top-flight receivers for the Rebels. It's a shame Vandy doesn't have 2 D.J. Moore's to cover them. I like Ole Miss to hand the Commodores their first defeat of the season.
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In my opinion the Auburn-LSU game is the game of the week. However, everyone is talking about Georgia vs. Arizona St. Perhaps the fact that these two teams have never met makes this game a little more intriguing than the battle of the Tigers.

Granted, this game lost a little luster after the Sun Devils went quietly into the night vs. UNLV, but I still think this game will be very entertaining. Dennis Erickson will have his bunch ready to play. Rudy Carpenter is an NFL quality QB and the Sun Devil offense can explode quickly. However, the Dawgs have just a little too much depth for ASU. I like UGA to prevail in this one.
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The game between Idaho and Utah St. this weekend is a crime against humanity. Both teams should be locked up for cruel and unusual punishment. The Vandals and the Aggies are consistently among the worst teams in the nation. Idaho actually comes into this game with a win! Albeit against a 1-aa team.

I think ESPN should broadcast this game for the hell of it. Why not? Maybe they can put in on one of the ESPN+ affiliates. I don't think there has been a game between two worse programs ever. I know they meet every year, but both teams are exceptionally bad this year. If you're a fan of one of these schools, first off, what the hell are you thinking? Secondly, I'm sorry if I have offended you.

Not really.....
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Players moving up:

Here's some guys that are performing better than expected this season.

Drew Willy - Buffalo QB
Chase Clement - Rice QB
Donald Brown - Connecticut RB
Patrick Pinckney - East Carolina QB
Ahmad Black - Florida S
Sean Spence - Miami(FL) LB
David Johnson - Tulsa QB
Damien Williams - USC WR
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Players going down:

Here's some good for nothing shit bags that don't deserve to call themselves football players.

Kodi Burns - Auburn QB
Entire Syracuse Team
Mike Teel - Rutgers QB
Virginia's Offense
South Carolina QB's
Gary Rogers - Washington St. QB
The ACC
Cortez Gent - Florida Atlantic WR
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What the hell's going on with:

Teams from Arizona.

Both the Wildcats and the Sun Devils suffered defeats at the hands of some pretty mediocre Mountain West teams. Arizona lost to New Mexico, again. The same Lobo team that was thumped by TCU earlier in the season. ASU lost to UNLV, which some people, including me, picked to be one of the worst teams in the nation. I do think 'Zona will be able to rebound this week against UCLA. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, they will play Georgia.

What has gotten into:

The Mountain West Conference.

Speaking of the Mountain West, how good is this conference? BYU and Utah are both ranked in the top 25. Both the Cougars and the Utes are favored to be BCS busters this season. TCU may be the most impressive team to me so far this season. UNLV and New Mexico both upset the Arizona schools last week. Air Force has looked really good running the ball. Wyoming is ok. San Diego St. and Colorado St. are the only two absolute garbage teams in the conference. Not bad for a Non-BCS league. Plus, they have James Bates as an analyst for their network.
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5 Games to watch

1. LSU@ Auburn
2. Georgia @ Arizona St.
3. Florida @ Tennessee
4. Wake Forest @ Florida St.
5. Virginia Tech @ North Carolina

5 Stories to follow

1. Will Tim Tebow make Rico McCoy his Biotch?
2. Will Mark May gets USC's cock out of his mouth long enough to analyze games?
3. How will Charlie Weis' good leg hold up?
4. How many touchdowns will Jeremy Maclin account for?
5. Will Randy Shannon ever stop crying?

Pack it in now boys.

I already let you in on who I though were going to be the most improved teams from every conference. Now, I'll turn a little more negative and let you in on the teams that should just skip this season altogether and get ready for 2009.

Once again it will be conference by conference

ACC

Boston College-This should be a familiar sight to Eagle fans once the season is over.

Big XII

Kansas- Count me in as one of the people who thinks Kansas was a total fluke last season. Just like the fact that Mangino came up empty on this mining expedition.

Big East

Connecticut- See, even the pennants know which was Connecticut's season will be heading.

Big Ten

Michigan- All the fans need now are brown paper bags.

C-USA

Houston- The Cougars should still be in the mix in C-USA play, but they will miss Art Briles a lot.

MAC

Miami (OH)- The Redhawks will be dropped on their head a lot this season.

Mountain West

New Mexico- The Lobos will be dressing their cheerleaders this season in an effort to bolster the skill positions. We'll have to wait and see for the results.

PAC-10

Oregon- The product on the field might just be as ugly as these uniforms.

SEC

Arkansas- Their head coach is a douche. All you need to know.

Sun Belt

Troy- I was googling pictures for Troy football when I cam across this. It has nothing to do with the Trojans, but Troy Aikman Football is one of the greatest games ever!

WAC

Hawaii- The Rainbow Warriors will sorely miss Colt Brennan, June Jones and Davone Bress this season.