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Posts Tagged ‘LSU Tigers’

Let’s Play Some College Football!

September 1st, 2010 by Matthew C. Keegan | 1 Comment | Filed in Collegiate Sports, NCAA Football

2010 gridiron action kicks off Thursday night!

Utes fans await the Pitt Panthers for Thursday night action.

Can it be here already? That “here” would be the 2010 college football season.

After an active summer when several colleges announced that they would be leaving their leagues for brighter horizons, the conference transfer rumors quickly died down and practice for the season began. Those warm ups are now over and the first games will be held tomorrow night with opening weekend action continuing through Labor Day.

Thursday Night

The very first game of this season and weekend will kick off at 6:30 p.m. as Presbyterian plays at Wake Forest. The weekend’s action concludes on Monday at 8 p.m. when Boise State and Virginia Tech duke it out in Washington, D.C. Key games are getting air time with some getting national coverage while others are being shown locally.

Although there are a number of lopsided contests scheduled for this weekend–considering that college football doesn’t have a preseason like the NFL that is understandable–there are a number of contests worth following this weekend including:

Southern Miss at South Carolina – The Golden Eagles take on the Gamecocks in Columbia, a contest between a middle of the road Conference USA team and a middle of the road SEC school. I’m picking the Gamecocks to win at home.

Pittsburgh at Utah — Of course, THE game to watch on Thursday night is the Panthers at the Utes. The Panthers are the top choice for Big East honors this year while the Utes will be heading to the Pac 10 (12) next year. A lot is riding on this game for both teams, but I’m going with Utah in a close one.

Friday action is a disappointment as the only games scheduled are Villanova at Temple and Arizona at Toledo. Seems to me someone could have put a marquee game on; plenty of people won’t be able to tune in on Thursday night, but they will on Friday.

UConn at Michigan – Of all the Saturday contests, this one could be easily overlooked. Michigan is improved and so are the Huskies. I’m going with UConn to pull out an upset in front of 110,000 disappointed Wolverine fans in Ann Arbor.

San Jose State at Alabama – The only reason to watch this game is to see last year’s national champions start off their quest for a repeat. You’ll watch the game long enough for the real action to begin the following hour. Obviously, the Crimson Tide will romp.

Oregon State at TCU – 45 minutes after the ‘Bama game starts, these two teams will hash it out in Texas. I’m not sure why, but I keep thinking that the Beavers will dispose of the Horned Frogs in Arlington.

LSU at North Carolina — I like this match up because it is one of the more even games between ranked teams. Though I live only 30 minutes from Chapel Hill, I believe the Tigers will prevail.

Sunday will be like Friday as Tulsa takes on East Carolina followed by Southern Methodist at Texas Tech. Instead, fire up the grill and invite some friends over.

Labor Day games risk getting overlooked as people head back from the shore and are relaxing by cooking out or are preparing to head back to school. Though you may not be interested in tuning in to Navy at Maryland at 4 p.m. ET, you’ll want to make sure that you view the 8 p.m. contest between Boise State and Virginia Tech. Yes, the best game has been saved for last! I believe the Hokies will squeeze by the Broncos who, by the way, no longer are a surprise or underrated college football team.

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Photo courtesy of the University of Utah.


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Gators, Tigers Highlight This Weekend’s Action

October 8th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in Collegiate Sports, NCAA Football

I’m beginning to hate college football scheduling. Games on Thursday night are bad enough, but why are contests being scheduled on Tuesdays and Wednesdays too? Luckily, those match ups usually involve Sun Belt conference teams which means that few people are watching. Snicker.

Good Game Tonight

college footballTonight, a Top 25 match up between Nebraska and Missouri will cause a lot of people to lose sleep, especially east coast college football fans who probably won’t hit the sack until well after midnight. As we progress deeper into the season, a number of Thursday night tilts could be conference decider’s, therefore ESPN will come out the ratings winner while employers will wonder why their personnel are dragging their feet on Fridays.

Besides the Cornhuskers and Tigers tonight, another set of Tigers and  theGators will suit up on Saturday for what promises to be the best game of the season so far. Here are my predictions:

Nebraska over Missouri – Missouri has the home field advantage, but I believe that the Cornhuskers will pull this one out late. Only Nebraska has been tested so far this season, losing by one point on the road to a very good Virginia Tech team.

Alabama at Mississippi – Is the Crimson Tide the best team in the land? Some folks outside of Florida and Louisiana think so. Can Mark Ingram be stopped? With nearly 500 yards rushing so far, the 5’10” Ingram is a giant among running backs. The Michigan native (how did the Wolverines or Spartans lose him?) is averaging about six yards a carry and should run past the Rebels early and often this Saturday afternoon.

Wisconsin at Ohio State – The Badgers are 5-0 and the Buckeyes are 4-1, but Ohio State is ranked #9 while Wisconsin isn’t in the Top 25. And for good reason too: Wisconsin has yet to play a game against a top notch opponent, something that will change this weekend. I expect that Ohio State will win by two touchdowns or more, but I can also see an upset brewing if the Buckeyes don’t put the Badgers in their place early.

Florida at LSU – Cancel your date plans this Saturday night. Or, if she is an avid football fan, then watch the game with her. Better yet, propose to her – she’ll put up with your football watching ways for many years.  What more can be said about this match up? The Tigers have had three close calls already this season while the Gators are exactly where they should be. Still, is Tim Tebow fully recovered from his concussion yet? If not, this game belongs to the Tigers. If he is, the Gators should squeeze this one out. Honestly, this game is a toss up.

Halfway Point of the Season

This weekend will be the sixth game for a number of teams, meaning these schools have now reached the halfway mark to the season. Fortunately, most contests from this point forward feature conference action, just what most fans want at this stage of the game.

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LSU Tigers Snag 2009 College World Series

June 25th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 5 Comments | Filed in Collegiate Sports

Throughout the 1990s, no Division 1 college baseball team was as dominate as LSU, who won five of the ten championships between 1991 and 2000. But, other schools quickly squeezed the Tigers out over most of the ensuing decade until this past Wednesday night when LSU ripped Texas 11-4 in the deciding third game of the College Worlds Series (CWS).

baseballThe Tigers initial ascent to the pinnacle of national college baseball did not begin until they won their first ever championship in 1991. By that time, Southern Cal had already won eleven CWS titles while Arizona, Stanford, Wichita State and Georgia were all rising powers themselves. The school made a name for itself by winning the national championship in football in 2007, but a return to baseball greatness remained elusive.

Wednesday’s win came on the heels of a narrow extra inning victory on Monday followed by a strong Longhorn performance on Tuesday where Texas cooled off the previously hot LSU bats, 5-1. Fears that Texas would once again keep LSU hitters out of the final game were quickly dashed when Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer first inning homer that led to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Texas responded with two runs each in the  third and fifth innings to tie the game, but the Tigers erupted for five more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

While all of the LSU players celebrated the Tigers victory, for one player this was his second national championship at the Louisiana school. Outfielder Jared Mitchell who is a first-round pick for the Chicago White Sox is also a wide receiver for the football team. The 2007 team won the SEC title and followed that up in early 2008 with a national championship of their own. Mitchell was also named as the CWS MVP, batting .348 with two homers and seven runs batted in.

Sources: ESPN, LSU Sports

Photo Credit: Nathaniel Tutvid

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Let’s Play Some College Football!

August 5th, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 4 Comments | Filed in Collegiate Sports, NCAA Football

Three Weeks Until Kickoff!

The college football season is fast approaching, with the first games to be held the last weekend of this month. Yes, the lull from the January bowl games to Labor Day is about over, giving fans from Athens to Laramie and everywhere else a chance to cheer on their favorite teams.

college footballLSU was crowned champion last season despite doing what no other #1 team had done previously — they lost two twice before knocking off Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS title game.

LSU Opens Light

This year, LSU starts the season on August 30th against Appalachian State (ASU), the top team from the formerly known as 1-AA division. That ASU team started the 2007 season with a shocking victory on the University of Michigan’s field, but don’t expect LSU to be caught looking when the Mountaineers from Boone, NC come to town. LSU follows up its opening contest with games against Troy and North Texas before heading into SEC play.

Early Season Tilt

With major college football now a twelve game season, most schools are electing to pad their schedules with a subdivision team or a weak BCS team in a bid to get that extra win and position themselves for a higher post season bowl opportunity. Not so with Ohio State and USC who will be meeting each other, Rose Bowl style, at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday, September 13th.

Both schools have a decent conference schedule this year with most of their toughest games at home. Whether worthy of that distinction or not, the winner of this tilt will be an early season favorite to play at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL on January 8, 2009. Me thinks that several other programs will take exception to this theory, including several powerhouses from the SEC.

Any Fight Left In The Irish?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish made history last year, but not the kind of history the Irish are noted for.  Fresh off a 10-3 season in 2006, Irish faithful expected much in 2007, but got very little. Three wins to be exact and a heart-wrenching home loss to Navy. The arm of Jimmy Clausen will guide the troops this year, but it is the defense that needs the most improvement, a unit that gave up 29 points per game last season.

Sporting News says that the Irish are the #28 team on their Top 50 list for 2008 and NBC recently extended their exclusive TV contract with the university through the 2015 season. Expect the team to forget last season as soon as they take the field when they open up against San Diego State on September 6th.

Big East, Not The Least

A few years back when the Big East Conference lost its top three teams, the Miami Hurricanes, Boston College Eagles, and Virginia Tech Hokies, most pundits said that the conference’s ability to compete on the national level would be limited to only one team: the West Virginia Mountaineers. Since the Big 3 fled for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East’s fortunes have actually improved while the ACC still remains a full step behind the SEC.

This year, West Virginia is expected to shine, but the South Florida Bulls are right up there as well. In addition, a renewed Pitt Panther team should be bowl bound while UConn, Rutgers, Louisville, and Cincinnati, battle for the two remaining post season positions.  Speaking of Rutgers, will Ray Rice’s early exit to the NFL hurt the team and will the State of New Jersey find enough money to fully fund the stadium upgrade?

Lots Of Coverage This Fall

SayCampusLife will keep an eye on big time college football this fall, but we’ll throw in a few surprises including some smaller school programs and other tidbits. The season starts early, but by the time the first fall chill is in the air, we’ll have a good idea just how far some of these teams will go.


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