BC Creates a Mess

Well, I've been saying all along that if Maryland wins the UNC game and the FSU game, it doesn't matter what else they do. 

Call me crazy, but I didn't expect BC to go into Tallahassee and dominate the Seminoles like they did, winning 27-17, creating a new wrinkle.

Maryland still has to beat Florida State. That is imperative. If they don't, they won't have a shot for the ACC championship, and will play in something like the Music City Bowl. If they do, and if Wake beats BC, then start making travel arrangements to Tampa. However, if BC, the forgotten team in the Atlantic, pulls off another upset by going to Wake Forest and beating the desperate Demon Deacons, Maryland will have to go up to Boston and take down the Eagles. I know you didn't read all that, so if you take anything away from this post, take the following:

1. Maryland has to beat FSU. 

2. Root as hard as you can for Wake next week. 

(Photo Credit: AP)

The Play of the Game

Anybody who watched the Wake game last year and the Cal game this year should know what the play of the game was during that domination of Wake.

The 4th quarter started with Maryland up 19-0. A minute later, they punted. Within two minutes after that, Wake had the ball in Maryland territory, driving. A few key defensive stops got it to 4th down and 6. Skinner dropped back, and found his man wide open across the middle.

Or so it appeared.

Jeremy Navarre, running the complete opposite direction stuck his right arm back and tipped the ball, forcing the incompletion. It reversed all momentum that was building up.

This is not to take away from Heyward-Bey's incredible one-handed juggling act on a 41 yard completion, or Danny Oquendo willing himself to a touchdown, which sealed the win. Those were great individual efforts. The most important play came from Navarre.

Weekend Watch

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on here for a little while. In any case, here's what I (and you, of course) should be watching for this weekend.

1. Whether the Rays can punch momentum in the face. They were up 7-0 in the 7th inning. The Red Sox couldn't get an out while they were in the field, and the Rays were pretty much doing whatever they wanted. Then came Big Papi, and we all know where that went from there. 

Of course, none of that will matter if the Rays take game 6, which will be tomorrow at 8:07 p.m. If it goes to 7, though, it will be a miracle if the Rays take it.

2. Whether Maryland can become consistent with their inconsistency. If everything goes according to plan with the season, they will beat number 21 Wake Forest. Things wont be easy, though, even if the "good" Maryland shows up. (We're going to assume they do because if the "bad" Maryland shows up, they will be beaten by 50.) Wake Forest boasts one of the top defenses in the country, and specializes in getting turnovers. If Chris Turner can throw one interception or less, however, Maryland will win. 

3. The NFL's contenders will continue to separate themselves from the pretenders.

Games to keep an eye on include:

MIN at CHI (for control of the NFC North); BAL at MIA (the winner will be back in the wild card chase, the loser won't); NO at CAR (for a leg-up in the NFC South); IND at GB (GB needs this because of the earlier NFC North game, IND needs to get rolling on a streak); CLE at WAS (we'll know a lot more about CLE after this week); DEN at NE (I've hated on them both, but the winner will impress me)

Next week, I will hit upon all these and more when I look back upon the weekend. Other things to look forward to include the power rankings, and the inaugural MVP/LVP for the NFL.

I won't be at Maryland Madness tonight due to a prior commitment; someone let me know how it is and how the team looks. Basketball preview will certainly come soon. Have a good weekend everyone.

And I hate to say "I told you so" about the Phillies while I was on air, but ... 

Looking Back

With so many sports going on at once, how can you keep track of them all? You don't have to, but I will. Every Monday I will look back and hit briefly upon the 5 story lines that stuck out from the previous weekend.

1. The Big 12 officially has the depth to compete with the SEC as college football's best conference. What a huge Saturday, and nobody made more noise than these two conferences. To say that another conference is even close is absolutely absurd. What we are witnessing happen is teams beating each other up in conference play. This will lead to teams getting worse bowl games than they deserve, which will lead to the Maryland's of the world being absolutely torched.

Consider:

Texas is now the number one team in the country after beating Oklahoma, but if you don't think Oklahoma is still a top 5 team, you didn't watch that game.

Kansas looked dominant. They're 16 and should be higher.

Oklahoma St. is undefeated. It really wasn't that huge of an upset over Missouri.

2. Wake Forest is the best team in the ACC. Which means that Maryland will probably beat them Saturday. If Maryland does, the Coastal is there for the taking, because the next three best teams (VT, GT, and UNC) are all in the Atlantic.

3. The MLB playoffs are fun again. After some boring divisional series, the championships series are already heating up. Tampa Bay proved their mettle - again - by outlasting the Sox in game 2 after being blanked by Dice-K in game 1. And the Dodgers certainly made things interesting last night in their beat-down of the Phillies, especially Hiroki Kuroda, who threw the ball on a line at Shane Victorino's head.

I love the Dodgers player, who, after the game said: "It wasn't at his head, it was over his head."

Yea, he ducked.

4. Contender or Pretender? 

Contender: Colts, Jags, Chargers, Bucs, Cardinals

Pretender: Pats, Dolphins, Ravens

5. Matt Ryan is already better than a lot of starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Did you see that throw he made with 6 seconds left to put the team in field goal range? Terrific throw. Every time I see a Falcons highlight, it's Matt Ryan heaving the ball 40 yards downfield right on the money. 

Meanwhile, Joe Flacco is playing like ... a rookie from Delaware who should be the third string quarterback on his team this year but, due to a couple injuries, is forced to start behind a young offensive line and with a new head coach.

He will get better, but it may not be this year. 

Big Weekend

On a weekend in college park that is officially signaling the arrival of autumn - it's supposed to rain all three days - you couldn't ask for too much more from the sporting community to entertain you as you're stuck indoors. Aforementioned playoff races are heating up in baseball, both in the AL Central and NL East/Wild Card, so look for that all weekend long.

If you're in College Park tonight, suck it up and get to Ludwig Field. The game between Number 1 Wake Forest and Number 2 Maryland Terrapins starts at 8 tonight. I know a few friends and I are getting there at 6:30 and are still concerned we might not get prime seating. Tyler will be in the press box for this one; look for his blog later tonight about it.

Saturday marks Maryland's first marquee matchup of the year: a dreaded trip to Death Valley to take on Clemson. Heather Dinich, who I had the pleasure of meeting last year for a pre-game broadcast about Terrapins football, is the full-time ACC football blogger for ESPN.com. She is predicting a Maryland upset. Let's hope. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. Around the rest of the country, you have three prime time match-ups of ranked teams playing each other. All four of Maryland's other ACC Atlantic opponents have non-conference games. 

Outside of the big game of the day in Washington at Dallas, Sunday looks pretty dull by comparison to how it has been the past few weeks. When SI.com's most watchable games of the weekend features a Gus Frerotte vs. Kerry Collins showdown at number 3, you know it's time to start looking forward to MNF.

And what a game it will be. But more on that later. I will be doing some live game commentary during the Clemson game tomorrow, so if you have any questions or anything of the sort during the game, leave a comment. Have a good weekend guys.