Ripper Ramblings

Iowa State. Quitely Gene Chizik is making some positive strides in Ames, mostly on the defensive side. Iowa State's defense has moved up 53 spots in total defense from 2006 (102 to 49). They've managed to hold all but two opponents under 400 yards. The Cyclones have player perhaps their best football the last two weeks. This past week they held Missouri 52 yards below its previous season low and 133 yards below its season average. The prior week Oklahoma was held to its second worst yardage outing (worst in loss to Colorado) and its lowest point output for the season. Don't be surprised if in Iowa State's three remaining games (Kansas State, Colorado, Kansas) they are able to spring an upset.

Arizona. Similarly, Arizona's first year offensive coordinator, Sonny Dykes, is making an impact in the desert. Arizona's passing offense has improved from 94th nationally a year ago to seventh this season. With a rushing offense checking in at 112 you'd think that the passing success would have come at the expense of the rushing attack, but Arizona finished only slightly better, 110, in rushing a season ago. That being said head coach Mike Stoops may be done in Tucson. Texas Tech's struggles to win big games in the face of gaudy stats probably takes some of the luster off of the statistical improvements made by Dykes.

Bowls. An interesting problem could be upcoming for the lesser bowls. As we sit, there is a strong likelihood that bowl eligible Big 10 or SEC schools could be home for the holidays. The Big 10 projects 9 eligible teams for only 7 tie-ins. The SEC will likely have 10 eligible teams for 8 tie-ins. It looks like all of the other BCS conferences will be able to fill up their tie-ins. With Navy likely bowl eligible and heading to the Poinsettia Bowl, that leaves the four BCS at-large births as the only of their kind. The non-BCS conferences also appear likely to fill their bowl slots, but in some cases barely. What will that mean? We could have 6-6 bowl eligible teams like Mississippi State and Indiana sitting at home watching programs like 6-6 Memphis and 6-6 Ball State playing in a bowl game. That will anger BCS conference commissioners and bowl organizers alike. The big winner in it is, of course, the non-BCS conferences. It would be a double kick-in-the-face if Hawaii snatches up one of the four BCS at-large births.

Big Games. Three of the biggest remaining games of the regular season are as follows: Arizona State vs. Oregon, Kansas vs. Missouri, and UConn vs. West Virginia. Wow.

Hawaii. Hawaii continues to climb in the BCS but its due entirely to the human bowls as the Warriors are scoring a zero in the computer component of the BCS. In order to register any points in the computer component it is necessary to be in the top 25 of at least two computers. Currently UH is ranked as such in just one computer. The reason for the low rating is due to the amazingly easy schedule they have played so far. According to Anderson & Hester's BCS computer, the toughest non-FCS game Hawaii has played this year is versus the 84th ranked New Mexico State. Here is where Hawaii ranks in all of the BCS computers: Jeff Sagarin - 41; Anderson & Hester - 33; Richard Billingsley - 31; Colley Matrix - 26; Kenneth Massey -54; and Dr. Peter Wolfe - 14. Computing the computer ranking like the BCS does by only using the middle four computers, Hawaii comes in at 33rd. However, its not as bad for Hawaii as that number may appear. Currently, Michigan is 12th in the BCS with a point total of 0.426. Given Hawaii's current human poll rankings, a score of 0.1899 from the computers would put them even with Michigan at 12. For that to happen, Hawaii's four counting BCS computers would have to give them an average rating of 21st. With Fresno State, Nevada, Boise State, and Washington being UH's remaining games, expect for that computer ranking to soar in the coming weeks.

Parity. The back door way for Hawaii to get into the BCS would be to finish in the top 16 of the BCS while one of the BCS's automatic qualifiers is ranked lower than them. Currently that doesn't look like a good possibility. Each BCS conference is represented in the top 7 of the BCS. The only conference with two in the top 7 is the Pac 10. Those teams - Oregon and Arizona State - play this weekend, so it's likely that at weeks end all six BCS conferences will be represented in the BCS's top six rankings.

Croomed. While Sly Croom has been winning more games, it's unlikely all the coaches he has defeated will be fired. Of the four FBS schools Mississippi State has beaten this year, two are manned by first year coaches (Tulane and UAB). One other, Rich Brooks at Kentucky, is no longer looking over his shoulder. Sly may not be without a Croomed victim, however. It looks likely that Tommy Tuberville may be out at Auburn after this season. Certainly if Arkansas and Mississippi fall to Sly, Houston Nutt and Coach O could join the list of those to be Croomed.

Zooked. We need a verb for for The Zooker. Please help.