College football season is winding down, but this weekend is extremely important for a number of teams. The Army/Navy game is on right now, but beyond that, there are four games that really matter:

USC vs. UCLA

Today at 4:30, UCS and UCLA meet at Rose Bowl. The Bruins are 4-7 this season, so to them, this game is all about pride. Even if they win it, they won’t be bowl eligible.

For USC, today is a nail-biter. If they lose to UCLA - which isn’t likely, but is possible - they’ll be completely out of the running for the Rose Bowl. They’ll be in a three-way tie for the Pac-10 title, and due to past games, Oregon State would win that tie and go to the Rose Bowl against Penn State.

If USC wins, though, they aren’t even automatically going to the Rose Bowl. Why not? Well, depending on how other games do this weekend, they could actually go to the National Championship Game. That isn’t likely…but is possible, and you better believe that Petey and his boys would be pushing hard for that vote.

I’m routing for UCS in the Rose Bowl. Penn State already beat Oregon State, and while that isn’t a guarantee again, they have something to prove. I think UCS-PSU will be a much better game.

Alabama vs. Florida

Another important game this afternoon is Alabama vs. Florida at 4 pm. This is the first time that the 1 and 2 teams have played for a conference title. The result here is simple - the winner will go to the National Championship Game and the loser will, in all likelihood, play in one of the other BCS bowls.

Do I care who wins? Actually, yes. I 100% believe that Alabama deserves it more. Whatever happens today, Alabama has been a much more solid team all season, and if this was a conference that didn’t have a title game, they’d already be going to the BCS title game.

Oklahoma vs. Missouri

The Big 12 title game starts tonight at 8 pm. We’ll see the one-loss Sooners play Missouri, which is a good team, but just ranked #19. In other words, they aren’t playing for the title, or, in all likelihood, a BCS Bowl. If Oklahoma wins, they’ll play either Alabama or Florida.

If they don’t win…eek. That opens a can of worms, because tons of teams will try to claim the top spot. Hell, the SEC champ loser will likely even make a bid for a rematch! Should they lose, my hope is that Texas will play for the title, but at this point in the season, I think that Oklahoma deserves it more.

One more?

Yes, there is one more game that matters. Right now, #17 Boston College is playing #25 Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game, and the winning team gets an automatic berth in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s bullshit. With so many other good teams, having a team that isn’t even ranked in the top 15 play is a fucking insult to my intelligence. That’s how it is, though…so I guess this game does matter.

I can’t watch every game, and there are tons not on TV every week. So, instead of blogging about every game, I’ll link you to the people who are talking about it (by conference). If I missed your link, leave a comment!

Virginia Tech 23, #23 Maryland 13

• VIRGINIA TECH 23, #23 MARYLAND 13 at Today’s ACC Headlines
• Virginia Tech Hokies Dominate Maryland Terrapins at Fire Bryan Stinespring
• What is that French word? at Turtle Waxing

#19 North Carolina 28, #20 Georgia Tech 7

• Tar Heels Defeat ACC Rival Georgia Tech, 28-7 at North Carolina Football News

#22 Florida State 41, Clemson 27

• Postgame report card: Florida State 41, Clemson 27 at Chopping Block
• Clemson vs. Florida State Football Game Notes at Clemson Tigers News

North Carolina State 27, Duke 17

• NC State 27, Duke 17 at Statefans Nation
• Keys to the game revisited: NC State at Duke at NC State Wolfpack

Wake Forest 28, Virginia 17

• Quick Kicks: Virginia vs. Wake Forest at inRich Sports Main
• Wake Forest vs. Virginia at Sam Smith’s Blog
• Wake vs. Virginia: The other side at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Boston College 17, Notre Dame 0

• The Fate of Notre Dame at Raidersaint’s Weblog
• Eagles Shut Out Notre Dame, 17-0 at Boston College Football News
• Boston College 17, Notre Dame 0 at Dueling Couches

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC

(check back soon if the link isn’t live yet)

I can’t watch every game, and there are tons not on TV every week. So, instead of blogging about every game, I’ll link you to the people who are talking about it (by conference). If I missed your link, leave a comment!

North Carolina 45, Boston College 24

• Boosterism at Triangle Offense
• BC vs UNC: The Recap at The Fifth Corner

Miami-FL 16, Wake Forest 10

• FSU UPDATE: Miami 16, Wake Forest 10 at The Word
• Miami Hurricanes 16 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 10 at Miami Sports

Duke 10, Vanderbilt 7

• Big Day for Duke Sports at Zach Dotsey
• Tough defense drops Vanderbilt 10 - 7 at Blue Devil Nation
• LIVE! UPDATE: DUKE 10, VANDERBILT 7 at Moral Victory

Virginia 24, #18 Georgia Tech 17

• Survival! Terps Now 6-2! at Turtle Soup
• Virginia Georgia Tech at We Are SC

#25 Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 20

• Quick thoughts: Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 20 at Chopping Block
• Postgame React: Virginia Tech Hokies @ your Florida State Seminoles at Tomahawk Nation

Maryland 27, North Carolina State 24

• Benjamin 3; Maryland 27, NC State 24 at Shine Silently
• Keys the game revisited: NC State at Maryland at NC State Wolfpack

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC

(check back soon if the link isn’t live yet)

I can’t watch every game, and there are tons not on TV every week. So, instead of blogging about every game, I’ll link you to the people who are talking about it (by conference). If I missed your link, leave a comment!

Florida State 26, North Carolina State 17

• FSU 26, NC State 17 at Section Six
• Postgame report card: Florida State 26, NC State 17 at Chopping Block - Seminoles Blog

Maryland 26, #21 Wake Forest 0

• Navarre breaks through vs. Wake Forest at Maryland Terrapins Football & Basketball
• Football: Maryland Terrapins vs Wake Forest at One Game at a Time

Georgia Tech 21, Clemson 17

• Georgia Tech Edges Clemson at Bored Sports
• Clemson Loses To Gerogia Tech 21-17. at faniq Blog

Virginia 16, #18 North Carolina 13

• Virginia Beats North Carolina at NCAA Football fanhouse

Miami-FL 49, Duke 31

• There are no moral victories: Miami 49, Duke 31 at Triangle Offense
• Miami rolls past Duke 49-31 at WSJ Sports
• Gameday blog: UM 49, Duke 31 (F) at Eye on the U

Boston College 28, #17 Virginia Tech 23

• Boston College getting it done, despite a turnover or five at ESPN’s ACC Blog

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC 

(check back soon if the link isn’t live yet)

I can’t watch every game, and there are tons not on TV every week. So, instead of blogging about every game, I’ll link you to the people who are talking about it (by conference). If I missed your link, leave a comment!

Clemson against #21 Wake Forest

• WAKE FOREST 12, CLEMSON 7 at Today’s ACC Headlines
• Clemson’s disastrous season just got worse at ESPN

Georgia Tech against Gardner-Webb

• Georgia Tech nips Gardner-Webb 10-7 at WSJ Sports
• Is anyone watching Georgia Tech? at ESPN
• Yellow Jackets Best Bulldogs, 10-7 at Rambling Wreck

Miami-FL against UCF

• Knights Fall Short at Miami at UCF Athletics
• Gameday blog: UM 20, UCF 14 at Eye on the U

#22 North Carolina against Notre Dame

• Notre Dame vs UNC: The Recap at The Fifth Corner
• Ugh at Rambles of a Crazy Coffin
• Irish lose in strange finish at Classic Ground

Virginia against East Carolina

• Virginia Tops ECU 35-20 at ECU Pirates
• It’s Gotten Bad Real Fast for ECU at NCAA Football FanHouse

Not playing this week:

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC (if the link you click isn’t working yet, stop back later)

Please note: This is a DATED post that is not updated. If you’re reading this AFTER 1/15/08, please see the most current news in Virginia Tech recruiting HERE!

For recruiting at other schools, see THIS POST.

Currently all of the following players are verbally committed, but not signed.

The number after the player/position is their position ranking as compared to all over 2008 prospects

Offensive:
Tony Gregory, Running Back, 33
Ryan Williams, Running Back, 3 (57 overall)
Ben Barber, Wide Receiver, 97
Jarrett Boykin, Wide Receiver, not ranked
D.J. Coles, Wide Receiver, 36
Austin Fuller, Wide Receiver, 72
Derrick McCoy, Wide Receiver, 67
Eric Martin, Tight End, not ranked
Nick Becton, Offensive Tackle, 39
Bobby Massie, Offensive Tackle, 29
Vinston Painter, Offensive Tackle, 15
Michael Via, Offensive Lineman, 46

Defensive:
Isaiah Hamlette, Strongside Defensive End, 37
Antoine Hopkins, Strongside Defensive End, 23
Lyndell Gibson, Inside Linebacker, 31
Jake Johnson, Outside Linebacker, 48
Quillie Odom, Outside Linebacker, not ranked
Allen Stephens, Outside Linebacker, 51
Bruce Taylor, Inside Linebacker, 11
D.J. Thomas, Cornerback not ranked
Eddie Whitley, Safety, 53
Lorenzo Williams, Safety, 38

Special Teams:

Athletes:
Xavier Boyce, 63
Jeron Gouveia, not ranked
Kendrick Pressley, not ranked
Dyrell Robers, 32
Peter Rose, 80

…that’s what its all about. *Clap*

Kansas didn’t have any trouble putting their left foot in…the end zone, that is. Since it was announced that the Jayhawks would be taking a place in one of the major bowl games, there have been critics. People jeered at that team, saying the Missouri was the better choice, and that Kansas’ schedule wasn’t up to par.

And I’m not saying that Missouri didn’t deserve to be in a bowl game. They did. But Kansas deserved it as well.

Last night, Todd Reesing (who looks more like a kicker than a quarterback) led his team to a FedEx Orange Bowl win 24 - 21. Don’t let that score fool you, either. If they would have played the last play of the game instead of letting the clock run out, they would have been up another touchdown - they were on the one yard line.

I appreciate the way Coach Mangino has turned this team around. It was a good game and a great win - something we all love to see in college football. Congratulations, Kansas Jayhawks!

Putting up the Christmas Tree of death yesterday kept me from blogging much, but I did get to watch a few key games - namely LSU and Tennessee. What an exciting week to end the college football season! Here’s a little weekend wrap-up:

#6 Virginia Tech took the ACC championship with a 30 - 16 win over #11 Boston College. Hey, does anyone remember when BC was  contending for the national championship? BC Quarterback Matt Ryan had a good week, thought, as he was named to the coaches’ team. Too bad the two fourth-quarter interceptions he threw in this game lost BC the chance to play in the Orange Bowl.

#7 LSU, with head coach Les Miles at the helm, dominated #14 Tennessee in the SEC championship game. OK, maybe “dominated” is a strong word - but heir 21 - 14 win shoots them to bowl status for sure, and many are arguing that they should be playing in the national championship game.

It was a close one, but #17 Oregon lost to Oregon State 38 - 31 in two overtimes. Ouch, that hurts.

#8 USC overcame the media frenzy surrounding their game and won 24 - 7 against UCLA. Did anyone really doubt they would win?

In a huge upset, #2 West Virginia become like, the millionth #2 casualty  this year falling to…Pittsburgh…um….yeah, good work guys…Final score against this 5-7 team was 9 - 13. But, that loss was important to another team - Ohio State. Because the #1 and #2 team lost (no one thought in a million years that would happen against Pittsburgh), OSU will be playing in the National Championship Game.

Oh yeah, you didn’t hear? #1 Missouri lost too. But at least their loss wasn’t embarrassing - it was 38 - 17 against #9 Oklahoma.

#13 Arizona State won against Arizona, 20 - 17.  No big surprise here, but that should means that Arizona State ends in the top 12 and can be considered for a bowl as an at-large team.

Underdog of the year, #12 Hawaii, went undefeated with their win last night against Washington. And STILL everyone is saying that they’re not that great. STFU. I hope Hawaii gets paired in a Bowl Game against someone super tough…and wins.

Did Virginia Tech have that ball secured before going out of bounds during the first half? I’ll argue with the officials on that one, but in the end it didn’t matter. Things looked bad for Boston College, but in the final two minutes, the score went from 0-10 in favor of the Hokies to 14-10 for a Boston College win! What an unbelievable comeback. The Hokies were too Pokie to make anything out of the remaining few seconds (har har), and the “#2 Jinx” has officially been broken by none other than a team who had previously helped perpetuate that very streak.

Matt Ryan really showed why he was Heisman winner in the incredible final minutes of the game. During the first half he looked like he was channeling Anthony Morelli with his inconsistancy, but he pulled his shit together and made an incredible play to the endzone, giving BC the lead with just seconds on the clock. At that point in the game, I didn’t think he could do it. Matt Ryan, you have proven me wrong. AND IN THE RAIN!

I’d like to note (a-HEM) that for the first time in a few weeks, one of my predictions was actually pretty close (but hey, it’s not my fault. College ball has bee screwy!). Earlier today, I predicted a low scoring game with BC over VT 17 to 7. The final score was 14-10, so I wasn’t that far off! Woo hoo!

So now the real exciting game of the weekend will be Ohio State at Penn State. You all know that I’m a Penn State fan, but this has nothing to do with my Penn State love affair. OSU is the number one team in the nation according to all the BCS computers, but everyone agrees that this is their first huge test of the season. Penn State isn’t bad when Morelli has a good day, and Happy Valley has always been a hard place for OSU to win. In fact, the team’s last loss was in State College.

And if OSU loses, does that make BC number one? I believe it does!

What an exciting start to the college football weekend. I just love a good game!

AP Photo/Don Petersen

Many people have said that #2 Boston College hasn’t really played anyone “big” yet…well this week they get their chance. BC, led by Heisman-hopeful QB Matt Ryan, is on the road at #8 Virginia Tech. It’s a early game TONIGHT, which I actually think is great because I can watch it without flipping through to also watch a bunch of other games.

Who’s my pick for win? Boston College. I have to go with the ranking on this one. I’ve said in the past that I think they’re a bit overrated, but if what some believe is true - that their defense is unstoppable - they’ll run all over Virginia Tech. You need points to win a football game, and I think Virginia Tech will just be stopped in their tracks. I do think that Virginia Tech will hold their own, though. They’re great at putting the pressure on the quarterback, which needs to be done if they have any chance of winning this game.

My prediction? It will be a low-scoring game, and not as far off as some of the experts may think. I’m giving BC the edge 17-7.