NFL Poll and NCAA Bowl Predictions

With both NCAA Football and the NFL seasons coming to a close, Virginia Orange's Owen Gotimer and I thought it would be important to discuss the possible postseasons for the nation's top teams.

To the right, please select a Super Bowl representative for the AFC and for the NFC.

Below, take a look at the teams I have squaring off in NCAA Bowl Games around the country around New Year's Day.

BCS National Championship
     1 Alabama vs. 2 Florida State

Rose Bowl
     3 Ohio State vs. 8 Stanford

Sugar Bowl
     4 Auburn vs. 19 UCF

Orange Bowl
     6 Clemson vs. 11 Michigan State

Fiesta
    7 Oklahoma State vs. 16 Fresno State

New Mexico Bowl
     Washington vs. Colorado State

Las Vegas Bowl
     San Diego State University vs. 22 UCLA

Idaho Potato Bowl
     Bowling Green vs. San Jose State

New Orleans Bowl
     UTSA vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
     Rutgers vs. North Texas

Hawai'i Bowl
     Rice vs. UNLV

Little Caesar's Bowl
     Boston College vs. Ball State

Poinsettia Bowl
     Utah State vs. Army

Military Bowl
     Syracuse vs. Tulane

Fight Hunger Bowl
     BYU vs. Arizona

Pinstripe Bowl
     Houston vs. Maryland

Belk Bowl
     Cincinnati vs. UNC

Russell Athletic Bowl
     20 Louisville vs. Virginia Tech

Buffalo Wild Wings
     18 Oklahoma vs. Minnesota

Armed Forces Bowl
     East Carolina vs. Boise State

Music City Bowl
     Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt

Alamo Bowl
     Texas vs. 13 Oregon

Holiday Bowl
     Kansas State vs. 12 Arizona State

AdvoCare Bowl
     Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo

Sun Bowl
     23 USC vs. Miami (FL)

Liberty Bowl
     Marshall vs. Ole Miss

Chick-fil-a Bowl
     24 Duke vs. 17 LSU

Heart of Dallas Bowl
     Notre Dame vs. Middle Tennessee State

Gator Bowl
     Iowa vs. 21 Texas A&M

Outback Bowl
     Nebraska vs. Georgia

Capital One Bowl
     15 Wisconsin vs. 5 Missouri

Cotton Bowl
     9 Baylor vs. 10 South Carolina

BBVA Compass Bowl
     SMU vs. Mississippi State

Go Daddy Bowl
      14 Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State

Meineke Bowl
     Texas Tech vs. Michigan

Is the NHL’s lack of suspension for Ray Emery a calculated marketing move?

The NHL has always struggled to compete for fans with leagues like MLB, the NFL, and the NBA and even the NCAA and last year’s lockout did not help. Frustrated fans turned to other sports for entertainment and have had difficulty getting back into the hockey spirit causing ticket prices to fall dramatically.

But one thing that the NHL has something that separates it above all other leagues: its allowance of fights.

Friday’s line brawl between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals was an extreme example but guarantees that there will be grudges held and mitts ready to be dropped when the teams meet again on December 15^th and two days later, December 17^th.

Typically, the league attempts to avoid player injuries and huge line brawls in order to at least somewhat maintain the integrity of the game but after Ray Emery’s “bout” with Capital’s goaltender Braden Holtby, the league has not suspended the Flyer’s net minder. Emery made his way down the length of the ice and continuously sucker punched Holtby despite Holtby’s unwillingness to drop the gloves.

While Ray Emery did not start the line brawl, Holtby blatantly did not want to fight. Ray Emery’s comment was "I basically told him to protect himself. I gave him a chance to protect himself."So understanding that Holtby did not want to fight, Emery still went after him. A lack of suspension leaves players "between a rock and a hard place"; either get a retaliation penalty or get the ever-living $H!7 beat out of you.

The NHL cited that fighting can only be penalized during the game by the referees based on the league’s rule.

The utter beat down is currently the talk of the hockey world and made ESPN’s premier show, SportsCenter, despite the show’s aversion to hockey highlights compared to football, basketball, and baseball.

In fact, a simple Google search of “Flyers”, loaded an article and video of the fight.

The fight even got the Capitals’ Twitter page going. “Only one thing to say after all of that. #Scoreboard. #CapsFlyers”; the Capitals made reference to the 7 to 0 scoreboard in favor of D.C.’s team even without Star Player Alexander Ovechkin.
The fight is definitely making its rounds through the World Wide Web, and sport fans that may pass by a hockey game on TV, may be more tempted to stick around to see a fight or two. It will be interesting to see the next few meetings between these two clubs and the viewership numbers that go along with them. They are sure to be hostile.