Nobrainer’s Think Tank

Two drunken rants ago, I complained about the sports media being whores. Prostitutes. Hookers. Those willing to sell themselves. (Of course I put the sports media on the same page as all media — they have the same goals if different source material).

I was particularly enraged by the pre-game hype surrounding the South Carolina/Georgia game. Historically this has been a close game. However, the Gamecocks barely squeaked by a particularly lame Mississippi State team in week 1. Had most pundits predicted a close game with a Georgia victory, it wouldn’t have been so surprising. But most predicted a UGA loss. Most egregious of all were the writers and editors at southernpigskin. All 4 picked USCe. They obviously are making picks not based on the school or the team. They are picking based on the coach’s name. You’d have thought they would have learned from Lou Holtz.

Experts indeed.

South Carolina never had a chance and the 18-0 score makes the point. The media will gladly create a conflict where there isn’t one for the sake of selling a game.

In other games:

Clemson shot itself in the foot at Boston College. The Tigers allowed about 200 kickoff return yards. Yeah, that will fuck up your gameplan. On the upside, Clemson plays a Florida State team that nearly got knocked off by Troy in Tallahassee.

Ohio State knocked off Texas. Yup, replacing an all-world quarterback with a freshman is a recipe for not being able to knock off a #1 team.

Notre Dame crushed Penn State. I hate Notre Dame. I like Penn State. PSU is replacing a valuable quarterback. I still don’t believe Notre Dame is that good (I’ll take Michigan next week). PSU has returned to the form they enjoyed a few years ago. In short, Penn State just isn’t that good.

UVA barely skirted by Wyoming in overtime, 13-12. In week 1 the Hoos got pummeled by Pittsburgh. I expect that Western Michigan is going to give them problems next week.

Duke, who got shut out by D-IAA Richmond last week, went to Wake Forest and gave the Deacs everything they could handle. If not for last-second heroics/luck, the Blue Devils would have notched a decent road win.

And in other signs that football is dead in the Research Triangle, NC State ended up on the wrong end of the stick against Akron. Last week the Puppies were mightily challenged by Appalachian State.

The ACC is looking extremely weak this year.

UPDATE: Marcus at the Atlantic Coast Chronicles makes the ACC case better than I was able (yes, yes, I still find pictures to be better than words).