Judz College Football Top 25 (Week 8) and CFB Week in Review

I am really tempted to not do a Top 25 this week (or for the next few weeks) as I think any rankings at this point are so combustible that any prospective team we put in the top 10 could lose at least one, if not two more games. Thus, I am kind of doing a joint review and preview post for the next few weeks by conference.

ACC:
Front runner Boston College is still undefeated and is #2 in the BCS rankings, but the meat of their schedule is just beginning, starting with Virginia Tech this Thursday night in Blacksburg and continuing with Florida State, @Maryland, @ Clemson and Miami. They will not be undefeated at the end of the year, but if somehow they are, BC will deserve to be in the NC game. Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest (with Clemson, Maryland and Miami looking in) appear to be alongside BC in the hunt for the ACC automatic bid.

Big 12:
Oklahoma looked lethargic against Iowa State, but are still the class of the conference and a serious NC game contender. They will need a few breaks from other teams the rest of the way, but their remaining schedule isn't terribly daunting (with the possible exception of Texas Tech and a surging Okie State). Kansas and Missouri are the teams to beat in the North, with the Tigers being the prohibitive favorite after shutting down the Red Raider offense on Saturday. These rivals play each other on the last game of the season that could decide the Big 12 North. Unless any of these teams start to tumble, there isn't much reason to look at the rest of the conference, although they will probably have 10 bowl-eligible teams with only 9 available spots.

Big East:
This is the one conference, other than the SEC, with the most parity amongst its top teams. West Virginia, Rutgers, South Florida, UConn, Cincy and Louisville all have a shot at winning the league title and each one is capable of beating any of the others, as we have seen in recent weeks, including Rutgers beating USF this past Thursday. West Virginia is playing the best ball of any team in the Big East and if they stay healthy, will continue to make noise for a BCS invite.

Big Ten:
Ohio State is #1 in the BCS standings, but is it really the best team. The defense looks crazy strong, but the offense goes into too many lulls. They still have road games against PSU @ Happy Valley and against Michigan in the Big House, along with Wisconsin and Illinois both at home. Michigan is coming on strong, but will only be a force if Henne and Hart could get and stay healthy.

Conference USA:
Even though no team in C-USA is in the title hunt (or even in the hunt for a Top 25 ranking, unless UH can turn it on like they did Saturday in getting their first win inside the state of Alabama - 1-13 looks a whole lot better than 0-14 - they could make trouble for the bottom of the Top 25). The East and West are both 3-horse races, with UCF, Southern Miss and ECU in the East and UH, UTEP and Tulsa in the West as the 6 horses. This Saturday UTEP hosts UH and UCF goes into The Rock to battle USM.

Pac 10:
This is the conference that is causing me to not do a Top 25 poll. In the next few weeks, all the heavyweights play each other, so it is anybody's guess who is coming out of this on top and whether anyone can come away unscathed.

SEC:
Has any league had this many fantastic games from week to week? LSU scores on a last second touchdown to beat Auburn, only a week removed from losing in 3OT to Kentucky and two weeks after coming back to beat Florida. Then, Florida beats UK in a shootout 45-37. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt blocked the Cocks from any hope of a title game, but the East is so tight that a mere one game separates first and last place in the division. Meanwhile, the West may very well be decided this week when LSU plays Alabama. Both teams are 4-1 in SEC play and the winner will control its own destiny.

WAC:
Still have one of the few unbeaten teams in Hawaill, but it may be Boise State that has the best chance to make its way into the BCS as an at-large, especially if any of the Big East or ACC teams start beating each other up.

MAC, MWC, Sun Belt:
I haven't really followed these leagues this year, but I did attend the Louisiana Lafayette vs. Florida Atlantic game on Saturday in Lafayette (a summary of which I will be posting about later).

So, what is the moral of the story? None really and that is why they play the games. The real contenders for the BCS title game include Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Boston College, Oregon/ASU/USC, West Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Verdi's A Masked Ball - Review

I know virtually nothing about opera other than the fact that is pretty much all singing and generally in a different language. However, good opera is like pornography and even if you know nothing about the subject matter, you know it when you see it. With that said, Verdi's A Masked Ball was fantastic. I think this was the first time I have seen an opera in its proper form as I don't consider seeing the Marriage of Figaro at the Miller Outdoor Theatre last year because we were not paying much attention. Thus, like trying to rank college football teams in the preseason, I really don't have anything to go on. I have season tickets for the Houston Grand Opera this year, so hopefully my future reviews will have more meat in them as I begin to become an opera fan. This was opening night for the HGO's 2007-08 season and it started with a bang.

For the uninitiated, A Masked Ball revolves around a love triangle among the king (Riccardo), his trusted advisor/friend (Renato) and Renato's wife/Riccardo's love interest (Amelia). Their was murder, treachery, assassination plots, dudes in sweet green jackets and top hats, a sweet guillotine (though completely underutilized), a bad ass fortune teller, and even a dad offering up his son as a hostage. It was in Italian and had English subtitles (or supertitles as you had to look up to read them), but I feel a little gypped because there was a lot of singing that didn't have the requisite subtitles, so I have no idea if I missed something subtle they were saying. The acting and music were great and the storyline kept my interest the whole way.

Overall, for my first opera, I had a great time and I look forward to the rest of the season. Next Friday night is Donizetti: The Daughter of the Regiment.