Rutgers knocks off Louisville!

There you have it folks. Rutgers is one of only 4 teams left that are undefeated. Boise State really doesn't count because they have a blue field so we can just throw them out entirely.

So....what happens now? You guessed it. Rutgers is going to get screwed by the pollsters. The last 2 teams ranked #3 in the country have lost in back to back weeks. This week it was Rutgers knocking off Louisville the week after Louisville defeated West Virginia. Why is this such a big deal? Let me tell you.

Rutgers is in the same conference as Louisville and West Virginia. Rutgers beat the only other undefeated team in that conference tonight in the #3 ranked Louisville Cardinals. Rutgers is now the only undefeated team in that conference. So based on that information you have to wonder why Rutgers would not be ranked #3 after this week. They are only ranked #15 now, and the team Louisville beat last week is actually ranked #10 ahead of them at this point.

So.....what's the deal pollsters? Rutgers should be ranked #3 next week. There should be no excuses whatsoever. If they are not it is a downright travesty.

New Lending Idea

I stumbled across this site from some random ad around the net and found it rather intriguing.

Zopa

The premise of it is that you can lend your money directly to other people that you would otherwise have sitting in a savings account. Now don't get a head of yourself and start thinking that this is crazy and how you don't think this could work.

What is going on here is that Zopa is like a middle man. They will do background checks on lenders before you lend them your money. Unlike a bank where you may pull in 4% for a savings account while they lend your money out to borrowers, on Zopa your money is lent out to borrowers, but they pay you the lending rate. So on average they are claiming that your return is roughly 7% rather than the 4% you would get from a savings account. They have basically eliminated the bank and are a service that does background checks on borrowers that you can lend to rather than banks doing these checks and lending your money to borrowers and keeping all the profit. With Zopa you get the lending return, not some bank.

Get it now? Isn't this an interesting idea? I thought so at least.

AT this point it is only in the U.K., but soon should be in the United States. They are backed by such magnates as the investment companies who backed Ebay, Staples, Juniper, Hotmail, Redgate, etc. For more info on those just take a look at Zopa's page on it:

Backers

Of course many won't be interested in such an idea, or trusting enough, but none the less I find it to be a very fascinating new concept for the use of the internet and hope that the company is able to succeed.

Who's #2

I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but there has been a lot of talk out there about who should be #2 after the Michigan Ohio State game coming up on November 18. Like most I hadn't seen West Virginia until Thursday night when they faced Louisville. They were exposed as a fraud as Louisville took advantage of one of the worst defensive performances I have ever seen. Louisville really didn't look to great on defense either, but they did enough to win. Louisville was ranked at #5 going into the game while WVU was at a hearty #3.

WVU was picked by many to win the title this year based on their easy schedule with only Louisville as the bump in the road. Well Louisville proved to be the better team and embarrassed a worthless WVU defense.

So the question that has been going around recently is whether or not Louisville deserves to be #2 after the Michigan vs. OSU game. Many feel, as do I, that Louisville just isn't in the same class as the current #1 and #2 teams and that either would destroy them in the title game. Oh well, I'd love to see Louisville in the title game if Michigan takes down OSU. They would surely be huge favorites.

The championship game is going to be played on November 18th. We can all agree on that, but should the loser drop below #2 in the BCS? IT really depends on the voters for the most part. Both OSU and Michigan have a fairly big lead in the BCS ranks. OSU obviously has a better chance of staying top 2 with a loss since they are #1 right now. Michigan also has 2 quality wins in ND and Wisconsin that provide a very good cushion in the BCS total score. I believe voters will drop one of these 2 teams below the Top 2 of the BCS because most will not want to see back to back games played by these 2 schools even if they are the 2 best teams in the country.

Now we have Louisville who could be undefeated at this point. I really can't argue against a team that runs the table making the Championship game as long as they are in a decent conference. What is odd is that Rutgers is in the same conference and undefeated too, but is not even in the Top 10. Rutgers could play some spoiler this week by knocking off the undefeated Louisville Cardinals. If Louisville can finish undefeated I say they have to be #2 at the end, but it is just another reason the BCS sucks and that the Playoffs system would be better.

What the hell happens if Rutgers beats Louisville this week? They have no chance whatsoever to move up to #3 when they are currently at #13. They would also be undefeated and playing in the exact same conference as Louisville and WVU. WVU is even still ranked ahead of them at #10. What is the problem here? Just because it is Rutgers? If my reasoning was that if Louisville ran the table and was in a decent conference they should have a right to play in the BCS Championship game, why is it that Rutgers who is in the same conference should be treated any different? That folks is what you call a quandary and a huge black eye for the BCS.

Now do I believe that either of those 2 teams are better than teams like Florida, Texas, Notre Dame, etc.? Not at all. Unfortunately the computers believe that Louisville undefeated is better than those teams while Rutgers undefeated is not. They are in the same conference. I guess they will be able to show it on the field this week. Damn I hope Rutgers wins.

Playoffs. Playoffs. Playoffs. We need them. This is another year that will feature most likely a deserved undefeated team in the BCS Championship game and possibly a one loss team. The BCS system is said that it will pick who is the best team to make that game, but clearly a Louisville team would not be that team. If Louisville is and they lose to Rutgers this week Rutgers will not be in the same position. Why? They are clearly better than Louisville who is clearly better than all the other top one loss teams. The BCS is crap.

GO RUTGERS!

Michigan and OSU Remain Perfect

They both did it and barely this past Saturday. Both had chump opponents that were ready to knock them off, but they remained undefeated to keep maybe the biggest college football game of all time on track. #1 Ohio State vs. #2 Michigan in the Big Horseshoe for all the marbles. Well...I guess winner has to still win the title, but winning this game is pretty much the winner in everyone's eyes.

One more week for each team to set the match up undefeated. Michigan has to beat a 2-8 Indiana team while OSU has to beat out a 3-7 Northwestern team this week. Both teams have pulled a couple of upsets this year, but are ranked well in the bottom 1/4 of college football. Illinois has some decent talent, however they are still a year away. Watch out for them in the next couple of years.