NOFL: Week 9 has started! The deadline is 9/24/08 at 10:00 PM

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 9 has started. Only 1 human game this week with Sun Tzu facing off against Galaxy.

Other big games include:

KingNeb's #17 Kentucky (7-0) vs #5 Florida (5-1)

KCChief's Colorado (3-4) at #4 Missouri (6-1)

BigDPW's NCState (3-4) at #13 Maryland (7-0)

Raider Army's #14 Oklahoma State (6-1) at #16 Texas (5-2)

[Raiders Army]

Kentucky is actually ahead of Oklahoma State in the BCS standings. I think KingNeb's going to nail the Heisman as well.

[Karlifornia]

I just lost in the last minute to Georgia Tech 21-20...heartbreaker....

[Kodos]

I just lost by multiple scores to North Carolina. Maybe starting a freshman QB to get him some experience (since I suck with our best QB) was a bad idea.

[kingnebwsu]

Two games against Top-5 competition makes it a tough week for the league. I'm not looking forward to my trip to Florida. Many questions at QB going into a hostile environment make me wonder if we can pull it off. I swear they were #1 last week...did they lose? Either way, the SEC has no games off (except Vanderbilt, who we could beat with our 4th string QB). I'll play Sunday or Monday and we'll see if I can keep the streak going.

Looking ahead to next week, I believe I play Galaxy and Mississippi State. If our timeframe holds up (and we don't advance early), then we should be able to play that game between Thursday 9/25 and Monday 9/29. When are you available Galaxy? Here's my availability:

Thursday we could play but it would have to be after 8 PM EST.
Friday we could play but it would have to be after 9 PM EST.
Saturday is pretty rough, but I could play after 9 PM EST.
Sunday is wide open, so I think anytime would work.
Monday we could play but it would have to be between 7 PM-9 PM (to meet the deadline).

Yikes, that availability looks kind of rough. Sorry about that. I just wanted us to try & set a time now so I could plan to definitely be around. The earlier we could get the game done, the better. Just look at my availability and let me know the time that works best for you.

How many undefeated BCS teams are left? I'll check when I get home tomorrow, but I was just kind of curious. I wonder how many are lingering outside the top-5. It's tough to bring a team from outside the top-25, go undefeated, AND make a championship game. Making all 3 of those happen is very difficult, but hopefully the Wildcats can make another step in that direction at Florida this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

We had a wild game against Notre Dame. Up 38-13 in the first half, but they started coming back and closed within 11. However, we responded with 2 more TD's to win it 52-27. It was a costly win as the star of the game, Hasty, hurt his elbow and will be out for 5 weeks. Before being injured he had 160 yards on the ground, 40 plus off receptions, and 3 TD's in his best game of the year. ND's run defense was horrific all game long. As our backup HB, Johnson had almost 50 yards on 5 carries and Locker approached 100 yards.

[Raiders Army]

I did recruiting and began my game against Texas. My internet connection dropped in the 2nd quarter right after I scored to go up 17-7. Ugh. I'll replay tonight.

[BigDPW]

Tough loss at Maryland... I hung in there despite 5 TOs and had a chance to tie with less than 2 minutes left when I threw my last TO and they returned it for a TD (like 85 yards)... My team is playing much better the last 5 weeks but now I can only lose one more and remain bowl eligible. -- Fingers crossed...

[BigDPW]

I wish I had that WKU game back...

[kingnebwsu]

Kentucky scores one of the biggest wins in school history, a HUGE upset 30-14 at #5 Florida. We had a 24-7 lead going into halftime and we pretty much just held on from there. Florida's team speed is just brutal, and it led to both their TD's. They were both passing TD's of 58 & 62 yards respectively. They had another big pass late in the 4th quarter but it didn't matter as time ran out. On both TD, my impact CB got burned by their super-WR. Thankfully our defense held them in check except for those 3 big plays. We won't have the team speed to hang man-for-man with Florida for several years. But our D did well enough to win today & that's all that matters.

We still have some big games left, but at 8-0 & coming off a huge win at Florida, it's time to look at the remaining undefeated BCS-conference teams. Here's how they rank in the BCS and their toughest remaining games:

#1 Georgia
AT #25 LSU, vs #5 Florida, AT #17 Kentucky, AT #12 Auburn, SEC Title Game?

#2 USC
VS (human) Washington, AT (human) Stanford, AT #21 UCLA

#3 West Virginia
VS #12 Auburn, at Pittsburgh

#6 Purdue
VS Indiana (6-1)

#12 Maryland
AT #15 Virginia Tech, ACC Title Game?

#13 Kentucky
AT (human) Mississippi State, VS #1 Georgia, AT Tennessee (rivalry game), SEC Title Game?

N/R Pittsburgh
VS #3 West Virginia
--------------

Lots of games left to be played. I think that looking at the upcoming games that West Virginia has by far the best chance of going undefeated. They need to get by Auburn at home and then it's just a bunch of mediocre Big East teams. After that, it's a crap shoot trying to guess who else will go undefeated. My experience in NCAA 09 says that at least 2 BCS teams will go undefeated.

Look at Georgia's schedule. It's absolutely brutal. I will be totally shocked if they go undefeated. The Georgia @ Kentucky game will more or less decide who represents the SEC East in the conference title game.

USC's schedule would be very good...except that 2 of their games are against humans. I think that EaglesFan27 or Katsumura have a chance of picking off USC. Plus the rivalry game at UCLA means that all bets are off. I would be surprised if USC finishes 12-0 but we'll see.

Purdue, Maryland, and Pittsburgh are surprising undefeated teams at this point in the season. All of them have very manageable schedules...but do they have the talent to win them all? I don't think any of these teams will run the table.

Anything could happen with my Kentucky team. I'm very nervous about playing Galaxy, Georgia, and the potential SEC title game (especially since Auburn is looking pretty good). I'm neutral about Tennessee but I'm very confident about Vanderbilt. I think worst case we go 10-2 at this point. I'm still hoping to win the SEC. Gotta get by Galaxy next week and see if we can pull another huge upset, this time against Georgia. If we win the next 2 games, we'll definitely be in the top 10 and possibly the top 5.

Another interesting thing is that FIVE of the BCS conferences have at least one undefeated team. The only exception is the Big XII, but we all know how good that conference is. Seven teams have managed to win them all so far, but it will be interesting to see what teams can finish running the table. It would be crazy if we had five 12-0 teams at the end of the season. Only time will tell...

[Sun Tzu]

Galaxy...what times are you available tomorrow? I'm literally home all day long, so you name it and I can do it.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I did recruiting and began my game against Texas. My internet connection dropped in the 2nd quarter right after I scored to go up 17-7. Ugh. I'll replay tonight.

Well, I wish my internet connection hadn't dropped. I did much worse this go-around and lost a close one, 42-41. I had to settle for two FGs within the red zone earlier in the game and that came to bite me. From the get-go, they scored on their first drive to go up 7-0 and then I tied it up 7-7. They went ahead 14-7 and then I had to punt. The whole game sucked.

I think I missed two field goals as well so it's just been that kind of day.

[SirFozzie]

Another win. 24-10. Our defense played REALLY well.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

Galaxy...what times are you available tomorrow? I'm literally home all day long, so you name it and I can do it.

Hmmm......I'm not exactly sure yet. I'm around, but I I excepting the repair guy to come over between 12-5 for a quick fix.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm pretty sure you're eastern time just like everybody else here, but I could be wrong.

Just shoot me a msg on XBL and on here when you're ready.

[Galaxy]

Does 1:30 EST time work for you?

[Sun Tzu]

Sure. I'll see you there.

[Sun Tzu]

I should be ready in about 10 mins just in case you wanted to kick things off a little early.

[Sun Tzu]

Galaxy and I just played our game.

It was a locally televised matchup between the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-5) and the Stanford Cardinal (5-2). This...well...wouldn't be much of a game. Stanford would jump out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter behind the rediculously accurate passing of Andrew Luck. The score at halftime was 35-0, and by games end it was a not much better looking 45-3. Andrew Luck was definetely the story of this game, throwing 15 passes total and completing 14 of them for 318 yards, 5 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Good luck the rest of the way Galaxy. You're right that team definetely needs some help, it's a good thing you're at the helm to take them to the promised land!

LETS ADVANCE!!!

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

Galaxy and I just played our game.

It was a locally televised matchup between the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-5) and the Stanford Cardinal (5-2). This...well...wouldn't be much of a game. Stanford would jump out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter behind the rediculously accurate passing of Andrew Luck. The score at halftime was 35-0, and by games end it was a not much better looking 45-3. Andrew Luck was definetely the story of this game, throwing 15 passes total and completing 14 of them for 318 yards, 5 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Good luck the rest of the way Galaxy. You're right that team definetely needs some help, it's a good thing you're at the helm to take them to the promised land!

LETS ADVANCE!!!

We just don't have any speed or offensive line help. Plus, our guys can't seem to hang on to the football (fumbles and drop passes that should of have been caught). I'm glad I got Notre Dame in the other league.

[kingnebwsu]

The speed is the biggest difference between our teams and the AI at this point. I think that will be remedied within 2 seasons, but for right now it's tough to keep the faster teams contained.

[WVUFAN]

Arkansas won it's first game under the new coaching staff (me), 25-14, but lost starting HB De'Anthony Curtis for 9 weeks for an injured leg.

[kcchief19]

I'm still steaming over the KU debacle. I had that game in the bag and would have been ranked in the top 25 with two wins over ranked teams. I led Missouri 17-10 at one point but cream rises. I scored on a couple of big plays and then got into the mindset to keep going for the big play and it didn't end well.

Now I'm just biding my time until Hawkins gets back and I can start preparing for next year. Sigh.

[kingnebwsu]

I've become more familiar with the owners of each team, but it would help if people put their team in each post they make about them. I'm still learning about all of the owners outside the SEC and this would help me a lot

Can we advance tonight?

[Kodos]

I added it to my sig.