(AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

Austin Starr never pays for another meal in Bloomington ever again

I’ll get more to the Old Oaken Bucket game here in a bit but Starr’s game-winning 49-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to beat Purdue will be enough to make him a permanent fixture in the history of this series and in the history of this program for some time to come. To be able to come back onto the field, having missed a 42-yarder that would have put the game out of reach and hit the game winning kick, a career long, is unspeakably clutch.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)

Tim Tebow is this year’s Heisman trophy winner

Say what you want about Florida’s three losses coming off their national championship last year, no player in college football has been as consistently great as Tim Tebow. When Oregon’s Dennis Dixon limped off the field in the first quarter against Arizona last week, Tebow became a virtual lock to strike the pose. Basically all he had to do this week was not suck against Florida Atlantic (a team Florida has no business playing this last in the season). Well Tebow threw for 338 and three touchdowns and ran for another. I don’t know what this kid’s pro career looks like, given his awkward mechanics and playing in an offense that no NFL team runs but his college career is looking pretty bright.

(AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Alabama fans think they have 32 million reasons why they should never lose to Louisiana-Monroe — at home

Well, I think the shine is officially off the apple down in Tuscaloosa after Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide dropped a home tilt against the mighty 4-6 Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe. In Saban’s defense, in every preseason interview I saw he tried to temper expectations and warn Tide fans, frothing at the mouth for national recognition again, that this was a rebuilding process and that the team had a long way to go. All of that went out the window when they beat Arkansas (a team that has shown to be one of the SEC’s most disappointing after winning the SEC West last year) in a thriller in Tuscaloosa. I think this is a fitting loss for a man who’s karmic account balance is overdrawn and a program so willing to get back on top that they were willing to hire a snake like Saban.

(AP Photo/LM Otero)

The BCS picture is clear as mud

I can’t say I’m surprised that Oklahoma went down to Lubbock under the lights and fell to Mike Leach’s Texas Tech team. Year in and year out, Tech is one of the most explosive offense teams in America and Bob Stoops’ team just had no answer for Graham Harrell. But where does this leave the race for New Orleans and the BCS Championship? Oklahoma, it stands to reason, is out, Ohio State appears to be back in. Kansas moves to number 2 but has a tough game next week against Missouri, who have national championship hopes of their own. And then there’s LSU who is hoping that Tennessee can hang onto the SEC East so the Tigers can beat their brains out in Atlanta, instead of playing Georgia, America’s hottest team. And what about West Virginia? After losing to South Florida earlier in the year, Rich Rodriguez’s team has been consistently great. Stay tuned.

(AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Lloyd Carr is done in Ann Arbor

It’s been a heck of a run for Lloyd Carr as the head coach of Michigan but let’s face it, even if he would have beat the archrival Buckeyes (which he failed to do again, dropping his record against Jim Tressel to 1-6), Carr was on the way out. Ever since Carr’s Wolverines dropped their home opener to Appalachian State, Michigan fans had moved on. Carr had a great tenure in Ann Arbor and should be remembered, not for losing the greatest upset in college football history, but for being one of the greatest coaches in the history of one of college football’s great programs.

Les Miles better figure out a way to keep his team focused this week

With the Battle for the Golden Boot coming up this week against Arkansas in Baton Rouge, a potential trap game for LSU, it’s a bad week for Les Miles to be mentioned in connection to another head coaching job. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Michigan is giving a good, hard look at Les Miles to fill the coaching vacancy left by Lloyd Carr when he announces his retirement today. The real question will be how Miles deals with it and keeps it off the minds of his players going into a two-week stretch that will determine whether or not the Tigers play for the national championship. Miles has yet to flatly deny that he is interested in the vacancy saying that he is only focused on the job he has now and will not entertain any other offers right now. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Miles in maize and blue, and not purple and gold, by this spring.

I like…

New York Magazine’s Vulture blog took it upon themselves to list the Top 10 Video game movies that haven’t been made yet and even picked directors to make them. Wouldn’t you want to see a Michel Gondry Tetris flick?

The Indianapolis Star has a nice piece about IU wideout James Hardy and his relationship with Coach Hep.

I don’t like…

Indianapolis Star columnist, and IU alum, Bob Kravitz writes today he thinks IU needs to bring interim head coach Bill Lynch on permanently.  I blogged about this last week and when I saw this story on my newsreader, I didn’t realize it was a column and thought they had made, what I believe to be, the decision that could bury this program once and for all. I don’t think Kravitz is close enough to this program for his opinion to be valid, in my opinion. I doubt very seriously that he caught Lynch’s bad clock management at the end of the game at Northwestern. I think he is seeing the end product and giving all the credit to Bill Lynch and not enough credit to what’s really at the heart of the Hoosiers 6-4 record: their weak non-conference and conference schedule. 

I like…

Eric Gordon drops 33 in his debut for the Hoosiers last night.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradly says Georgia is every bit as tough as LSU.

Fanhouse has a funny take on the Missouri-Kansas border war.

Marvel is offering an archive of 2,500 back issues.. not for free but still pretty cool.  Lost creator Damon Lindelof has a list of what you should start with.

USAToday’s Beau Dure has devised a hypothetical playoff system.

I don’t like…

ESPN is stockpiling journalists.

The Michelin Guide gave zero stars to chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Las Vegas. Keller is the only American-born chef with two three-star Michelin restaurants to his credit (French Laundry and Per Se).

I like…

Wired’s Epicenter blog has an interesting post about the WGA strike and the effect it might have on WebTV.

The Buffalo News’ Bob DiCesare is the latest member of the media to advocate a playoff in college football.

See if you can follow this one: Wyoming coach guarantees win over Utah.. Utah blows out Wyoming.. up 43 Utah coach shows zero class and attempts an onside kick … Wyoming coach gives him the finger on national television.

SI’s Stewart Mandel updated his bowl projections and has IU playing in Vegas.

I don’t like…

Adrian Peterson is out a week with a torn knee ligament. I really hope this kid can stay healthy but he did have trouble with his knees in college and hopefully he is able to bounce back from this.

Peyton Manning really likes throwing to Antonio Cromartie

Only problem with that is Cromartie isn’t really on his team. The ever-mopey MVP threw three, count ‘em, three picks to the second-year corner out of Florida State in Sunday’s loss on the road to the Chargers. I would think after a while you would stop throwing in someone’s direction after they’ve picked you off twice but Peyton was courteous enough to give Cromartie the trifecta on way to throwing six interceptions. I know that it never entered Colts head coach Tony Dungy’s mind to pull the struggling quarterback but he should have. Am I surprised that he didn’t? No. But it would have been Dungy’s chance to show that no matter who you are or how many companies and products you shill for, if you don’t perform, you don’t play. Make this two weeks in a row that Manning and the Colts offense has blown big conference games.

You may want to wait before buying those Saints playoff tickets

The Saints dropped a bad home game yesterday against the formerly win-less Rams after putting together a nice little streak and putting themselves back in playoff contention. Given that the Saints play in what is arguably the weakest division in football, I think , barring any further collapses, they are still going to the playoffs but it’s important to remember that prior to their four-game winning streak, they started the season 0-4. You have to wonder if a loss to a bad team like the Rams will send the formerly terrible Saints into a shame spiral and out of the playoff race. Time will tell. Their schedule the rest of the way is pretty mild and none of the games they still have on tap jump out at you as being potential landmines.

Donovan McNabb may be headed to Minnesota

The latest trade rumor has Donovan McNabb headed to Minnesota after this year to re-unite with former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress. I’ve gotta say this rumor smacks of irony to me. He would be leaving a team with a great running back, a decent offensive line and no receivers to go to a team with a great running back, a decent (if not overpaid) offensive line and no receivers. Are are Troy Williamson and Sidney Rice that much of an upgrade over Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown? I think that no matter where McNabb goes (unless it’s New England), his best years are behind him.

Ron Zook is the national coach of the year

As it turns out, Gator fans, Ron Zook can actually coach. Forget about Jim Leavitt or Mark Mangino, no one has done a better job this year than Ron Zook. Zook took a team that was 2-10 last year and made them nationally relevant this weekend, knocking off top-ranked Ohio State on the road to get their 8th win of the year. If Zook can continue to pull big time recruits like Arrelious Benn and recruit well in the Chicago area, Illinois could become a real force to be reckoned with.

It’s 1994 all over again in Bloomington

The last time Indiana was bowl eligible it was 1994, they went 6-5 and didn’t get invited to a bowl. Well boys and girls, welcome to 1994. I’ll be rocking my Zubaz pants and my #2 Charlotte Hornets Larry Johnson jersey and listening to Meatloaf and Ace of Base. Indiana, barring a miraculous win at home next week against Purdue, isn’t going to a bowl this year. Saturday just wasn’t a banner day for the Hoosier football team. Not only did they give away a game that would have given them seven wins and a virtual bowl guarantee, they gave Northwestern their sixth win of the season, and Iowa and Michigan State all became bowl eligible as well. I’m going to go sulk and listen to Gin Blossoms.

Sylvester Croom will have a job next year

The Fighting Crooms of Mississippi State have put together a nice little resume this year, on their way to become bowl eligible for the first time since people were spazzing out about Y2K. After upending #22-ranked Alabama this weekend, Croom has seemingly changed the football culture in Starkville. The Bulldogs, who play excellent defense and the worst offense imaginable, have knocked off Auburn, Kentucky and now the Saban-led Crimson Tide and have a chance at seven wins when they play Ole Miss next week in the Egg Bowl. Well done, coach.

I like….

Serious Eats has some recipes for… wait for it.. bacon-wrapped Turkey.

The Indianapolis Star has a good article today about Big Ten teams and bowl eligibility. As of this week, only Minnesota doesn’t have a chance to become bowl eligible.

Georgia might be rocking black jerseys in their game against Auburn this weekend.

USAToday has a nice Indiana basketball preview story.

Lifehacker had a link to a handy app called BookBump. The application helps you keep track of books in your library, books you’re looking to acquire and helps student cite books in different formats for academic papers.

I like Indiana’s interim head football coach as much as the next guy. Bill Lynch seems like a very capable, intelligent guy who cares about his players and about this program. He has been undoubtedly been put into a tough spot and performed admirably. Following Terry Hoeppner is no easy task. Hoeppner in his short time at IU had become something of an iconic figure in Bloomington, a symbol of the program’s new hope and any coach would have a tough time following that. It’s always tough being the guy after the guy and Coach Hep was well on his way to becoming the guy at IU. This program, now more than ever, needs someone with Hep’s charisma and Hep’s enthusiasm and likability and I just don’t think Bill Lynch is that guy.

Frankly, whatever success the Hoosiers are having this year and whatever the result of this season is, bowl berth or not, Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan would do well to remember why student ticket sales for the last three years have been on the rise and why there is a renewed enthusiasm surrounding this program. Indiana football is on the up and up because of Terry Hoeppner. Terry Hoeppner was the face of this program and Terry Hoeppner was a difficult guy not to like, not to follow and not to believe.

I remember sitting at Alumni Hall in Bloomington when Hep held his first ever meeting with the student body at IU, shortly after being brought on to coach the Hoosiers. His excitable was palpable. You could feel that he was thrilled to death to be in that room, be on that campus, and wearing that cream triton on his chest. That passion and that excitement was absolutely contagious. One would be hard pressed to listen to Hep for 15 minutes about his vision for Indiana football and not start believing.

This season, while it is certainly a fitting tribute to the memory of Coach Hep, who passed away in June of this year from brain cancer, it has less to do with Bill Lynch’s leadership and more to do with IU’s schedule, which was ranked as one of the nation’s weakest before the season began. Frankly, with a non-conference schedule that includes three MAC teams and Div. I-AA Indiana State and a conference schedule that didn’t include Ohio State or Michigan, if there was ever a season for the Hoosiers to “Play 13,” it was this one.

At the end of the day, the guy who replaces the guy who filled in for Terry Hoeppner this season needs to be someone who shares Hep’s vision for this program’s future and an equally clear love for it. That guy just isn’t Bill Lynch. Greenspan needs to keep the ball rolling, needs to keep student interest in this program that Hoeppner helped build. He needs someone to do for IU football what Greg Schiano did for Rutgers and Jim Leavitt has done for South Florida and candidly, what Ron Zook is doing across the border in Illinois.

I like…

The Amateur Gourmet has a great Q&A with Michael Ruhlman on his new book, The Elements of Cooking.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Bradley has a fantastic lead in his column today about the Georgia-Auburn series.

The James Beard Foundation has released its list of the 20 essential cookbooks.

The New York Times’ Grub Street blog wonders if white truffles have jumped the shark after today’s announcement that the restaurant at Times Square’s Westin Hotel will be offering a $1,000 white truffle bagel.

A nice article by SI.com’s Cory McCartney on IU being bowl eligible for the first time. It’s a nice article if you haven’t been reading these kinds of stories in the Indianapolis Star or other places who do a much more thorough job, as they should, of covering IU football.  McCartney’s article does, in my opinion, give a little too much credit to interim coach Bill Lynch for the job he’s done. Given their schedule, a schedule that doesn’t include Michigan or Ohio State, it would have been tough for them not to get to six wins this year. I don’t think he should be hired back at the program’s permanent leader but I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

I don’t like….

The Writers’ strike may bump the new season of Lost back to Fall 2008 or — February 2009! The LA Times has a great grid showing, by network, how many episodes popular TV shows had in the can before going dark this week.

Why are priests stalking Conan O’Brien?

It was the Colts’ offense, not their defense, that was the team’s weak point yesterday.

Having lived in Indiana for some length of time, I know that criticizing Peyton Manning is somewhat blasphemous but someone has to. Make no mistake, it was Manning and the Colts offense’s inability to convert points in the red zone in the first quarter of the mega-game against New England that led to their ultimate demise. Word to the wise for future Patriot opponents: If you get within scoring distance three times in the first quarter, put the ball in the end zone.

And then there’s Manning inability to perform under pressure — again. The fumble-turned-interception that put the nail in the Colts’ coffin was evidence of my belief that the eldest Manning quarterback is one of the league’s worst performers under pressure and almost always shrinks when it counts and when the game is on the line. The last quarterback in the world I want to see trotting onto the field with two minutes to go and my team down four is Peyton Manning because in his career, which has been great, he has never delivered in those moments. For the record, you may be wondering who the first quarterback I would want to see in the huddle on that final drive? That would be the quarterback who stood on the opposite sideline Sunday, Tom Brady. Manning has never had a marquee, Elway-Montana or even Brady-like moment that you point to and go, “Wow, that was really clutch.” He’s a fairweather quarterback and simply, a fairweather leader. Remember when Mike Vanderjagt, who is an absolute dope, criticized Manning and Dungy for lacking fire? I didn’t think then and still don’t think that was an invalid criticism, in spite of the ridiculous source of said criticism. Did you see Manning bouncing his helmet-clad skull into those of his lineman yesterday in the huddle? I rest my case.

All of that being said, I will be happy to never heard the phrase “Super Bowl 41 1/2″ uttered again ever and the importance of the outcome of this game is wildly overstated by the media and fans but I think the players and coaches have put the final score in its proper perspective. Tom Brady said the game “didn’t matter,” appropriately noting that it was in January when the winners and losers of a game is of any significant import. If the Colts won the game and got homefield advantage, it wouldn’t exclude them from potentially losing to the Patriots in the playoffs and vice versa for the Pats. It was an entertaining game that showed us, if nothing else, that the Patriots offense is as diverse as advertised and the Colts defense has come an incredibly long way in a year and may, in the future, be one of the league’s best.

The league’s best two running backs are Joseph Addai and Adrian Peterson

And I’m not just basing that on yesterday’s performance, where Adrian Peterson ran for a jaw-dropping 296 yards on his way to slicing, dicing and downright humiliating the Chargers defense, I’m basing that on facts. Peterson is a shoe-in to win Offensive Rookie of the Year and had it not been for Tom Brady’s soon-to-be-record-breaking-season, he would be a realistic candidate for MVP. Never have I seen a player’s college game translate so literally into an NFL career but Peterson is running and playing exactly the way he did at Oklahoma. Of course, Peterson has a penchant for big debuts, if you’ll remember his rookie year at Oklahoma where he was a Heisman finalist. If he can stay healthy, Peterson may be one for the ages.

And then there’s Addai, who is one of the most consistent and steady running backs in the league. I’m not sure there is a player who sees the field better and makes sharper cuts than the second year man out of LSU. He catches balls out of the back field and he’s a threat to break it everytime he gets his hands on the ball. While his greatness may be lost in an offense that includes Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark, don’t get it twisted, getting Addai 20-30 touches a game is integral to this offense being effective.

Ohio State is really good.. no, seriously…

I’ve been down this road before with Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes and I’m hesitant to believe in this team after last year’s stomping at Florida, a stomping that I boldly predicted in our paper wouldn’t happen. In the words of the epic 80s hair metal band Great White I’m “once bitten, twice shy.” But this team is apparently for real after routing a pretty good Wisconsin team this weekend. I’m not convinced that this effective but underwhelming team has the metal to take it into the Big House and pull out a win against archrival Michigan but they’re really good. Quarterback Todd Boeckman is the second-coming of Craig Krenzel and Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline are becoming two viable big-time scoring threats and Beanie Wells is one of the most punishing and quick running backs in the country. After seeing them pound Wisconsin in convincing fashion, I think I’m ready to believe.

Oregon is the second best team in America

One of the nation’s three remaining unbeaten teams solidified their place in the National Championship this weekend — for now. After beating USC soundly last weekend, the Ducks got ready and beat a previously unbeaten —and head-scratching fourth-ranked — Arizona State team. Dennis Dixon is the Heisman trophy frontrunner, Jonathan Stewart is one heck of a running back and their defense isn’t too bad either. Sorry LSU but you can’t be ranked higher than an unbeaten team who plays in a conference that is equally as tough as your own. I would love to see an Oregon/Ohio State national championship game. James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman and Malcolm Jenkins against Dennis Dixon, Jonathan Stewart and the explosive Oregon offense. That’s a game I would love to watch.

Darren McFadden isn’t out of the Heisman race just yet

Just when pre-season Heisman shoe-in Darren McFadden had become a distant memory, the Razorback junior goes out and rushes for 323 yards. For my money, I still think Knowshon Moreno is the best running back in the SEC but McFadden is almost a lock to be taken in the top 5 in next year’s NFL draft and for good reason — he’s simply filthy.

The Hoosiers are bowl eligibile

Finally. Six wins. It’s tough not to get emotional when I think about my alma mater finally going to a bowl game after all these years but it seems a fitting accomplishment for this team, this year. Make no mistake, this is a tribute to Coach Hep, who lost his battle with brain cancer this summer and made a fanbase and a team of underachievers believe that we could go where we hadn’t gone in more than a decade. While their win Saturday doesn’t guarantee a trip to Tampa or Orlando or San Antonio or Tempe, it gets the Hoosiers one step closer to Hep’s dream of playing 13.

Currently loving Common’s new record, Finding Forever. Simply put the guy is one of the most clever and talented lyricists in history. The beginning of the record reminds me of the Black Star and Common’s collaboration with Lilly Allen is amazing and infectious and as always Kanye’s appearances on this record are memorable and bump-worthy.

Monday I mentioned seeing the trailer for The Kingdom and being really excited about it. One of the other trailers before the Bourne Ultimatum was for Ridley Scott’s American Gangster staring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and… Common. Check it out.

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No, seriously…

A 10-year-old accidentally locked himself in a gun safe at a Massachusetts’ Sam’s Club.

An Australian cattle rancher spent a week in a tree after falling off his horse in a swamp chock-full of alligators.

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ESPN has launched bracket-style tournament to decide which conference will be strongest in 2007.

• ACC vs. Big 12
• Pac 10 vs. Mountain West
• WAC vs. Conference USA
• WAC vs. SEC

SI writer says USC freshman Joe McKnight is the second coming of Reggie Bush.

Fanhouse’s Pac 1o preview.

• Coaches on the hot seat.
• The teams not named USC or Cal.
  
• Top 5 games.
  
• Most underrated players.

A member of the Rutger’s Women’s Basketball team is suing Don Imus for defamation of character. This woman doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of winning this suit because her attorneys will have a very difficult time showing that she was specifically damaged by a comment that was made about a group of individuals, comments where no one was named individually. It would be the equivalent of someone saying that all Destin Log reporters were illiterate and possibly in-bred and then me trying to sue that person for defamation. You can’t sue someone for hurting your feelings — at least not yet.

John Smallwood on why it’s ok to overreact about the Eagles’ preseason snooze-fest. The Eagles are apparently not worried.

The New York Times says the greatest threat to Michael Vick’s future in the NFL may not be dogfighting specifically but rather the money he may or may not have gambled on dogfighting.

Giants rookie wideout Steve Smith has the Giants very excited.

Indiana football players will wear a helmet decal and a patch on their jerseys in memory of Coach Hep.

Photo: Sam Riche/ Indianapolis Star

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart lists his must-watch games of 2007.

With a bunch of youth and inexperience, the Orlando Sentinel’s Dave Curtis says Florida will experience some growing pains in ‘07.

Going to Broncos’ games help Darrent Williams’ mother cope with her son’s death.

Ankle problems seem to be plaguing Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin.

An interesting piece on hetero-lifemates, Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan, which features this photograph:

Whoever pranked neanderthal tight end Jeremy Shockey is officially my new hero.

Dan Patrick is back on ESPN radio for the next three days and word is Colin Cowherd will not be taking his place.

Peter King’s All-Future team.

Apparently there was a confrontation at a UCLA pick-up game between Baron Davis and USC FRESHMAN O.J. Mayo. You don’t think this kid’s going to be a total headache, do you Tim Floyd? Good luck.

The AJC’s Terence Moore thinks if Michael Vicks takes a plea deal, he’ll likely be banned from the NFL for a long time.

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Well-rounded news… 

An interesting take on journalistic objectivity and politics.

Peer-to-peer file sharing network Lime Wire appears to be going legit.

My So-Called Life movie not likely, says Claire Danes.

The Knocked Up dvd will hit stores Sept. 25 with three editions.

Daft Punk is looking to release a live CD.

Site of Coachella 300 years overdue for a massive earthquake.