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Conflicted Number One on ESPN
Published: 9/26/2011 11:59 AM
Last Modified: 9/26/2011 12:02 PM

Everywhere you looked or listened Sunday and Monday on ESPN you saw and heard the same thing: LSU was number one, Alabama was number two. Get Oklahoma out of there!

Why?

LSU had beaten three ranked teams on the road.

Oh really?

Here's what really happened. LSU beat an Oregon team with no defense in Dallas, a virtual home game for Loopy Les. Then it beat a piece of mush Mississippi State team that is no longer ranked anywhere. And last weekend it beat West Virginia, which couldn't beat Missouri on the best day it ever had.

LSU has beaten no team currently ranked in the top ten.

That's the best Missouri team ever. The quarterback is a future star, the runner a serious threat on every play. Did anybody notice that Arizona State just beat USC senseless? And Missouri had Ariz State beaten at Tempe until the wacky coach iced his own kicker twice. What's up with the Missouri kicker, who hacked off two easy ones at OU?

Yes, there's no doubt about it, many ESPN analysts and commentators and janitors love LSU and Alabama.

And who has a $2.5 billion TV contract with the SEC?

And who has the crooked BCS TV rights?

Why, it's ESPN.

ESPN loves what it owns.

Here is the real top five at the moment.

1. Oklahoma State.
2. OU.
3. Alabama.
4. LSU.
5. Wisconsin.

The SEC teams have great defenses, rotten offenses.

OSU's schedule is next to impossible: at Iowa State, Lubbock, much improved Texas, sparkling Missouri.

Its defense gets too conservative. But it has a superstar in cornerback Brown, and an expert defender in Lewis.

Texas at Iowa State Saturday will be a battle royal. Each team has big-time athletes at the skilled positions.

The Big 12 is clearly the best conference in the country.

According to many on ESPN, LSU and Alabama are 1-2.

Disgusting.

Reader Comments

42 Total

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Pokefan519 (last year)

If OU fans weren't upset before when the AP poll jumped LSU (and Les Miles) ahead of OU, they certainly will be now that you've put OSU ahead of them.

Or they could say that you are clueless in your argument because the AP poll, where LSU is ahead of OU, has absolutely NOTHING TO DO with the BCS or ESPN. But hey, you keep those conspiracy theories coming.

Danomite Dandy Dan (last year)

OSU certainly looked better than OU this weekend.
And OSU hosts the bedlam game.
If the Cowboys can't pull it off this year,
it's gonna a long, cold winter in Stillwater..

Goffer (last year)

Better unpack your long johns on December 4th Dan.

love 918 (last year)

The Picker's argument is very dependent on A&M beating Arkansas on Saturday.

tulsandn (last year)

Okie St. would have to overcome major obstacles in order to win their 1st NC....

If they beat OU then they would have to win a NC because a loss there would tuen the OU victory into just another pretty good win....

If they can beat OU & face up against Les Miles & LSU, that would be an instant classic before the game even began....

If they beat OU & then face Alabama for the NC, hearts & minds in Stillwater would never be the same....

Okie St. is in a realistic journey that they've never travelled before, hopefully ISU, UT, or Mizzou don't crash their drive to immortality....

It's all there, they have it all, QB-WR-RB-blocking-DEFENSE-coaching-rabid fans.... There's a major load on the bandwagon, I would love to see them do it....

But if the Sooners derail them beforehand, Bama or LSU will a-waitin' in the NC game, been there lost that, so the Sooners will have their own demons to address.... Boomer !!!!

The Picker (last year)

Love, how so?

The point here is ESPN seems to adore the teams it owns.

I lean to Ark in the game you mentioned. The Aggies should be ready for the tank.

love 918 (last year)

My point is that OSU struggled against A&M while BAMA crushed Arkansas.

Using the transitive property, an Ark win in Arlington would make BAMA look significantly stronger than OSU.

Which means the SEC is most likely stronger than the Big 12...which means ESPN is just calling what it sees.

When the PAC12 wins, ESPN is west coast biased. When the ACC wins, ESPN is east coast biased.
When the SEC wins, ESPN is gulf coast biased.

ESPN can't win with land-locked Oklahoma fans.

rshacklefordjr (last year)

OSU, pokes, NC, blah, blah, blah. HELLO! They have never won the conference title outright! And, if pokes are all that, why can't they sell out their own stadium?

The Picker (last year)

Love, come on, you should be smarter than that.

Alabama won at home on punt returns, inteceptions, etc.

OSU won on the road using regular football plays.

The SEC this year has some of the biggest pansies on earth, and two good teams with terrific defenses and average offenses.

Dwelling on the past is for people concerned with the present.

webworm50 (last year)

The polls don't matter too much at this point in the season. If the Sooners can win out, they'll be okay in the polls. If OSU can win out, they may have a shot at the BCS title game. I'd love to see any one knock off the SEC.

Ken1 (last year)

Picker,

While I'm pleased to see OSU is having a great start, if you saw much of how Alabama played in their game against Arkansas, their defense is frightening.....OSU would do well to score two touchdowns on them if the Tide continues to play with that much talent and intensity. They look better than some NFL defenses this year.

The Picker (last year)

Alabama will be lucky to get out of Florida with its loss column untouched Saturday. It is almost stubbornly conservative on offense.

different thought (last year)

Picker, really?! OSU won because A&M fumbled them the ball and threw interceptions. Plus OSU couldn't get a first down to ice the game when it had to. Putting them at number 1 is a bit of a stretch. I think you'll see as the year progresses that A&M is nowhere near as good as you or the preseason pollsters made them out to be. But, Kyle Field is a tough place to play. A lot of worse A&M teams have beat a lot better teams than 2011 OSU there before.

MexiMike (last year)

Love 918: "Using the transitive property..."

And that's where you lost credibility.

Transitive property does not work in college football. Different teams have different strengths and weaknesses that affect opponents differently.

I said it before the season started and I'll say it agin: Mizzou scares me more than Texas A&M. OSU MUST do a better job against the QB zone read. If the defense can shut that down, OSU should win. If not, the game is a toss up.

Texas is still a pretender in my eyes.

By the end of the season, will OSU have the best two starting corners in the Big 12 with Brown and Gilbert? Those guys are game changers.

Jayellkay (last year)

Easy there, Pick. While your loathing of ESPN will get no argument from me or anybody else around these parts, I must take exception with your 'real' top 5. A & M will be further exposed as the season goes along (average talent with below-average coaching), so the win Saturday shouldn't have pistols firing just yet. Offensively OSU is very good, but the #1 team in the nation doesn't give up 350+ on the ground to TU in any time slot, period.

The Picker (last year)

Did anybody notice that the TU president said that Boise's offense was better than OU's or Oklahoma State's?

Sounds like he hasn't slept since the all-nighter.

Who is what is pure conjecture, after the games, to most. We specialize in pre-game picks. Perhaps it was OSU that made the Aggies look beatable. Here's another we had before the kickoff: Florida State is barely all right. And it was tied with OU late with the sub qb.

Razor1911 (last year)

I love satire.

Ken1 (last year)

Picker,

Since your very high on OSU presently.....How do you believe they would do against the SEC if they were in that conference this year. Respectfully, I could see them easily losing 2-3 games against the likes of LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida...etc. I'm glad they won against Texas A&M but honestly, go to Tuscaloosa and play a flat first half like they and OU did and it is very doubtful you would get out of there with a win......Also your point with ESPN makes me wonder if there isn't an element of "OU fatigue", the Sooners credibility as a power will continue to be questioned until they play in the national championship and "hammer" their opponent. They have gotten in that game the last couple of times and have just been soundly beaten.

Glenn616 (last year)

Pick, Texas A&M is a pretender. Why? They don't have a QB that's worth a darn. The Aggie QB is mediocre, on a good day.

The Aggies' remaining schedule? vs. Arkansas at Jerry World, at Tech, Baylor, at Iowa State, Mizzou, at OU, at KSU, KU, and Texas. The only easy win in that stretch is Kansas. Baylor, Iowa State, Mizzou, OU, and Texas have a decisive edge at QB. It won't surprise me if A&M loses 5 games this season.

love 918 (last year)

Mike,

The transitive property is the basis of most college football talk. If OSU meets Alabama in a bowl (unlikely), you and every other college football fan in OK and Alabama will be analyzing and discussing the Ark-A&M game. The transitive propery doesn't always hold true, but its all we have in college football when you have 120 teams only playing 12 games.

The Picker used it to build up Missouri's loss to ASU by mentioning their win over USC. Are you questioning the logic of the Picker?

LaffALot (last year)

Snicker is right
BcS ESPN has $$$ incentive to favor their teams

But LSU & Bama "D's" can hit hard & tackle well

Glen 616 might be right about A&M’s 5 losses
Every Big 12 school has x-tra mojo vs. them Aggies
& their Big 12 road map looks ‘ruff
& their favored by 3 over them Hawgs?

What’s going on w/ the bettin’ lines this week?
Texas 9 pts better than @ Iowa St?
TCU 12 over SMU?
TTech only 6 pts over @ Kansas?
ASU only 18 over Oregon St?
Clemson 7 better than @ V Tech?

OSU looked good on its 1st road test
@ Texas & @ Mizzu are step ups

Best game next week might just be Baylor @ K St

dcood (last year)

Wow...oh how the Picker changes...for the last however many years the SEC has been immortal. What gives? Ur right however but not a whole lot has changed. IT's a top heavy conference and always has been. U dont really think S Carolina is for real...almost lost to Navy at home. Miss st, ole miss, Vandy, Tenn, Auburn, all avg or worse.

LaffALot (last year)

oooppps
Clemson is favored only by 3 over VTech

Does anyone want to play Boise St in a BCS bowl?

Soonertrain (last year)

Did any of you see the Pick's pick on the OSU game? He came within a minute or two of hitting it on the head.... OSU by 3.

dcood (last year)

Wow...what a a crazy pick, OSU to win by 3! The picker and about 10 million other people made the same prediction.

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The Picker began entertaining – and infuriating – sports fans in 1993. Each week during football season, he writes about his picks of college and NFL games in his Thursday Sports column. He's never afraid of sharing his opinions about the game and the personalities who play it. Readers have a chance to go against him each season in the Outpick the Picker contest. He welcomes the competition.

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