Several high profile teams have been hit with scandals regarding students cheating to maintain their grades.

Most notable, and current, of these is Florida State with about two dozen football players ineligible for their bowl game.

FSU blames lack of control

Historically both Minnesota and Georgia basketball have had similar but less extensive scandals. In both of those cases the coaching staff was known to be involved - a difference from the FSU case this year. The Gophers and Bulldogs lost scholarships, but did not forfeit any games.

Bowden himself doesn’t expect to have any forfeits, but I’m wondering if the Asst.Coach that recently got that sweetheart guarantee of 2.5M$ if he isn’t made Head Coach within three years is rethinking that?

It is probable that this could damage the Seminoles chances over the next decade and in multiple sports, but with football being the most severely hit. Considering the heavy penalties that teams have received in the past for players getting paid to play, shouldn’t academic cheating get a more severe penalty? For the players that cheat make a mockery of the very educational system which is the foundation of the NCAA

To read the rest of this post and comment on the impact on Seminole football click here

Never before had Buccaneers fans see one of their own do this:

Congratulations!

Lucky Thirteen in the NFL !! by gator

Cheeseheads versus Stetsons…it’s almost like the ‘bad old days’ in the early ’90s…with the #1 ranking in the NFC at stake. Who will come out ahead?? Only time (and the NFL Network) will tell……
As for the vikes–will the return of “AD” mean a return to respectability? Or will the Lions right a sinking ship? Watch Sunday (as long as they’re not blacked out….) to see…….

SUNDAY’S GAME OUT IN THE MEADOWLANDS
WAS A MASSACRE OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE
AS THE VIKINGS’ OFFENSE SCORED TWO TOUCHDOWNS
WHILE THEIR DEFENSE RACKED UP THREE

MANNING AND THE GIANTS WATCHED HELPLESSLY
AS THE VIKINGS KEPT THEM STUFFED INTO A HOLE
CRUSHING ANY HOPE OF A COMEBACK ATTEMPT
AND NEVER RELINQUISHING CONTROL

THE VIKINGS NOW FEEL THE PLAYOFFS ARE IN REACH
WITH DETROIT BEING THE NEXT TEAM IN THE WAY
THE LIONS OF COURSE ARE LICKING THE WOUNDS
INFLICTED BY THE PACKERS ON TURKEY DAY

WHEN THESE TEAMS PLAYED BEFORE THIS SEASON
TO SAY THE GAME WASN’T PRETTY WOULD BE TOO KIND
AS THE LIONS WON THE GAME WITH A LONG FIELD GOAL
AFTER THE VIKINGS LET THE GAME GO INTO OVERTIME

DETROIT HOWEVER HAS LOST THREE GAMES IN A ROW
AND IF MINNESOTA WINS THESE TEAMS WILL BE TIED
AS ONCE AGAIN THE LIONS PULL THEIR USUAL COLLAPSE
AND WATCH THEIR SUCCESSFUL SEASON WAVE GOOD-BYE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ON THANKSGIVING THE LIONS TOOK AN EARLY LEAD
AS THE PACKERS HAD AN INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING
THEN AS HAS HAPPENED IN OTHER GAMES THIS YEAR
THEY RIGHTED THEMSELVES AND WOUND UP WINNING

MANY HAVE EAGERLY AWAITED THIS WEEK’S CONTEST
AS BOTH DALLAS AND GREEN BAY ARE AT TEN AND ONE
WHILE OTHERS HAVE BEEN DREADING THIS WEEK’S GAME
KNOWING THE SERIES’ HISTORY HASN’T HELD MUCH FUN

LIKE THE PACKERS, THE ‘POKES ARE A MIXTURE
OF TALENTED PLAYERS BOTH VETERAN AND YOUNG
BOTH HAVE TALENTED GROUPS OF RECEIVERS
AND THEIR QUARTERBACKS’ PRAISES HAVE BEEN SUNG

IT’S GOING TO BE LIKE THE OLD SAYING GOES
“THIS GAME WILL WON OR LOST DOWN IN THE TRENCHES”
THE DEFENSES WILL BE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
AS WILL THE PLAYERS COMING OFF THE BENCHES

CAN THE PACKERS CONTAIN T.O. AND JASON WITTEN
AND SHUT DOWN THE DALLAS RUNNING GAME?
WILL DRIVER, JENINGS AND GREG JONES RUN FREE
OR CAN THE COWBOYS MAKE THAT GROUP LOOK TAME?

FOR ONCE THE CONTEST DESERVES ALL THE HYPE
AS “SUPER BOWL CONTENDER” THE WINNER’S ANNOINTED
THESE ARE THE BEST TEAMS THE NFC HAS TO OFFER
AND FOOTBALL FANS AREN’T GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE VIKINGS SHOULD EASILY BE ABLE TO WIN THIS GAME
WHICH GREATLY INCREASES THEIR CHANCES OF TANKING
THE PACKERS WILL HAVE TO FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL
BUT SHOULD MOVE UP THE CONTENDER’S RANKINGS.

gator gives us poetry on the Pack and Vikes every week, this week with an NFC championship game preview I decided to share it with every one.

Cowboys vs. Packers
by JoseA

Home field advantage for the NFC throughout the playoffs may be on the line as two teams battle for NFC supremacy. The Cowboys (10-1) led by Tony Romo take on the Packers (10-1) led by the ageless wonder Brett Favre.

Many consider the Patriots the best team from the AFC, but there has been a debate in the NFC.
This game will settle the argument as to who is really the best team in the NFC at this point of the season.

The Packers however, have been hit with the injury bug as of late. Starters Nick Collins, Mark Tauscher, Charles Woodson, and KGB all are on the Packers’ injury report. Regardless of these injuries the Packers must be ready to come and play in Dallas.

Meanwhile, Tony Romo and T.O. have the Cowboys rolling this season. Wade Phillips is looking like a genius coaching the Cowboys after Bill Parcells’ departure. The Cowboys just came off a 34-3 whooping of the Jets on Thanksgiving day.

However, this game will be on Thursday and broadcasted on the NFL Network. This means if you don’t get the NFL Network, you won’t get to watch the game.

It’s the first time since 1970 that two 10-1 teams will face each other. Discuss the game and who you think has the upper hand.

by adeel

Here we go again. Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady, the Indianapolis Colts against the New England Patriots. For years, this has been as good a game as there is in football, and this one is no different. The defending Super Bowl champions are playing at home and undefeated in seven games, winning each game by an average of 17 points. Still, they opened as 4-point underdogs.

That’s just how good the New England Patriots have been this year, winning eight games by an average score of 41-16. Tom Brady has thrown 30 touchdowns in half a season against just two interceptions, and rolled up a quarterback rating of 136.2. In their latest victory, the Patriots embarrassed the Washington Redskins 52-7. Detractors might say that the Patriots are running up the score and that they’re jerks. They might be right, but there is no doubting that New England has looked as impossibly flawless as any team has in the history of the NFL.

That means that the Colts, historically second fiddle to the Patriots over the last several seasons prior to a breakthrough win in the AFC Championship game this January, don’t stand a chance, right? In gazing with slack-jawed admiration at the Patriots, many fans have ignored the strengths of the Colts.

For one thing, Indianapolis is the defending Super Bowl champion. Second, Indianapolis has beaten New England in their last three meetings. Third, Indianapolis has quietly demolished playoff-calibre teams: winning by 19, 22 and 24 points against the Buccaneers, Jaguars and Panthers. Those margins, Colts fans are no doubt quick to add, came without fourth-quarter gunslinging.

It’s fair to expect this game to be very similar to the high-scoring AFC title game played at the RCA Dome just nine months ago. Both teams are exceptional at scoring points, so the outcome will likely hinge on which offense that falters, or on which defense can earn the most stops.

The Colts have actually had the better defense this year (2nd in points allowed compared to 5th) and their pass defense is also second, compared to 6th for the Patriots. New England’s defense has also shown cracks when playing a strong offense, allowing 27 points to Dallas in week 6. Bearing these two facts in mind, it’s a safe bet that the Colts will be able to score at least 30 points and that their defense will be strong enough to hold the Patriots under 40 as well.

However, it’s tough to ignore all the offensive weapons that New England has. Even if Randy Moss (779 yards, 11 TDs) is taken out of the equation, the Colts still have to account for Wes Welker (613 yards, 6 TDs) and Donte Stallworth (411 yards, 3 TDs). The Colts, even with a healthy Marvin Harrison, look to be just a step behind on offense. Coupled with Tom Brady’s invincibility this season and Peyton Manning’s penchant for making mistakes, it’s reasonable to expect the Patriots to be just one step ahead of the Patriots at the end of the game.

Game Predictions and Commentary in Thread

After five weeks of the season DiamondDave gives us his rankings for the NFL. Bye weeks, quaterback changes, come from behind victories, a few undefeateds remain and several perrenial powers struggle.

Top Four in the AFC
Patriots
Colts
Steelers
Jaguars

Top Four NFC
Cowboys
Buccaneers
Redskins
Packers

Bottom Four Overall
32- Dolphins
31- Rams
30- Jets
29- Saints

Comments in the thread pertain to the low ranking of the Eagles, and the Seahawks who are either too low, or too high depending on his method.

DiamondDave takes a look at the NFL ranking every team in the league. Three weeks in his top five teams are all 3-0 and the bottom 5 are all 0-3.

Top Five

1-Patriots
2-Colts
3-Cowboys
4-Steelers
5-Packers

Bottom Five

28-Saints
29-Rams
30-Dolphins
31-Bills
32-Falcons

Don’t see your team? Want to comment on where they do belong?
Full Rankings Here

There’s more trouble in the NFL, and this time it is game related. The closest thing the league has to a dynasty has been caught cheating, but taping the opponents sideline. NadoBrave posts in the NFL forum, but where the damage is really apparent is when a Patriots fan responds on their team boardit isn’t in defense.

Personally I’m really bummed this story was confirmed, and the fact that the Pats have been accused of this before is a little unsettling. They were accused of doing this in Green Bay last year.

Later Drury makes it clear she doesn’t want games forfeited and will accept a penalty as a fan, which I guess is good, because the league is considering now how many draft picks the Patriots dynasty will lose. Will this be their downfall?

In the thread on the Patriots first game of the 2007 season Zen653 sounds off with his take on the Tom Brady led New England gridiron squad.

Decisive victory by the Patriots here in Week 1. That was an impressive thrashing of Eric Mangini’s vaunted New York Jets. The offensive line gave Brady plenty of time to throw the ball and he delivered some beautiful passes, connecting with Randy Moss for 50+ yards on one occasion. Remember when critics used to say that he couldn’t throw the long ball? He’s just never had anyone like Moss to reel it in.

It was also great to see Junior Seau and Adalius Thomas (does that guy cover a lot of ground, or what?) so active on defense and Ellis Hobbs running an NFL-record 108 yards on the kick return. That’s a very auspicious beginning to the young season and it came against a quality opponent. The only guy who looked a little shaky to me was Dante Stallworth who dropped a few short passes. He reminded me a bit of Caldwell in that regard. I also didn’t like the botched field goal attempt towards the end of the first half.

Still, all in all, a strong showing by the Patriots. I’m confident this team has what it takes to win a lot of games. We’ll know more next week after the game against San Diego.

Follow the Patriots in their forum all year long

The second week of college football should create some shakeups in the top 25 has 5 ranked teams lose, two of those to higher ranks though. Three of these losers went down to unranked opponents. Michigan continues to freefall as well as Oregon crushes them for their worst loss by point differential in 39 years. Notre Dame also continues to lose.

I’m on the West Coast and so seeing the PAC-10 start off strong with its out of conference performance is quite nice, and I revel in SEC and Big-10 teams losing in their preseason. What conference looks strong early? And who deserves to jump into the top 25?

To comment on Week Two’s results, click here