Pink Locker Room

A couple of our Ladies got quite a scare this past weekend and the BCS is starting to…well…sort of shake out. Mizzou and West Virginia are looking poised to meet for the title, but they each have a game left and pesky little Ohio State is just waiting to swoop in like some crazed pageant runner-up should one of them stumble. There is also Georgia, ranked inexplicably at 4th despite having lost the SEC East to Tennessee. Huh. I have to say, in another month I may have to break out my buckskin Mountaineer costume because hell if I’m going to root for Mizzou (sorry, Tigers fans). Let’s check in with some Ladies’ action…

G-shumway: In the Battle of the Schools That Quite Possibly Have the Same Mascot, Wake Forest’s Demon Deacons defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 31-17. Wake finishes the season 8-4, tying a school record for second most wins in a season (last year’s team set the mark with 11 victories, including the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Brought to You In Part by Dr. & Mrs. Pepper) and almost guaranteeing an appearance in a bowl game, maybe even one that is televised. Wake RB Josh Adams ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns in the victory and my future first husband Riley Skinner (See me, Riley. See me.) threw two more TDs.

Meanwhile, the Commodores blame the loss on the departure of founding member Lionel Richie. In the “Team I Cheer For Because It’s My Birthright” department, the West Virginia Mountaineers moved one step closer to playing in the national title game (Gawd bless you, Arkansas) by absolutely demolishing the UConn Huskies 66-21. The last time dogs were beaten like that, it involved Michael Vick. The ‘Eers end their season against Pitt next Saturday, so pull your foot out of the thresher and get ready for one hell of a Backyard Brawl.

Holly: Tennessee 52, Kentucky 50. Four overtimes is four more than we should have needed to beat a Kentucky team that didn’t so much as stir until the third quarter. We’ll need to play TWO halves of football to beat LSU (holysmokinghellwe’regoingtoAtlantatoplayLSU) in the SEC Championship…but Arkansas just showed the world it can be done. And both teams, right now, are where they play best: LSU’s mad as hell and UT’s a double-digit underdog. And this is 2007, so you’re lying if you even so much as think you know how this is going to end.

So no prognosticating. Instead, we give thanks. Here’s to our seniors, a crop of young men who’ve weathered the most trying seasons in Fulmer’s tenure with poise and fierce play, and to their captain, my boy #10. You got us a banner, boys. Let’s go for two.

Andrea: With Iowa all abuzz with Ferentz-to-Michigan rumors (LALALALA, I CAN’T HEAR YOUUUUUU! SA, LEAVE ME ALONE! GET AWAAAAY!) and the Hawkeyes looking poised and ready for the, um, Armed Forces Bowl? (yikes), I have turned my attention momentarily to the Championship Subdivision Playoffs. UNI played host to New Hampshire this past weekend and I got to return to my beloved UNI Dome for a game (I haven’t been to a game there since…freshman year of college). We played all our HS home games there and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it, particularly when it’s 30 degrees with 25-mph winds outside, but 72 degrees with no wind inside. Heh heh.

Anyway, UNI, with its undefeated season and #1 ranking, should’ve handled the Wildcats pretty easily, but that was not the case. Down 4 with just over a minute left, UNI had to march downfield and score on a last-minute TD pass that was bobbled about 6-ways from Sunday before true freshman Montari Leonard finally hauled it in for the touchdown. It made for a VERY exciting game, but…yikes. This was the bad game/lucky game. Most teams en route to a title have one game where they play poorly and get real lucky. This was ours. Next week, we gotta look sharper against the Delaware Blue Hens (snerk). I think they can do it. UNI has some talented players. The QB, Eric Sanders is poised and has a good arm. He gets all day to throw the ball because UNI has an O-line that Iowa wishes they had. (My god Ferentz, you can just go get some giant Iowa farm boys and line ’em up?) Johnny Gray at WR and Corey Lewis at TB were also quite impressive and true freshman Schuyler Oordt at TE had a reeeal nice jumping catch over a defender (go former CF Tiger!). UNI has the tools, so hopefully they’re playing in Chattanooga in 3 weeks.