So I just check and College Football News has WVU still in the National Champ. Game against Ohio State. I hope we get a chance to play them or any Big 10 team so we can shut them up. Here’s how they see it shaking out:

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
Jan. 1 / 4:30 p.m. Pasadena, Calif. ABC
*BCS vs. BCS (Big Ten Champion vs. Pac 10 Champion, if available)
Projection: Arizona State vs. Boise State

Allstate Sugar Bowl
Jan. 1 / 8:30 p.m. New Orleans, La. FOX
*BCS vs. BCS (SEC Champion, if available)
Projection: LSU vs. Boston College

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Jan. 2 / 8 p.m. Phoenix, Ariz. FOX
*BCS vs. BCS (Big 12 Champion, if available)
Projection: Oregon vs. Oklahoma

FedEx Orange Bowl
Jan. 3 / 8 p.m. Miami, Fla. FOX
*BCS vs. BCS (ACC Champion, if available)
Projection: Missouri vs. Virginia Tech

Allstate BCS National Championship
Jan. 7 / 8 p.m. New Orleans, La. FOX
*BCS #1 vs. BCS #2
Projection: West Virginia vs. Ohio State

Here’s their breakdown of the BCS rankings that came out today for WVU:

7. West Virginia Score: 0.7759 Last Week: 7
Watch out. The Mountaineers are rolling with dominant wins over Syracuse, Mississippi State and Rutgers over the past three weeks, and with big chances to make more noise ahead. The humans and computers are all in agreement, for the most part, with the No. 7 ranking, but a win over Louisville next week, coupled with a drop from the Arizona State/Oregon loser, means a likely No. 6 spot next week. There are more losses to be had by the teams in the current top six.
predicted wins: Louisville, at Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pitt
predicted losses: None
predicted record: 11-1
predicted bowl: BCS Championship
toughest test: at Rutgers

Also, CFN has a great write up of how things could play out this year. Check it out.

I haven’t seen Ray Rice do anything spectacular. He’s strong, but he is getting nice holes. Anyone that gets the ball as many times as him will break some plays by default. He’s not juking line backers and not overpowering defensive backs. I’m not impressed this far through the game. Credit goes to the O-Line. I don’t think I’ve even seen Teel get pressured, much less sacked. With as much TV time as they are giving his mother, and those three giant rings she has on her necklace, she should be careful on the walk back to the car.

Big hits by WVU defensive backs and Rutgers’ poorly timed penalties are killing them. A missed field goal kills the momentum gained on an otherwise great drive (13 plays, 56 yards, 6:02 minutes).

Rutgers’ defense is really keyed on Slaton. Since that first touchdown run, he has had trouble getting loose. Just as a I typed that, Slaton goes on a slip screen for a long run (56 yards). Devine in but doesn’t get the ball. Three plays in a row and he isn’t getting the ball… a decoy for white to take the ball to the 5 yard line. White throws great block. Schmitt embarrasses a Rutgers’ line backer.. next play Slaton walks it in, untouched. WVU 24 - Rutgers 3.

The question now is whether or not Rutgers can score quickly. With Underwood dropping two-thirds of the balls that go to him, I’m not sure Rutgers’ is a big play threat. Teel is dropping balls on the wide outs, even with a bad hand, but they are dropping EVERYTHING.

McCourty just got YouTubed by Owen Schmidt. End of the third quarter. WVU 24 - Rutgers 3.

Down by 21, Rutgers runs again and the crowd starts booing. Next play complete pass but a big hit by Lewis who takes a knee to the head and has to get helped off. Two catches in a row and Rutgers goes to the hurry up. Three in a row. Four, five, six, seven … before one is dropped. Another possibility to pick one off. Six dropped passes today for Rutgers. Finally Allen picks off a pass with 11:16 left in the game.

Another bad snap…I called that one.

Slaton walks in again… good game. WVU 31 - Rutgers 3.

One more drop for Rutgers in the end zone. Pick by Munday. Why are White and Slaton in the game at this point? Twenty-eight point lead, six minutes left not much let down with Brown and Devine …? Finally Brown and Devine are in. Insult to injury, Scooter Berry causes and recovers a fumble. Harrison comes in for one hand off - just enough to get the jersey dirty. WVU 31 - Rutgers 3.
• The commentator just said WVU may have the greatest ground game in the history of college football. That’s a big statement.
• WVU soundly pounded on Rutgers, but had the wide receivers caught half the passes they dropped, or just have the ones they dropped in the end zone, this would have been a game.
• 13 game winning streak for WVU vs. Rutgers
• Announcers agree WVU top 5, then make the Dingle-Berry joke (love it)
• There’s no way Matt Ryan is more deserving of player of the week than White

I saw a commercial to vote for coach of the year. Click here and vote for Coach Rod! After this weekend, I have no doubt he’s got his shit together and is going to be.. The Coach Of The Year!

-

Some good ol’ WV boys were at the Rutgers blow out today. They happened to park beside Pat MacAfee’s parents (see below). It’s nice to see WVU peeps traveling, especially to such a big game. Oh what a beautiful game it was.

Anyway, in case you were wondering here are the two that put together one of the best kicker/punters WVU has ever seen.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. MacAfee, Thank you.  (I think Pats dad just saw the new “Scarlet Knight”)

Herbstreit picked Rutgers as revenge for last years “ruining” of their storybook season. Corso said WVU by 14 on the first go ‘round, then changed it to by “a touchdown and a field goal.”Got to be able to get a first down when you only need one yard with a 260 lb fullback, who has broken nine facemasks. Great downfield blocking on the first touchdown run by the wide receivers as Slaton changes direction and makes a diving attempt at the pylon. Touchdown WVU. WVU 7 - Rutgers 0.

WV’s defense is staying at home, looking strong. Rutgers’ offense is like a piston, 4 yards, 5 yards, penalty held them up right before the end of the 1st quarter. Looks like WVU will need dominate time of possession or this could get ugly. End of first quarter WVU 7 - Rutgers 0.

Rivers starts second quarter with a nice run back, second of the game. I would be interested to see some coverage statistics since teams went to these crazy spread punts and rugby style kicking versus old school “pro-style punt formation.”

Third and seven and the center snaps the ball over Whites’ hands (it was a bad snap, but catchable) Having played center in college, once you make one bad snap, even if you’ve snapped it 1000 times perfect in a row, it gets in your head, and then you analyze every snap. This won’t be the last bad snap today. Twenty-three yard loss. WVU makes it look planned though, as the WVU punts the ball into the back of a Rutgers player and Mortty Ivy recovers to the 31 yard line.

A long replay as White fumbles the ball across the goal line. The line judge (incorrectly) called it a touchdown, but the replay is showing White laying on the ball in the end zone regardless. The replay took nearly 10 minutes to sort out and the play stands as called on the field. Good PAT. I don’t think this is reviewable once that line judge called it a touchdown? WVU 14 - Rutgers 0.

Rivers dropped an easy INT as Dingle waxes Teel. Two plays later, Teel comes out of the game for Jabu Lovelace. Teel back in one play later. 5 min left in 2nd before ray rice held for no gain or a loss. Rutgers’ wide outs can’t hold on to the ball today, and this time it cost them four points. WVU 14 - Rutgers 3.

This buys them another blocker with Slaton, but I haven’t seen him throw any noteworthy blocks. Lets see more Schmitt if we’re going to play this way.

Good final drive and WVU tacks on a field goal. WVU 17 - Rutgers 3.

Notes:

• Play calling for Rodriguez will take more time today because someone at Rutgers stole their hand signals. Somehow WVU found out about it from an “inside source”, would be interesting to get the rest of that story. It would be a good strategy to make the other team think you had their hand signals (use a mole, or sneak it through the media). That confusion alone is well worth the effort.
• Did anyone else notice the refs have pink whistles?
• No way White plays QB at next level? He’s as good as Vick. He was drafted by the Angels as a pitcher, so he certainly has the arm strength.
• Here’s a crazy stat. WVU has the fewest penalties this year in the Big East. White has two more carries at this point than Slaton.

Great article about the D. check it check it check it out.

Just watched College Gameday, Corso Picks WVU by 2 TD’s finally he’s coming around. Of course, the Herbstreirt fool picked Rutgers because of revenge. I think revenge is going to be why they lose.

God I can’t believe it’s week 9 (8 for WVU) already. Here are our picks.

Couchburner:

I was 7-7 last week with straight up picks. Not too bad, but room for
improvement. I could’ve been like MountaineerBob…hahaha. I thought I’d
try ATS this week…Black Beatty will be so proud.

Top 10
Ohio State -3½ @ PENN STATE - PSU
VT -3½ vs Boston College - VT
OREGON -2½ vs Usc - Oregon
West Virginia -6 @ RUTGERS - WVU
ARIZONA STATE -3 vs California - CAL
FLORIDA -7 vs Georgia - Georgia

Big East
South Florida -4½ @ CONNECTICUT - UConn
LOUISVILLE -11 vs Pittsburgh - Pitt

Shits and Giggles
FLORIDA STATE -17½ vs Duke - Duke
AUBURN -17 vs Mississippi - Ole Miss
#12 Kansas -2 @ TEXAS A&M - Aggies
#17 TEXAS -20½ vs Nebraska - Texas

JWilson:

Top 10
#1 OSU over #25 Penn State
#21 California over #4 Arizona State
#12 USC over #5 Oregon
#7 WVU over Rutgers
#9 Kansas over Texas A&M
#10 South Florida over #23 Uconn

Big East:
Louisville over Pitt

MountaineerBob:

Since Couchburner is talking shit about my horrible picks last week, I’ll pick the same games WTS.

Top 10

• Ohio State -3½ @ PENN STATE - PSU - I’m picking them too, I hate both teams but hate OSU more and I think they are overrated.. big time.
• T -3½ vs Boston College - VT - missed the pick on this one but would have picked VT, and they should have won that game.. classic Beamer moment.. ahahahahahahahah.
• OREGON -2½ vs Usc - USC - They have something to prove still.
• West Virginia -6 @ RUTGERS - WVU - we win this one and cover easily but it will be close for 3 periods.
• ARIZONA STATE -3 vs California - CAL -another overrated team goes down this weekend
• FLORIDA -7 vs Georgia - Florida - trying to get back in the mix

Big East

• South Florida -4½ @ CONNECTICUT - UConn - Cold bad weather and a team looking to prove something, UCONN ROLLS!
• LOUISVILLE -11 vs Pittsburgh - Louisville - just makes pitt look like wann-stache needs to watch more TV.

Shits and Giggles

• FLORIDA STATE -17½ vs Duke - Duke - With USF stealing all of the talent in FL, Fl State just won’t be able to put up enough to cover.
• AUBURN -17 vs Mississippi - Auburn - wild guess, just trying to be different than CB’ner
• #12 Kansas -2 @ TEXAS A&M - Aggies - That fat ass needs to lose, now.
• #17 TEXAS -20½ vs Nebraska - Nebraska - 20.5 no way, Texas wins but doesn’t cover.

“Ever since we lost to USF, our name hasn’t been mentioned that much,” Reynaud said. “I think a lot of people forgot about us. After this week, they won’t forget about us.”

On that note, WV takes on The Scarlet Knights, in what is turning out to be a much much bigger game that it was just 8 days ago. I don’t know what to think. This game makes me nervous for some reason. I have the “i don’t believe” feeling going on. What’s wrong with me? Does anyone else have that feeling?

I need to get some positive thinking for this game. I’m usually very optimistic. Maybe I should just remind myself:

The Mountaineers lead 28-4-2 and have won the past 12 meetings, including last year’s 41-39, triple-overtime thriller that robbed Rutgers of the Big East title and sent the Knights to the Texas Bowl instead of, perhaps, the Rose Bowl.

and

Schiano is well aware that West Virginia is the only Big East team he hasn’t beaten since he arrived in Piscataway six years ago.

ahhahahahahaha …

Thank god this didn’t happen:

Slaton easily could have wound up at Rutgers. Schiano recruited him out of Conwell-Egan (Pa.) High School, so it had to hurt when, in his first career start, Slaton torched the Scarlet Knights for 139 yards on 25 carries two years ago in Piscataway.

“We had discussed [having] a visit at his home, and then he committed to West Virginia that weekend,” Schiano said. “So I did such a great job of swaying him that he went right down to West Virginia and committed.”

Slaton = quality:

Steve Slaton doesn’t think the West Virginia-Rutgers showdown on Saturday at Piscataway, N.J., is between him and Ray Rice.

We’re friendly, but it’s not a rivalry between us,” the consensus All-America Mountaineer tailback said. “I think it’s between the two teams. “What he does and what I do are just part of the teams’ efforts to win this game. All that matters is if you have that ‘W’ when the game is over.”

I want to see this continue:

This will be Slaton’s third appearance against Rutgers. He rushed 25 times for 139 yards and one touchdown in 2005 and 23 times for 112 yards and two scores in 2006.

A rowdy crowd… I think we can handle it:

It’s rare for the West Virginia football team to play in front of a capacity crowd at Rutgers, but that will be the case Saturday when the 7th ranked Mountaineers tackle the 25th ranked Scarlet Knights.

WVU senior linebacker Mark Magro says he believes it will actually help his team that the stands are full and the fans are on their feet.

“Like Coach Rod says, we always hope the crowd is going to be into it, we are going to be excited,” he said.

Ok, feeling better, the team is confident it seems and they look better prepared than they did against the USFags. It will be a great game, especially when we come out throwing the ball and shock the Knights with an air attack!

My Prediction (after this therapy session) WVU 54 - Rutgers 32

I think we get off to a crazy 1st quarter,  like we did last week, and then hold them off with our constantly improving defense. We can stop them.

Hopefully this upcoming game against the Scarlet Knights follows tradition.

WVU has dominated Rutgers over the years, holding a commanding 28-4-2 advantage in the all-time series. As a matter of fact, the Mountaineers have won 12 consecutive meetings with the Knights dating back to 1994. Last season, Rutgers had a chance to earn a share of the Big East title, but WVU put an end to those hopes by outlasting the Knights, 41-39, in triple-overtime in Morgantown.

I want to see pics like this one. Givin’ them the shocker!

Also, for anyone going to the game this weekend beware of the Rutgers Student section. Apparently they got a little rowdy during the Navy game last month and the students are yet again keepin’ it classy in Jersey…

(CSTV U-WIRE) NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Rutgers beat Navy 41-24 on Friday, but the excitement of the win was cut short Tuesday as reports surfaced concerning mistreatment of Navy players by Rutgers fans in the student section.

A column in Tuesday’s Star-Ledger detailed a slew of obscenities directed toward the Midshipmen by Rutgers students.

The crowd yelled derogatory comments such as “F– you Navy,” “You got f–ed up” and “You suck,” according to the newspaper, which resulted in discomfort for Navy players and fans. (more about classy Rutgers fans here)

So Louisville is out there crying about a bad call, and the Big East is apologizing like crazy. If you didn’t hear about this or see it Friday night, check out the video below. I think it was a bad call and a very bizarre situation.