BlogPoll Roundtable, Week 3

Here's my answers to this week's BlogPoll Roundtable. Thanks to Maize n Brew for hosting.

1. Its only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?

Next week is something of a dud in terms of big games, so for a contender to take a week four fall, its going to have be some kind of an upset. Louisville travels to Kansas State who I think is better than expected, but even with Louisville's injury problems I can't see this one happening. I'm just saying that it might be closer than Louisville-Miami was.

I'll go with Iowa over Ohio State in week 5, assuming that Drew Tate is at full strength. Will all the talk about Michigan reestablishing themselves, Iowa's attempt to bounce back from a disappointing season has gone largely unnoticed. This could be the wake up.

2. By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party ?

I want to say Oregon, who has that win-some-games-they-shouldn't look (see Oklahoma) but the schedule is far from friendly (@ASU, @Cal, @USC). I don't think that TCU will lose this season, but that won't be enough to get them into the National Championship game. Virginia Tech's schedule looks manageable, but they always find a way to blow it. I'll say Michigan. The common wisdom seems to be that Notre Dame was overrated, but the schedule stays relatively favorable right up to that showdown in Columbus on Nov. 18th.

3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the &*%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky wasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?

Recently, A&M has gone to Lubbock to die against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. The Aggies are 3-8 against TT over the last 11 years. I would really like to see a win here this season.

4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.

It looks like a down year in the Big XII with the North continuing to struggle (see Kansas@Toledo and Colorado@anybody). In the South, texas and Oklahoma both have serious question marks. Last week A&M, TT and Baylor did their best to be removed from consideration. With "mediocre equals unpredictable" in mind, here goes:

North
1. Nebraska
2. Missouri
3. Iowa State
4. Kansas State
5. Kansas
6. Colorado

South
1. texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas Tech
5. Baylor
6. Oklahoma State

Championship: Nebraska over texas.

5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.

Well, every Saturday I try to catch both the Michigan and Texas A&M games. Usually at halftime of the Michigan game, I'll throw something on the grill. Shiner Hefeweizen makes a nice lubricant here. I stop at one though, as I'm an overweight Michigander who got the idea to go to all the homegames of a team that this year moved its homegames back to 6PM to have the heat be merely oppressive at kickoff. If its a homegame, I usually drink a couple of liters of water in the afternoon and then another 2 liters at the game itself. It's hot in Texas.