LVSC Week 12 NFL Rankings

Every week Las Vegas Sports Consultants, the world's largest oddsmaking company, releases their top polls/rankings for the major sports. They describe their polls as ones in which "teams are ranked purely by the numbers, without media, regional, league, conference or any other biases – just the facts as determined by LVSC’s team of experts." Because they use the same information that is used to make the betting lines, it is perhaps the most complete and accurate poll. We will post the updated college football poll here every Tuesday and the updated NFL rankings on Wednesdays.



No big changes here. The top 5 stays the same while San Diego moves into the 6 hole. I would not be surprised to see them move ahead of Pittsburgh soon as well. The Chargers have definitely found their identity and, as a result, started playing great football. Philip Rivers is definitely one of the better leaders in the game. His confidence, borderline cockiness, seems to have rubbed off on his teammates. The big matchup this week will see the Saints and Patriots battle it out for the top spot on Monday Night.

LVSC Week 13 College Football Rankings

Every week Las Vegas Sports Consultants, the world's largest oddsmaking company, releases their top polls/rankings for the major sports. They describe their polls as ones in which "teams are ranked purely by the numbers, without media, regional, league, conference or any other biases – just the facts as determined by LVSC’s team of experts." Because they use the same information that is used to make the betting lines, it is perhaps the most complete and accurate poll. We will post the updated college football poll here every Tuesday and the updated NFL rankings on Wednesdays.



The top 5 spots stay the same this week, but Oklahoma drops from the six hole down to tenth following their loss to Texas Tech. They continue to be the team with the most disparity from the BCS polls as they remain unranked by the BCS. Stanford's loss drops them 5 spots to number 18. Interestingly, they are back behind USC who they destroyed just two weeks ago. It goes to show how much pure athleticism factors into college football. Notice that TCU holds a 2 point margin over fifth place Oregon. I am telling you, this team is for real. They definitely have the talent to hang with the big boys.

The Most Impressive Teams Today

In looking at today's games, two teams really stood out. New Orleans went down to Tampa Bay and beat the Buccaneers 38-7. While Tampa Bay is far from a top flight team, these are the games that have a tendency to jump up and bite the favored team. These are the games that an undefeated team has a tendency to look past. It is easy to get up for the big games, but it isn't quite as easy to get up for the games that everyone knows you're supposed to win. Top teams always win the games they are supposed to win and that's what the Saints did on Sunday. The second team that caught my attention was the San Diego Chargers. I have been saying for the past couple of weeks that the Chargers really seem to be hitting their stride and Sunday that continued. They went into Denver and took over the division lead with a dominant victory over a division foe. While the Broncos may not be quite as good as their record, they are still no pushover. That is especially true at Invesco. The Chargers defense, however, went into Denver and completely controlled the game. The offense didn't put up huge numbers, but they still managed to put 32 points on the board. The Chargers again continue to build momentum and, if this keeps up, they are going to be very tough to beat come playoff time.

Oh Neaux!

What was Les Miles thinking? With a chance to win the game, he let his team down. QB Jordan Jefferson was sacked with 17 seconds left in the game to create a 4th and 26 and Miles let eight seconds run off the clock before using his last timeout. Boy would those eight seconds have come in handy. On 4th and 26, Jefferson completed a deep pass to WR Terrance Tolliver that would have setup a field goal to win the game. Instead with only one second left on the clock, the field goal team was not ready to run on the field and Jefferson spiked the ball to stop the clock. As it turns out, spiking the ball with no time left on the clock doesn't help much. Had Miles called his timeout properly after the 3rd down play, LSU would have had plenty of time to spike the ball and kick the field goal. Had he had his field goal team prepared, they could have at least tried to get the last play off as a field goal attempt. Unfortunately for the Tigers, he did neither. You can chalk this loss up to the coaching staff.

Games of the Day

Ohio State at Michigan: The Wolverines welcome Ohio State to the Big House today in the latest installment of this storied rivalry. Clearly Michigan is not playing at the high level it is used to and Ohio State has already clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Despite all that, you never know what is going to happen in these rivalry games. Ohio State should be able to score at will and win this game going away against a soft Michigan defense. I imagine the Wolverines will keep this game close for a little while, but Ohio State should pull away. One thing is for sure, Rich Rodriguez could definitely use an upset to help get some of the Wolverine faithful off his back.

Cal at Stanford: Stanford is easily playing the best football in the country right now as they welcome the Cal Golden Bears to town for "The Big Game." Hard to imagine Cal pulling this one out, especially without star running back Javhid Best. Best will miss today's game as he continues to recover from a severe concussion suffered in the game against Oregon State. Andrew Luck, Toby Gerhart and the entire Cardinal offense has been absolutely rolling in recent weeks. The overpowering run game allows Stanford to get a lead and then just take the air out of the ball and control the clock. I think this game is closer than you would guess, but Stanford comes out on top.

Oregon at Arizona: In a wide open Pac Ten, there are still multiple teams fighting for a trip to the Rose Bowl. Arizona needs the win to remain in contention. Oregon would seem to be the better team, but Arizona is incredibly tough to play at home. Mike Stoops has the Wildcat defense playing at a high level and QB Nick Foles is one of the better, unknown players in the country. I think Arizona takes this one and joins the rest of the teams atop the Pac Ten.

Great View of the World Series

Check out this great time lapse photography from Game 6 of the World Series. From CNBC's Darren Rovell "If you want a good look at the future of sports journalism, watch this incredible World Series time lapse through the lenses of 26-year-old photographer Robert Caplin.

The project involved shooting for about nine hours during Game Six with three Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras. Caplin edited down the 12,000 images with his girlfriend Laia Prats into the short piece, which ended up running at 24 frames per second. He then matched it to Chopin’s Waltz No. 5."

Click this link to see the video http://www.robertcaplin.com/Videos.html

Clippers Announcers Suspended For Tonight's Game

Legendary Los Angeles Clipper broadcaster Ralph Lawler and partner Mike Smith have been suspended for tonight's game because of comments made during Wednesday's game against the Grizzlies. The exchange came as the two discussed Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian born NBA player. The exchange is below:

Smith: “Look who’s in.”

Lawler: “Hamed Haddadi. Where’s he from?”

Smith: “He’s the first Iranian to play in the NBA.” (Smith pronounced Iranian as “Eye-ranian,” a pronunciation that offended the viewer who complained.)

Lawler: “There aren’t any Iranian players in the NBA,” repeating Smith’s mispronunciation.

Smith: “He’s the only one.”

Lawler: “He’s from Iran?”

Smith: “I guess so.”

Lawler: “That Iran?”

Smith: Yes.

Lawler: “The real Iran?”

Smith: “Yes.”

Lawler: “Wow. Haddadi – that’s H-A-D-D-A-D-I.”

Smith: “You’re sure it’s not Borat’s older brother?”

Smith: “If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I’m going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part.”

Lawler: “Here’s Haddadi. Nice little back-door pass. I guess those Iranians can pass the ball.”

Smith: “Especially the post players.

Lawler: “I don’t know about their guards.”

Really? First of all, for a viewer to be offend that Iran was pronounced (eye-ran) rather than the correct (ear-on) is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard in a long time. While I do not typically find it appropriate to tell someone else what they should be offended by, I have to call bs on this one. I suppose it is reasonable to think a person of Iranian descent could be offended by the Borat remarks, it is a stretch to consider it suspendable. Clearly Borat is a joke and no harm was meant by the comments. Ralph Lawler is the only classy, successful aspect of a joke of an organization. It is sad to see a fine broadcaster and all around guy like Lawler be disrespected by an organization who has worked so hard for. For the Clippers to not have his back, when he really should not need it in the first place, is just another embarrassment from the NBA's doormat. Here's to you Ralph Lawler, you deserve so much better.