UEFA Champions League Predictions

Today the groups were drawn for the UEFA Champions League. The 2009-2010 edition has many familiar faces (i.e the Brits and Spaniards) but some new faces are here such as Maccabi Haifa, Apoel Nicosa, and Wulfburg. What will happen? no clue. I can take the easy road here but I will go crazy with these? why? so I can rightfully say to any "hater" that I was going by heart, on a limb, and somewhat based on facts. Let's begin!

Group A: Maccabi Haifa, Juventus, Bordeaux, and Bayern Munich

Surprise Team: Maccabi Haifa because they will be hard to beat in Israel and feel like they have something to prove (and gain monetarily). I still doubt they will advance, but they could ruin some dreams.
Set to Disappoint: Bayern Munich because they have had their worst start in 43 years domestically.
Best Match-up: Bayern v. Juventus due to the tradition and each team knows they have something to prove this year.
Teams to Advance: Juventus and Bordeaux

Group B: Man U, CSKA Moscow, Wolfburg, Basiktas

Surprise Team: Basiktas since they Turkish league champs know they have a little bit to prove.
Set to Disappoint: Not to keep with the German theme, but... Wolfsburg is most likely to not advance out of the three domestic champs (Moscow is not).
Best Match-Up: Wolfsburg v. Basiktas because they are two champions that a lot of people might not give the respect they ought to get.
Teams to Advance: Man U and Basiktas

Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, FC Zurich, Marseille

Surprise Team: FC Zurich just because people give no respect to the Swiss league and they have to be hungry to prove themselves.
Set to Disappoint: Real Madrid but only because I feel like they will not finish first, they still have so much talent that even if Ronaldo can't play with Kaka too well, they are still going to be good.
Best Match-Up: AC Milan v. Real Madrid well, duh.
Teams to Advance: Milan and Real

Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL

Surprise Team: Atletico because they are for real and are not regulars nor are they from Cypress, so it seems like the obvious choice.
Set to Disappoint: Porto, while they won the Cup a few years ago, I feel like with this group they might get trapped. I could be totally wrong though.
Best Match-Up: Atletico v. Porto not only because this is an Iberian Peninsula bragging rights match-up but also will determine who advances.
Teams to Advance: Chelsea and Porto (again, I can be wrong)

Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen

Surprise Team: Fiorentina (see Atletico)
Set to Disappoint: Lyon. If this was the EPL, it'd be Liverpool. However, Rafa's club loves the Champions League
Best Match-Up: Liverpool v. Lyon the English hate the French and visa versa. Also, this is going to directly affect the pecking order and teams who will advance.
Teams to Advance: Liverpool and Fiorentina(again, I can be wrong)

Group F: FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev, FC Rubin (who?)

Surprise Team: Dynamo (your welcome Kvyat) because they could do serious damage to the top dogs.
Set to Disappoint: Inter, who did not perform too well in the US (though they did not play all their guys) but Barca is better, so they have to be the choice.
Best Match-Up: Barca v. Inter... iBrah v. Eto'o, should be good.
Teams to Advance: Barca and Inter

Group G: Seville, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea (wtf?)

Surprise Team: Stuttgart (see Atletico)
Set to Disappoint: Seville (eh) There is not a clear choice here since Seville and Stuttgart are a toss up.
Best Match-Up: Seville v. Stuttgart... probably will decide who advances.
Teams to Advance: Rangers and Stuttgart

Group H: Arsenal, Standard Liege, Olympiakos, AZ Alkmaar

Surprise Team: Liege, because you have no idea what to expect. I would pick Olympiakos, but I despise them (thank you basketball)
Set to Disappoint: Arsenal, they have not been as good as before, though they dominated Celctic.
Best Match-Up: Alkmaar v. Liege... the Belgians are always second fidle to the Dutch in soccer, and they share a border, regional rivalries are always fun.
Teams to Advance: Arsenal and Alkmaar

September Games Not to be Missed

So yesterday I got completely hated on by folks in what I'm assuming is the Mountain time zone, and while this was a first for me to get so much hate on a blog post, it's a moment worth cherishing. However, I cannot dwell on yesterday and it is time to move on and perhaps annoy (or not) more people by picking some must see match-ups around the country for the first month of the season.

1st weekend:
Oregon @ Boise St. (Sept 3rd): The pride of the WAC shocked the Ducks in Eugene a season ago, will Oregon return the favor?
Navy @ Ohio St. (Sept 5th): Could the Midshipmen shock the Buckeyes at home who might be overlooking this game because of the lurking Trojans?
BYU @ Oklahoma (Sept 5th): As pointed out by the haters yesterday, this is a glorious match-up with a lot of pride and reputation implications.
Alabama @ Va Tech (Sept 5th): a top 10 match up on a neutral turf featuring the ACC's best and the SEC's second best.
Maryland @ Cal (Sept 5th): After the beating the Bears took on the East Coast, it will be interesting to see how they respond at Memorial Stadium.

2nd weekend:
Iowa @ Iowa State (Sept 12th): Honestly, probably not going to be too good of a game, but it's a rivarly game so all logic is out the window.
Notre Dame @ Michigan (Sept 12th): Same reasoning as the Iowa match-up.
UCLA @ Tennessee (Sept 12th): Can the Bruins win in a tough environment and erase the demons of the 59-0 thrashing at BYU? Can the Vols respond to their OT loss a year ago at the Rose Bowl? Will Lane Kiffin say something stupid? (probably)
USC @ Ohio St (Sept 12th): Does this even need a reasoning? Fine. This game is so hyped it's going to be shown in 3-D!!!

3rd weekend:
Boise St. @ Fresno St. (Sept 18th): The most marquee match-up in the WAC and two very solid teams. This is the only chance in league (except the Nevada game perhaps) for Boise St. to lose.
Cal @ Minnesota (Sept 19th): Will the Big 10 finally beat a Pac-10 team? Will Cal finally win on the road?
Tennessee @ Florida (Sept 19th): Cue up the bulletin board material and Tim Tebow's left hand (and his legs) and don't forget the stuffling Florida D.
Utah @ Oregon (Sept 19th): Will the Utes pull a Boise St. and win in Eugene? Can the Pac-10 rightfully claim itself the best West Coast conference once again? Will those silly Mountain West fans stop hating on my blog?
Arizona @ Iowa (Sept 19th): A chance for the Pac-10 to beat a Big 10 team again, or a chance for the Big 10 to win a game it's supposed to at home.
FSU @ BYU (Sept 19th): How will the altitude of Provo affect the 'Noles? Will Bobby Bowden be able to breathe at all? Can BYU beat a good team in the regular season?

4th weekend:
Miami (FL) @ Virginia Tech (Sept 26th): Can the 'Canes beat the elite in the ACC and return to their rightful place at the top of their conference?
UNC @ Georgia Tech (Sept 26th): Normally a solid basketball match-up, this football clash might also determine who is for real in the ACC.
TCU @ Clemson (Sept 26th): Will the MWC get a big win at an ACC school (even if that school is constantly overrated and underachieves)?
Cal @ Oregon (Sept 26th): Is this the game that will determine places 2-3 in the PAC or perhaps even 1-3? Who will the bandwagon Trojan fans be rooting for? And which mascot will win in a fight?

UCLA Fall Football Scrimmage

UCLA Scrimmage –

The UCLA fall scrimmage occurred earlier today and I have to say, I still don’t know how we’re going to fare this season but I’m positive we’re going to win more than 4 games. Woohoo! What’s the basis for this assumption? We had several plays over 60 yards, including a nice 60-yard run by redshirt freshman Johnathan Franklin. Kevin Prince threw one interception, which is impressive considering that we were impressive in that category last year. The offensive line looked phenomenal in comparison to last year, allowing our backs to rack up 181 yards on 29 carries. Now, this in itself isn’t that impressive if these were the numbers that were produced during a regular season game, in fact, it’d be down right shitty, but the thing to note is that this is just a scrimmage. So what if we didn’t get 200+, 300+ yards rushing? That just means that our defense was able to hold our offense.

Wait; does that mean our offense sucks? I can’t really gauge that until we start playing other teams but we did score 23 points on offense and 7 points on defense. Our defense is bomb; we all know that, so lets enjoy the fact we were able to scrap up 30 points. Oh shit, does that mean our defense isn’t as great as it used to be? I can’t tell anymore. We need to play someone else beside ourselves.

I think the best part of the scrimmage is that Drake was filled up with a little more than 6,500 people. 6,500! For a scrimmage! This was the first time I’ve been to a scrimmage but I was amazed that so many people showed up. A vital part of any sports team is fan support and Neuheisel has done an amazing job of cultivating fan faith through his recruits, coaching staff, players, and by being a bad ass.

Dudes and dudettes, I can’t for football season to start.

Most Ridiculous Coaches

This week, we have decided to discuss who the most ridiculous coaches are. Here is the video of Jeremy and I discussing it. Please VOTE below for who you think deserves this.

Who is the Most Ridiculous Coach?

Jim Mora Sr.

Herm Edwards

Dennis Green

Bob Knight

John Chaney

Tim Floyd

Dan Hawkins

Mike Gundy

Lane Kiffin

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