The Post Mortem

Hail to the victors! Laughing at Michigan right now is pretty easy, and the cheap thing to do. Don�t kid yourselves, Ohio State fans; you didn�t look much better in your national championship debacle against Florida. But the thing is, if you watched any part of last year�s Rose Bowl, you would know that Michigan is overrated and while losing to Appalachian State wasn�t something you thought possible, it doesn�t seem that unbelievable, either.

But it shows two things in the overall big picture. The first being that preseason rankings are meaningless, and while it makes for great fodder on local talk shows, the polls shouldn�t happen until at least the fifth week of the season so we get a sense of who is good and who is not.

Second, let�s no longer hear an argument that teams such as Boise State don�t belong in the national championship picture. The Broncos beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl (played at University of Phoenix Stadium mind you), but the playing field between the BCS schools and the smaller schools really isn�t as small as you would like to imagine.

Either that or the Big Ten really blows. But if you watched Wisconsin beat a pretty good Washington State team on Saturday, that really isn�t fair to say.

MORE COLLEGE NOTES
You really have to force yourself to stay up for Hawaii games this season. Colt Brennan should be considered the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. But East Coast voters are likely too lazy (or just plain bombed) to pay any attention. How hard is it to stay up late on a Saturday night? There is nothing better than being in Vegas on a Saturday night, hanging out, bemoaning the final gun of the college football game until, wait, the Hawaii game is kicking off at 10 p.m. Love it.

Wow, the younger Bowden is a choking chip off the old man�s block. Well, almost. Thought for sure that Florida State was going to come back and win that game.

Are we supposed to be impressed that Okalahoma dropped 79 on North Texas? Please.

Don�t make too much of Cal �s victory over Tennessee . A team of Cal �s caliber is supposed to hold serve at home. But overall, the SEC didn�t look that great, especially with Auburn �s miracle comeback against a pedestrian Kansas State team.

How�s that long-term contract for Charlie Weis looking right about now? Wow, that didn�t take long for Weis to make people long for the Ty Willingham era. This is why you don�t rush for new contracts when you already have the dude locked up. That�s always why you take the cash when it is offered to you. Speaking of which�

HORTON TO OREGON
The only reason to be proud alumnus of Cal State Fullerton took a significant blow this week when head coach George Horton accepted an offer to rebuild the University of Oregon baseball program. Meaning the Titans will likely become an middle-of-the-pack team as BCS schools continue to pump in millions of dollars to an otherwise neglected sport. Fullerton will continue to be decent, because you can�t have a college baseball team in Southern California that won�t be extremely talented, but it won�t be nearly as close as what it once was.

And the Mensa members over at the Fullerton message board have been debating as to whether Horton left for the money or not, which gives you a pretty good indication of why they had to attend the world�s largest junior college in the first place. Of course he took the money. No kidding. But let�s not let the administration of the school skip by, either. The mismanagement of the university, starting with its attempts to dismantle the highly successful Diamond Club in a desperate attempt to raise funs and interest for its women�s sports, also should take some of the blame.

• Leave it to the Williams brothers to knock out all of the hot chicks out of the U.S. Open. Thanks a lot, jerks.

• Michael Strahan returns to the Giants. Child support is a bitch, huh?

• With all of the lousy quarterbacks in the NFL, Byron Leftwich can�t find a job? Something doesn�t add up. What are the Chicago Bears doing?

• How about we no longer talk about the 200 pitches Scot Shields once threw during a college game. The guy pitches too much during the early part of the season and turns to garbage down the stretch. Hopefully the Angels can end the season early and give Shields some rest before the playoffs.

AND FINALLY
Virginia Tech made it back to college football, intent on milking its tragedy for the benefit of its football team. Yeah, ask the Yankees how milking 9/11 has done for them. But THN did find a video of Virginia Tech students on spring break in April. Take a look.