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| Week Five |
| Fall is officially here. The PSU Preview staff couldn�t be more excited. Back to school sales, leaves turning, caramel apples, the return of our favorite TV shows� it�s about time. The Staff has been trying to fill the void left by all the re-runs by watching some new programming that has been rolled out on cable. Some of it is good � Nip / Tuck. Some of it is embarrassing � Playmakers. Have you watched this show yet? The Staff was hooked after the first couple of episodes. Now, it is just painful to watch. The story lines are too stereotypical of NFL players, the dialogue is unbelievable, and the acting is atrocious. But for some reason we can�t stop watching. Must be a guilty pleasure. Thinking about how we sometimes get lured into these programs reminded the Staff of College Football. Just as critics review the fall line up and tell us what to watch, Preseason Polls tell us which teams have the most talent and should win the most games. In the case of College Football, there are countless experts putting forth their opinion of who will dominate and making predictions of who will end up playing for the National Championship. For the most part, Preseason Polls are a load of garbage. You can�t judge the success of a show based solely on its pilot, just as you can�t predict a team�s success based on their recruiting talent. Take for example Texas. Texas undoubtedly has some of the best talent in the country. Similar to years past, they were preseason favorites in many of the polls. And like before, they have managed to slip up along the way. This time, however, they fell early (Week 3) and hard (at home 38-28) and to an unranked opponent (Arkansas). In this case, you can say that Texas is similar to those crap shows that they roll out every year and sandwich in between two very popular shows. Who remembers The Single Guy? It was in between Friends and Seinfeld on �Must See TV� for a few months. Obviously some people are going to tune in and the show will be moderately successful, but the expectations were just too high. Let�s continue the analogy � Arkansas reminds the Staff of Playmakers this year. The first couple of weeks pulled you in, but you know that you will be disappointed. After Arkansas romping over Texas, they blasted onto the polls. They are going into this week�s game ranked #9. While the Staff will not deny that the Razorbacks have talent and played a great game against Texas and deserve to be ranked above Texas and look good in red, it still seems too early to crank out the polls. Here are what the critics are saying about Playmakers - �Powerfully Addictive� says Entertainment Weekly; �One of Cable�s Most Promising Ensemble Dramas� and �Skillfully Crafted� says the Baltimore Sun. Meanwhile, the Staff is TiVo�ing the show so that we can fast forward through the painfully uncomfortable parts and only watch Omar Gooding (Cuba Gooding Jr.�s little brother and the only capable actor on the show). Why can�t we just get a few games/shows under our belt, let the dust settle and see who/what looks good before we start making crazy assumptions? Having said that, it is time for the Staff to make its Upset of the Week prediction� Alabama over Arkansas. Alabama leads the all-time series, 8-5. The Crimson Tide has won two straight in the series and three of the last four meetings with the Razorbacks. Alabama actually has nine wins over Arkansas, but the 1993 victory (43-3) at Tuscaloosa was later forfeited by NCAA sanctions. The home team has won four of the last five meetings in the series, with the exception of Crimson Tide�s 30-12 win at Arkansas last year. The Crimson Tide has won three straight games against ranked SEC teams, dating back to last season. The streak includes wins over No. 21 Ole Miss, at No. 15 Tennessee and at No. 14 LSU. Alabama has already faced a Top 10 Ranked opponent. The Tide hosted #1 Oklahoma on 9/6 and suffered a hard fought 20-13 loss to the Sooners. Two of the SEC�s Top 3 rushers will also be featured in Saturday�s game. Arkansas� Cedric Cobbs leads the SEC with 121.3 rushing yards per game, while Alabama�s Shaud Williams is third with 114.8 yards per game. Williams leads all SEC runners with six rushing TDs this season. Williams also has 1 punt return touchdown. Final Score � Alabama 24 Arkansas 21 |
| Upset of the Week |
| Alabama Crimson Tide at Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday, September 27, 2003 War Memorial Stadium - Fayetteville, AR 3:30 PM EST - CBS |
| Photo � ESPN |
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