BNE Pick 'Em Week 9

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

That's right folks, the college football world has officially entered the Twighlight Zone as nothing is right or where we thought we would be. This weekend's matchups lived up to the Halloween hype, with BCS dreams all but crushed for some, contenders exposed as pretenders, underdogs playing like giants, and giants embarassing dawgs. Without futher delay, lets take a look at our matchups.

First up, Oregon is for real. UCS is on a downward slope in the Pac-10 and Oregon has been the team to usher in the new era. What most of you thought was supposed to be USC establishing their right to be a BCS contender turned out to be Oregon's statement of their dominance of Pete Caroll and the Trojans. In a world turned upside down, the mighty D of USC looked absolutely stupid as they tried to stop Jeremiah Masoli and the Ducks....and the Ducks did it wearing their regular uniforms.

In the second strange game of the weekend, Okie State was supposed to own UT this year with their "world's best offense" and the fact that this series has come down to the wire in previous years. Well, the Cowboys entered into the Twighlight Zone because nothing went their way. Penalties, poor officiating and not to mention Colt McCoy and company managing to show up proved that Okie State is not yet ready for prime time or the BCS. On the other hand, LSU showed they do indeed have an offense (even if it was against Tulane) as they shut out the Green Wave and proved they are ready for their prime time matchup against the Crimson Tide.

No, you're stupid! I'm a man!

The middle ground between light and shadow revealed some men's fear and their lack of knowledge as we saw in our SEC games. Everyone seems to forget that Tennessee has the talent to win, and judging by the picks this week I'm right. But more importantly the Vols have what it takes to win in the SEC each week. No, I don't mean black jerseys, I mean the defensive genius named Monte Kiffin. It wasn't Crompton who led the Vols to their 31-13 win, it was the defense who cashed in on SUC turnovers. Keep an eye out on UT because next year they won't be the underdog in the SEC East. Speaking of underdogs, UGA has officially rolled over and gone to sleep. Mark Richt and his staff must have exhuasted every option in sparking the Dawgs because I could have swore we saw Grambling play Florida at the WLOCP. A gimmicky look hear, a trick play there, a splash of color and a fabulous new look ain't going to fix the Dawgs and it showed Halloween night. This team looked frightened and frighteningly bad.

Doing it right and looking good....

...doing nothing and looking bad

Continuing our journey into the Twighlight Zone, we can now see that the Geek has inherited the earth...well at least the top spot in the ACC. Paul Johnson and his Yellowjacket spread option offense are proving that they have to be taken seriously. This team has managed to win and adjust their play each week to meet the matchup they face. Its not pretty, its not always high scoring and its definitely not high flying football, but it is good, solid, football and most of you agree. However, most of you were shocked to see a resurgent Auburn team (now bowl eligible) stomp Ole Miss. I'll admit, I was having my doubts, but Guz Malzahn and the Tigers put up 400 yards on the Rebels, including 31 unanswered points through the 3rd quarter. Don't bet against the Tigers next week as they face Furman.

Don't count the Tigers out and especially not Paul Johnson

Now with that out of the way, let's see who managed to escape Halloween entact:

1. Gen. Stoopangle

2. allyugadawg (Hey, its a lady...)

3. Dutch

4. shelt320 & DawgDai

6. Donald Eason

7. JeremyRoyAdams

8. BFR & yedidawg

10. bulldog91 & ecdawg

From the BNE Staff:
1. BFR
2. earl
3. bubba
4. aumaverick
5. Streit
6. bulldawgjosh

Our Bottom Feeder of the Week remains mmike032. He is 21-79 overall but it looks like he is threatening to climb out of the cellar with his 5-5 record this week. Looks like you've been using www.flip-coin.com to help you with those picks.

Next week's matchups will be a bit of a breather for us since most everyone has a homecoming game. However, the big matchups will be LSU vs. Alabama in a fight to determine the SEC West contender, Ohio State vs. Penn State in Big 10 play, SUC vs. Arkansas and in just because...Army vs. Air Force. Good luck!