California vs. UCLA

Golden Bears -17 vs. Bruins

So far, the season could not have gone worse for UCLA and California. Luckily for the Pac 10 rivals, they play each other this week, so one season will get a slight upgrade.

UCLA (3-4, 2-2) in particular has had a tough and disappointing season, especially after the Bruins upset Tennessee 27-24 in overtime in their opening game on September 1. UCLA then went on to lose their next three games and four of five after that game. And judging from the way Tennessee’s season has gone, the victory has lost some of its luster since the massive celebration at the Rose Bowl in early September.  Perhaps the Bruins stopped some of the bleeding last week when they beat Stanford 23-20.

Up the coast a bit, California (4-2, 2-1) has also struggled to establish themselves this season. Predicted for greater things, Cal finds itself outside looking into the top 25. After a grueling opening victory over Michigan State at home and an opening Pac 10 victory over Washington State, the Golden Bears lost their much hyped cross country trip to Maryland 35-27 in a game that was a blowout until a late Bear comeback fell just short. California seemed to right their ship by winning two straight until last week when they fell to Arizona 42-27 on the road.

UCLA tailback Kahlil Bell looks to be ready to go this week despite his sprained ankle. Bell has been splitting time with freshman running back Derrick Coleman. The combination has not been particularly lethal however, as the Bruins rank 116th in rushing offense. Much of the burden has fallen upon junior quarterback Kevin Craft who has thrown for 1518 yards and 7 touchdowns. To be fair to Bell and Coleman, UCLA has been so far behind in so many games that have had to take to the air to attempt to catch up.

Cal has a stellar passing attack of its own, averaging 254 yards per game led by Senior Nate Longshore and sophomore Kevin Riley splitting time under center.

The visiting team has not won in this series since 1999 when California traveled to Pasadena to shut out UCLA 17-0. The last time UCLA won in Berkeley was the year before, 1998, a 28-16 triumph.

InSpin.com

Alabama vs. Tennessee

Crimson Tide -6 vs. Volunteers

Tennessee’s miserable season took a week off last week as the Volunteers looked more like the Volunteers with a 34-3 route of Mississippi State. If the home standing Tennessee (3-4, 1-3) can see its way to upsetting second ranked Alabama and beating the Crimson Tide for the third time in a row at Neyland Stadium, it will go a long way to hitting the reset button their season and starting a late season push for a good bowl game.

Alabama (7-0, 4-0) will put their undefeated record on the line as they take on Tennessee Saturday night. The Tide knows that their destiny is in their own hands. This week’s BCS rankings set them at number two as well and if they win out, they most certainly will play for the National Championship. On paper, Alabama should easily beat Tennessee, but as we all know games are not played on paper.

Alabama has not exactly routed their last two opponents. Last week, they allowed Mississippi to climb back into the game late before holding on to a 24-20 victory. Two weeks before that game, the Tide edged Kentucky 17-14.

Alabama will be missing a key defensive cog this week as nose guard Terrence Cody nurses a sprained knee. This will hurt the Tide, but they have had several impact players which has allowed their defense to become the 14th best in the nation. It should prove as a good matchup as the Volunteers rank last in the SEC in offense by averaging 19 points per contest.

Tennessee’s strong point this season has been their defense as well, particularly Eric Berry. The sophomore cornerback returned a 72 yard interception for a touchdown and with the pick he became the All-time SEC interception returner leader with 397 yards.

The Crimson Tide lead the series 45-38-7, including last year’s 41-17 rout last season. However Alabama has not posted a victory in Knoxville since 2002 and have not beaten Tennessee twice in a row since 1992.

InSpin.com

Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia

Rays -162 vs. Phillies

Bucking the trend of recent LCS victors with long layoffs, the Phillies rode their ace Cole Hamels to draw first blood with the victory in Game 1 of the World Series. The NLCS MVP Hamels continued his October dominance Wednesday night as he shut down the explosive Tampa Bay Rays to win 3-2. This was the lefthander’s fourth victory in the postseason.

On the offensive side, the Phillies were almost equally stymied by Rays starter Scott Kazmir, but were able to push across one more run to win. The bulk of Philadelphia’s offense came in the first inning, one of the few innings that Kazmir seemed to struggle though. Chase Utley made him pay when he parked a changeup deep into the right field stands of Tropicana Field. Utley became a part of an exclusive fraternity of now 34 players who have hit a homerun on their first World Series at bat.

The pressure is clearly on Tampa Bay as they prepare for tonight’s Game 2. A loss tonight would be devastating for the Rays who face the next three games on the road. The Rays are a cool bunch, however, and have weathered any storm that has come their way. Just over a week ago, the Rays lost to the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALCS at home and still clinched the series in 7, taking 2 out of 3 games in Beantown. And while Citizens’ Bank Park will allow the Philadelphia home town fans to show their love to their National League Champion Phillies as they play at home for the first time since October 10, the Rays may be salivating at the chance to get their offense healthy and tee off in a hitters park, much like they did in Boston.

As much as Philadelphia would love to throw Hamels out on the mound for every game, they will turn to Brett Myers. In turn the Rays will turn to their solid number two starter Steve Shields to be the stopper and gain Tampa Bay a split as they head to Philadelphia for the next three games beginning Saturday night.

InSpin.com

Boston vs. Toronto

Bruins -200 vs. Maple Leafs

Two ancient rivals renew their battle this Thursday when the Toronto Maple Leafs travel abroad to visit the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have lagged behind the success of their Beantown sports brethren. Six titles this decade for Boston have not included a Stanley Cup and the Bruins have not won the Cup since 1972.

This season has been more of the same for Boston as they have struggled to achieve their 2-1-3 record. The Bruins have hung tough in their losses, but have ultimately lost three of those contests in a shootout, including their last two games against Pittsburgh and in Buffalo. Boston has lost four of their last five, three of those coming in shootouts since starting the season 1-0 with a victory in the Pepsi Center over Colorado.

Toronto (1-2-3) has been in free full since their quality opening game victory over Detroit on the night the Red Wings raised their Stanley Cup championship banner. The Maple Leafs have dropped five straight since besting Detroit on October 9. Much like the Bruins, the Leafs have hung tough in many of their losses, with three of them going to a shootout. Toronto’s troubles have a lot to do with the fact that they cannot score.  In their five losses, the Leafs have been held to one goal or less three times and are averaging only 1.83 goals per game this season and that average was greatly skewed by a four goal performance against the Blues on October 13. Their defense has not been much better giving up an average of 3.50 goals per game.

Boston has played a little better on offense and defense but it has not been able to allow them to win in regulation regularly. The Bruins’ leading scorer is Marc Savard with his 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists). Boston’s net minder Manny Fernandez boasts a stellar 2.62 goals against average.

InSpin.com

Phoenix vs. Washington

Coyotes -110 vs. Capitals

The Washington Capitals continue their western road trip as they drop into Phoenix to visit the Coyotes. The western trip started rather rudely for the Capitals as they lost to the Calgary Flames 2-1 Tuesday night as Mika Kiprusoff stymied Washington’s scoring attack by stopping 30 of the 31 shots that the Calgary net minder faced. The lone goal came off the stick of Sergei Federov. The loss dropped the Caps to 3-2-1 and dropped them into a tie for the Southeast Division lead with Carolina.

Phoenix (2-3-0) has gotten off to its usual disappointing start. After winning their first game at home, the Coyotes ventured on a four city road trip which spanned a seven day period. The Phoenix Coyotes won their first road game in Anaheim and then promptly dropped the next three as they visited Chicago, Ottawa and Montreal. Tonight Phoenix returns home hoping for the home cooking that got them their first victory of the season on October 11, taking advantage of a Washington team who have dropped two of their first three home games.

Though pointless in Calgary, the Capitals leading scorer continues to be Alex Semin with 10 points consisting of 6 goals and 4 assists. Jose Theodore has been solid in goal for Washington with a 3.17 goals against average. Meanwhile Ollie Jokinen leads the Phoenix scoring barrage with 6 points, five of which are assists. Shane Doan leads the team in goals with six.

The Coyotes own a slight edge in the series since 1999 with a 4-3-3 record. The teams did not play in the 2007-2008 Season; the last contest went in favor of Phoenix 3-2 on New Years Day 2007.

InSpin.com

Boise State vs. San Jose State

Broncos -7 1/2 vs. Spartans

The 13th ranked Boise State Broncos travel to San Jose State for a rare Friday night game this week. The Spartans’ may be the Broncos biggest test so far this season as they attempt to stay undefeated against their WAC rivals.

While most people know the 12th ranked Boise State (6-0, 2-0) as the team that plays on that blue field or a perennial BCS-buster or possibly for their high octane offense, however what people do not know, or overlook is that the Broncos post one of the top defenses in the country. The Broncos have allowed a paltry 10.5 points per game which make it the second best team in the nation in that category. That was on full display last week as the Broncos decimated the Hawaii offensive attack by picking off five passes, holding the Warriors to a season low 56 rushing and 288 overall yards, both a Hawaii season low. The offense has also been stellar boasting the 15th best passing attack and 28th best overall offensive squad. Freshman quarterback phenom Kellen Moore has been Boise State’s leader of offense by completing 123 of his 170 passes for 1591 yards and 13 touchdowns on only 3 picks.

San Jose State (5-2, 3-0) not only stands in the way of BSU continuing on its BCS path, a loss to the Spartans, who are undefeated in conference play, would greatly diminish the Broncos’ chances of winning the WAC. San Jose State has also boasted a tough defense this season by giving up 16 points per contest, second only to BSU in the conference. The squad forced four turnovers and six sacks in a 31-14 road victory at New Mexico State last week.

History is not on the Spartans‘ side as they have lost nine straight games against ranked teams dating back to 2000. They have also never beat Boise State in eight attempts.

InSpin.com