The debut of the Sucks To Be You column comes in Week 2.  This column will be written after a major upset over the weekend, so it won’t be a weekly appearance.

The Big 10 standings this afternoon might make you gasp.  They’re a little scary.  And trust me, they’re correct.  You wouldn’t of thought that Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State would be at the bottom of Eastern division.

Ohio State lost 35-21 to Virginia Tech Saturday night, in what was a overall bad performance of the Buckeyes.  A record crowd filled the Shoe, and weren’t very happy even at halftime of the game last night.

JT Barrett, Braxton Miller’s backup, had one of the worst games I’ve seen any Ohio State quarterback have in a while.  He threw three interceptions, went 9/29 for 219 yards.  Two of interceptions were absolutely awful decisions.  One, he lobbed up in the air escaping pressure, and the second he threw to the defender, staring down his receiver.

He was also sacked six times, and at one point, it seemed he was going down every other play.  The offensive line could not block Virginia Tech, at all.

It was bad.  Barrett didn’t play well, but also had no help.

As for Virginia Tech, they pretty much outplayed Ohio State.  Ohio State didn’t play well enough, and the Hokies took advantage.  It’s that simple.

The upset itself was big, but won’t be one that goes down for the ages.  I went back and forth on putting this game in the upset part of What To Watch For, but ultimately decided not to.  Don’t ask why.  Ohio State was ranked No.8, and they fell, a lot.  They were pushed all the way to No.22

It was overall a bad day for the Big 10.  Again, the standing are in shambles.  I didn’t have a Big 10 team in the Playoff.  If anyone came close, it would be Michigan State.  And they got steamrolled Sunday.  The Spartans hanged close with the Ducks Saturday night, then Oregon’s offense completely took off, and they Ducks won, 46-27.

At this point, the Big 10 probably won’t get a team.  This was the one game Michigan State had to prove themselves to the committee, and they stumbled.  It would be very hard for the Spartans to get in now.

Again, it’s only Week 2.  But, this is how the committee works.  It about who wins when, where, and against who.

The Hokies shocked the Shoe Saturday night.  That momentum should carry into next week, when they play East Carolina.  So, sucks to be you, Ohio State (and the rest of the Big 10).

 

After a exciting opening week to what should be a great first season of the Playoff, Week 1 saw Kenny Hill of Texas A&M put up incredible numbers against South Carolina, Todd Gurley run for a lot of touchdowns, and the highly anticipated of Michigan and Appalachian State become a complete blowout. On to Week 2, one matchup really stands out.

No.14 USC vs. No.13 Stanford

USC handled the rematch of the Las Vegas bowl very well Saturday night, destroying Fresno State 52-13.  In Week 2, they face a much tougher opponent in conference rival Stanford.  Stanford had a easy Week 1 matchup with UC Davis, winning 45-0.  This game between USC and Stanford will be a great one, and always is.  Both teams have good defenses, with Stanford’s defense better than USC’s.  It should be low-scoring game, with Stanford prevailing. Prediction: Stanford-20 USC-13

No.7 Michigan State vs. No.3 Oregon

Good lord, this game is going to be incredible.  One of the best in-season matchups this year, Michigan State and Oregon is easily the best game this weekend.  Oregon scores.  The score so much that they don’t have to play defense.  Michigan State is a power running football team, with a mighty tough defense.  It will be very interesting to see if the Spartans defense can stop Oregon. Prediction: Oregon-35 Michigan State-27

Other Interesting Games

Michigan vs. No.17 Notre Dame

In South Bend, this game features two of the more notable QB names over the past years in college football.  Michigan killed Appalachian State in the highly anticipated rematch.  They should definitely challenge Notre Dame, since the Irish have multiple starters on the bench from the academic fraud investigation.  Notre Dame gets it done, but Michigan puts up a fight.  Prediction: Notre Dame-28 Michigan-21

No.20 Kansas State vs. Iowa State

This isn’t exactly a hyped game, but it’s a conference matchup that usually delivers.  Iowa State isn’t really good at all, and will get absolutely demolished.  Kansas State-52 Iowa State-3

Upset Alerts

Last week, I did pretty good.  Oklahoma State played their hearts out vs. Florida State and nearly won, which led to a great game.  This week, two matchups stick out.

No.24 Missouri vs. Toledo

Toldeo had a very good season last year.  They are talented, and have the capability to challenge Missouri.  I don’t feel confident, but this game may remain close late.

No.15 Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt

This is real.  Vanderbilt has a new coach in Derek Mason, and this team is tough.  A SEC conference matchup, this one will be a grudge-match.  Hard, tough football is how these teams play, and it will remain close down to the wire.  Vanderbilt upsets Ole Miss, and this one I’m feeling good about.

 

 

If the Chiefs wanted to be any worse than what they are projected at this year, they wouldn’t have done this.  See, when the Chiefs acquired Alex Smith, they didn’t imagine this lasting for two seasons, then him leaving.  He was their franchise guy QB.  He was going to lead them through the good and the bad.

But now, they don’t have to worry about it.  The Chiefs signed Smith to a 4 year, $68 million extension.  The contract includes $45 million guaranteed.  The Chiefs wanted to get it done before the season.  The last thing a player and team wants to do during a season is talk contracts.  It’s a distraction, and could lead to tension between the player and the team.

So is the money right?

Just right.

When Andy Dalton’s extension came out, I wrote about it.  I discussed that Dalton hasn’t necessarily proved himself, and how it would affect Smith’s contract.  I nailed it.  I said Smith deserves $16 million which.  He ended up getting $17 million, which is a million more than Dalton’s per year.

Both contracts are very team friendly.  Smith wanted and got more money, but that has to do with him being a older QB.  Again, Smith has proven himself as a player and leader.  He excels in the Playoffs, and has a very strong arm.  People say he’s a game mannager, he gets lucky with a good team around him.  I’ll tell you this, he would put p the same numbers with a bad team.  You have to have a good QB in this league.  He has to smart, he has to be leader, and he needs to have show you that he can do it.

And he showed it to the Chiefs.

If he didn’t preform as well as he did last year, this wouldn’t of happened.

The Chiefs won’t be as good as they were last year.  They had a helpful schedule which allowed them to start 9-0.  This year it’s a different story.  They play the NFC West, the toughest division in football.  Their own division is rugged, with the Chargers and Broncos.  The Chiefs other opponents include Pittsburgh, Buffalo, New York Jets, Tennessee, and New England.

The defense lost some talent, but even with their injuries last year, they still preformed pretty well.  Dwyane Bowe is suspended for the first game, and the offensive line is not very attractive.  The X-Factor here is Jamal Charles.  He has to stay healthy.  He is the the heart and soul of the offense.   Almost every play they run involves him.

The Chiefs did the right thing.  A QB is so important in this league, and Smith has shown he deserves the money.  Whether he was overpaid or not, that remains to be seen.

I have been utterly shocked at the growth of hippelsportshub since we launched on July 1st.  I now have over 120 people following our twitter page, @hippelsportshub.  So far, I have had 313 views of my page.  It is completely fascinating and thank you.  I hope that we continue to grow.

The main point here wasn’t above, however.  I’m only 14.  School is starting for me today, the day after Labor Day.  I will be a freshman in high school, and I’m expecting a workload I haven’t ever had before.  I will still be posting columns, the site will still run, and I will be working on it as much I as can.  It is very unlikely that a column will be coming out everyday, like it has been for quite some time this summer.  The twitter feed will not be as quick in updating the news as it has been.  I do run the twitter feed, every tweet is one I post, no one does it for me.  I’m probably not going to be allowed on it every second of the day (duh).  Again, I’m going to do my best to keep it updated to the minute.

Once I get done with my school day and homework, I will use as much time as I have to work on this.  Again, columns will still be posted, and the site will still be running.  It’s more about the stuff I don’t write about that will dip in production (like the Panthers).  School comes first, and I hope everyone can understand that.

-Hunter