Openning Weekend In College Football. Utes To Play In The, "Pac Prairie League" Next Year?

Kentucky losses to Western Kentucky, Georgia losses to Boise State, Ole Miss losses to BYU, and Auburn, the defending, "National Champion" escapes with it's life by having to stage a heck of a comeback in the last two minutes to beat Utah State.  I've said it before, and I'll say again.  The SEC is NOT the toughest conference in the country.

And, neither it appears, is the PAC 12 (soon to be the Pac Prairie League?).  Oregon losses to LSU, Colorado losses to Hawaii, and Utah escapes with it's life beating Big Sky, Montana State while not being able to roll up 200 yards of offense, and mighty USC beats Minnesota by two points!  Last year Minnesota went 3-9 and lost, at home, to South Dakota State.  But those are all acceptable, first game of the year, screw ups.  Oregon State, losing to Sacramento State, AT HOME, is not.  And Oregon State should not win another PAC 12 game all year.

And speaking of our new league, were you paying attention to the crawl at the bottom of the screen on ESPN today?  Looks like Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are thinking about joining now.  Makes sense form a TV and recruiting standpoint.  But it's not going to be good for us. 

Don't get me wrong, we absolutely made the right choice to accept the invitation, and it's where we need to be.  But enjoy your trips to the coast this year, Ute Fans, because if those schools sign on to make it a 16 team league, Utah and Colorado will join Arizona, Arizona State and the four new editions to form the Inland Division and the original 8 teams will be the Pacific Division, so that the current Northern Division teams, who are not happy with the new divisions, can go back to the California recruiting markets every year, again.  Mark my words.  We'll be lucky to get to LA for a game every few years.

So, start making plans to visit Norman, and Stillwater, Oklahoma (I'm pretty good at geography, but I have NO idea where, Stillwater, Oklahoma is) and Austin and Lubbock, Texas.  And say goodbye to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Great Northwest.

It won't be too bad for me.  My wife and I like Texas music, and have always thought that a trip to Austin to spend a few nights in, The Continental Club and, The Broken Spoke to hear some of our favorite bands would be fun.  Now I'd have an excuse.

As for Lubbock?  All I know is what Nancy Griffith said in one of her songs, about her grandmother, years ago.   "She grew up close to Lubbock.  But not too close.  Nobody wants to be TOO close to Lubbock."  I'll take Nancy's word for it.

But I've never had ANY desire to go to Oklahoma.  With apology's to all the nice folks who live there, I really can't name a single tourist attraction I have longed to see in Oklahoma.

But I did meet a guy who was an OU alumni at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Las Vegas a few years ago who was as obnoxious about his college football team as I'm sure, some think I am, about mine.  So I will have to say that I might very well agree with the folks in Texas who wear those shirts that say, "You can't spell cocksucker without OU!"

I just hope that if the teams do get together, the PAC is smart enough to make Texas agree that they don't have EXCLUSIVE rights to show their games.  I don't want to have to pay for the, "privilege" of buying, The Longhorn Network.

This is going to be an interesting couple of months between here and the Bowl Season.  Rivalry's will be dissolved, new ones created, and I might have to go figure out just exactly what a, "Red Raider" is.

Oh, I almost forgot.  Duke got beat by University of Richmond today.  Well, that's not a surprise.  I've always said they don't PLAY football in the ACC.  This just proves it.