You do indeed digress...

Following college football is the ultimate test in trying to make judgements based on very little evidence, in particular, trying to make strength of schedule adjustments. I'm mainly curious in tonight's game because I don't really know what to expect.

Was that the days of Tony Satter and Phil Hansen and Stacy Robinson? I enjoyed watching those teams too.

I watched about 3 minutes of the Penn State/Florida State game last night. I caught myself and turned it to a fun-filled episode of Good Times on TV Land!

Seth

I hadn't thought about Jeff Bentrim for a long time. What I remember most about him was that he ran all over the place against my USD Coyotes, back when I cared about USD football. A great player.

Robinson played with Bentrim, but Hanson and Satter played with Simdorn.

NDSU won the 1983 Div II championship with Jeff Bentrim, Chad Stark, and James Molstre as the starting backfield. All three were true freshmen. 'SU won in 1985 and 1986, and got second in 1984, losing on a last second, 50-yard field goal. Bentrim got hurt in that game, or it would most definitely been four in a row.

The Simdorn-Satter-Hanson era was after Bentrim. They won two championships, in 1988 and 1990.

That 1986 'Yotes team was pretty good, too. They got second in the nation, losing to NDSU in the final. They were the only team to have a lead on NDSU at any time in the season, I believe.

I really wanted the Bison to go after Dave Triplett, the USD coach, when an opening came up. I don't think Triplett was available, though.

You don't like college sports...does that mean you don't have an interest in March Madness? If so, I believe you are the first sports fan I know of to say that, since I think March is far and away the best month in sports. Nothing comes close. But that's just me.
-tootie

I said that my interest has waned. I didn't say I have no interest. I have mild interest in the NCAA tournament. I'll be honest, though, the first and second round upsets do nothing for me. They are absolutely bound to happen. GH wrote a piece on variance the other day that explains why.

I will watch the second weekend more than anything. Just can't stand to listen to Billy Packer. He's the Tim McCarver of basketball.

I used to be a HUGE college basketball fan. Now? Not that much. I prefer the NBA game totally, which I know puts me in the minority. To each their own, right?

Last night's game, FSU/PSU was great, an extra-inning pitchers' duel baseball game of a football game. I caught it with FSU having a 13-7 lead and then saw PSU hit a homerun with two outs and two strikes. Then, the 3 and out, 3 and out volley to start the second half reminded me of inning after inning of perfect pitching. Then, FSU tried to convert a 4th-and-2 and got caught stealing for the 3rd out of the inning.

Overtime/extra innings.
(College Football Extra innings start with a runner on second).
10th inning.
FSU hits into a DP with a runner at third, and then PSU does the exact same thing.

11th inning.
PSU hits a quick 2-R HR.
Then so does FSU to get it to the 12th.

12th inning.
FSU hits into another inning-ending DP, leaving the runner at third. PSU's first batter hits a single. Sac Fly advances the first runner to third. Guy that's left about 8 men (Luis Rivas?) on in this game comes up and just dribbles one past the third baseman. Game over!

So, even though there was no pitching, I liked a football game more than I have in a long time. Because I could imagine it's baseball.

Regardless of your interest in college football, this game will be an exciting watch as a fan of the NFL. You've got two of the top five picks in the upcoming NFL draft going in Bush and Leinart (Young too perhaps, if he comes out), not to mention several other first-rounders on both teams.

Mostly it's all about Reggie Bush. This guy is the most exciting college football player to come along in the last decade at least, and he is almost undoubtedly going to make a serious splash in the pros. This will be our last chance to watch this unbelievably talented guy play before he goes pro.

I did see that game where Bush had over 500 total yards. Unbelieveable. One of the great performances I have ever seen.

Count me as a sports fan who has little to no interest in March Madness anymore. Like you said, my interest in college sports peaked when I was actually in college. Even then, I always wondered about people over 30 who seem to have a little too much feeling invested in college & high school teams.

I can't tell you who won the NCAA basketball championship last March, and it was news to me this week when I heard that USC is playing for a third straight national title tonight. If I tune in to the Rose Bowl, it'll be only to check out what's behind the hype for Reggie Bush.