School is back!

The boys of fall, as they are called, are back in action! College football has returned in full force as has the NFL. Let's review the big games from last Saturday. The game of the day had to be Alabama taking on Wisconsin in Arlington. The Crimson Tide handled the Badgers with ease, winning by a final score of 35-17. Many other teams played last week in less meaningful games. Ohio State whooped up on Virginia Tech and Arizona State fell to Texas A&M. But those were really the only other relevant games on the slate last week. One exciting game, however, was a game between BYU and Nebraska in Lincoln. The final play came down to a hail-Mary on the part of BYU. Whenever a game comes down to a hail-Mary very few believe that it will work. But this one time it worked, and BYU nation went crazy. Today, meanwhile, brings a larger dose of big games including that of 5 Oregon heading to East Lansing to take on 7 Michigan State at 8 ET on ABC. Others include 14 LSU going to 25 Mississippi State at 9:15 ET on ESPN, as well as 19 Oklahoma traveling to Knoxville to take on 23 Tennessee at 6 ET on ESPN.
In terms of the NFL, The Pittsburgh Steelers met with the New England Patriots in Foxborough in a game which the Patriots won 28-21. A fantastic victory for a team many call cheaters. The rest of this week's games should be impelling. Will we see a surprise team rise above the adversity and win? Who will be this year's Odell Beckham Jr.? Just wait and see.

Let's turn to baseball and away from the Padres. They have no hope to make the playoffs this year even though they are still mathematically able to make it. But will the Dodgers lose all of their games? Will the Giants lose all of their remaining games? No. Next year should be interesting, though. A.J. Preller has some work to do to resolve the inconsistent pitching (bullpen and rotation) and also inconsistent hitting. Not to mention, a decision will have to be made on what to do for a manager. Will he decide to keep Pat Murphy? Will he search elsewhere? My personal opinion is that I want to see Ron Gardenhire get a shot here in San Diego. Just somebody with playoff experience who can provide a spark for a struggling franchise. For the rest of the MLB, the season is winding down fast. The closest race at this point of the year looks to be the AL West with the Astros and Rangers looking to pounce. The Angels were the favorite this year but are now four and a half games out of first place. With as stacked of a division as that is, it will be tough to overcome that deficit.

Well that should do it for this week. Tune in next week to check up on more football and baseball!