Where do I begin? From Friday's STUNNING upset of #2 Oklahoma State to the dismantling of one of the top Atlantic Coast Conference teams in Clemson - I have absolutely no idea of who is the #2 team in the land right now.
But Who Is #2?
Actually, I do have some idea - it's definitely NOT Boise State (weak, WEAK schedule, even with one loss), Clemson (has today's back-breaking loss in which they didn't even show up to play), Oklahoma or Oregon (both with two losses, despite their strength-of-schedule).
Using the current BCS standings, that leaves us with formerly #3 Alabama (10-1), #6 Arkansas (10-1), #8 Virginia Tech (10-1), #9 Stanford (10-1) and #11 Houston (11-0). All of these teams WILL rise in the standings based on the domino effect of losses this weekend. We can eliminate Houston and Virginia Teach being the #2 seed based on their strength of schedule - Houston has NOT faced a current top-25 team, and VT has only faced one in their division - Clemson - and lost to them.
That leaves us Alabama, Arkansas and Stanford. The Cardinal has only faced #4 Oregon (and lost). Arkansas has faced the Crimson Tide (and lost), #24 Auburn (won), #12 South Carolina (won), and will face #1 LSU in a CRUCIAL, PIVOTAL SEC matchup. Alabama has faced #21 Penn State (won), Arkansas (won, obviously) and lost to #1 LSU last week in a defensive dogfight, 9-6 in OT. They too face a tough SEC battle in the Auburn Tigers next week.
THEN:
If, and I mean IF Arkansas beats LSU on Friday night, we WILL have a mess as to who will be #1. But we'll get to that bridge when we come to it. After today's CRAZY weekend, my take using deductive reasoning is that #3 Alabama Crimson Tide WILL BE the #2 team in the BCS rankings that are released later today - they have faced tougher opponents and have come up victorious outside of the LSU loss.
Some days like today, I'll just jot down a few thoughts that I have at the moment:
Such miserable weather outside - cold, steady rain/drizzle makes for an ugly day outside; on top of that, there is a Maryland football game against surprisingly 3-0 Towson Tigers of Division I-AA (my mom's alma mater)
Going back to that point, I saw a group of guys and gals heading to the football game decked in paint - have fun!
On the other hand, it's great to receive a compliment this morning on my musical tastes: During an emergency shift I had to cover around 10ish, I was playing a Maroon 5 song on Pandora. A resident walked by and said I had great musical taste! :)
I just ordered a 36x24 bulletin board for my World Map poster through Amazon (yay for free shipping!), so I can place thumbtacks/push-pins on locations that I have been to globally - problem is it won't arrive until LATE this month/early November! :(
I had a great day at the annual Maryland All-Nighter yesterday - listened to two acapella groups strut their stuff - an all-guys group (Generics) and an all-girls group (Treblemakers); got a free shirt that's 10X better than last year (AND IT'S PINK!!!) and saw a Cirque-de-Solei-like group perform in the food court
Thank goodness that my next exam is on a Thursday; originally, I was going to have five straight weeks of Tuesday exams :(
Then again, I'm more fortunate than others; one of my colleagues has two exams PLUS a ton of homework AND a quiz this week
I'm typing this post the day after Maryland released *two* of their new football uniforms + helmets in last night's nationally televised game against the Miami Hurricanes. I'll be talking (typing) about the *NEW* changes throughout the College Park campus compared to last academic year - not in any order. Don't worry, it won't be ONLY sports - I'll talk about the improvements/new facilities at and around Stamp and other places. I would REALLY appreciate any comments from students and others about what they think is different from previous years.
Let's go!
Maryland Football Jerseys
The majority of the media/public may not like the jersey combos, but I love them (all BUT the double-red and anything that goes with a yellow jersey). Under Armour did a great job deciding to come up with new jerseys as a new head coach was entering the fold.
251 North
I have been to the *NEW* north campus diner twice this semester, and I have loads to say about the facility. I liked the idea of having the North side go once a week (mandatory) at a discounted rate, but dislike the fact that the South campus only being allowed to go 4 times at a discounted rate. The food here is EXCELLENT - so good that I have boycotted The Diner for good. The last time I went to the old Diner was on August 22 - 16 days ago and counting. What surprised my roommate and I was, why cant the Diner have just as good food as the 251 Diner - from the everyday steaks, WARM pasta and various other food made to your tastes. I dislike the fact that it's ONLY open from 5:30 - 8:30 PM ONLY on weekdays; they should have the occasional *special* holiday dinner opening on the weekends, simply just extend the hours to 10:00 PM on weekdays or open the Diner during lunchtime hours on the weekends.
The Stamp Sidewalk
You all most probably remember going up that hill/sidewalk/asphalt road against the baseball field leading up to the Stamp Student Union, right? Well, the asphalt got replaced by concrete, and they added a MUCH-NEEDED sidewalk behind the stadium. There would be many times where I would tippy-toe on the edge of the path, not wanting to walk on the dirt path or walk on the edge of the road behind Stamp.
University Book Center
Remember this bookstore? Well, it got revamped this year - for better and for worse. The flooring got replaced over Spring Break, and most items got shuffled around (i.e. Caps got moved to the right of the entrance; no sight of a jersey - football or basketball; dorm supplies got removed from ground floor [replaced by girly University of Maryland outfits]; and the art supplies are at the front of the ground floor)
The *Brand-New* Oakland Hall
If you haven't made the trip to the new dormitory, I HIGHLY recommend it if you are in or around the Denton Community. I work as a Community Assistant (CA - the guy that mans the front desk) there, and have a room w/ a roommate there as well. As soon as I entered the building for the first time, it was "hotel-like", with the plush cushions, the VERY nice carpeting in the lobby, the touch-screen television and a large front desk. I haven't even mentioned the gorgeous bathrooms or the fact that there are 2 study rooms (each with their own whiteboards) AND two lounges AND a laundry room ON EACH FLOOR!
TV's in the ERC
I tweeted this a few days ago. I'm SO relieved that TV's got installed in the cardio section on the top floor of the Eppley Recreation Center (a.k.a. the campus gym). In past instances of going to the ERC, I would have to bring my bulky 30 GB iPod Classic with me, and most times than not it would slip out; the other issue is that I would rather watch TV (esp. something like college football) rather than listen to music as I work out. It's nice that I just need to bring my lightweight headphones the next time I head to Eppley. :)
Notice anything else on campus that has changed since the Spring 2011 semester? Please email Sameer (sameermalla@gmail.com), tweet (@skinsballr), Facebook message or simply comment on this post with your findings.
