College game of the week: Alabama vs LSU

It's going to be a tough athletic competition...

Since the first game of the season after LSU trounced National Championship finalists Oregon one fixture has really stood out for many on the calendar. The visit of Les Miles and his LSU Tigers to the Bryant-Denny stadium to take on Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide is considered by many to be the national championship game this season.

It is a shame that these two teams won’t meet in the big game as they are the out and out best teams in College Football this season, but that is the nature of the archaic BCS system and the subject of a whole different article.

BUAFL Football returns with a bang!

Running back Dan Conroy scores for Birmingham in last years event

Tonight is a feast of football at home and abroad with the Birmingham Lions opening the BUAFL season taking on the visiting NTU Renegades at their annual xpLosION event (the letters in caps spell LION for those that hadn't figured it out yet) and #1 LSU taking on #2 Alabama in the NCAA (more on that in later article). Game preview follows after the page break.

NFL Week Nine Predictions

6PM GMT Games

NYJ @ Buffalo

Buffalo finally managed to pull off a victory north of the border in Toronto, this week they face AFC East rivals the New York Jets who are coming off a bye and on a two game win streak. It will be interesting to see if the Jets defence can stop Jackson running all over them and force Fitzpatrick to win the game. Buffalo’s D should not be underestimated after last week’s performance against the Redskins.

Dbl Coverage prediction: Buffalo by 6.

Seattle @ Dallas

You have to feel sorry for Dallas fans, one week the teams good, the next week they’re losing heavily to a division rival. Fortunately for Dallas they face the struggling Seahawks this week; Seattle may now be playing for a good draft pick with the 49ers running away with the division.

Dbl Coverage prediction: Dallas wins by 10.

Cleveland @ Houston

Houston are currently on a two game win streak and leading the AFC South, even though Houston lost their number one receiver, the offence continues to be ranked in the top ten. Arian Foster could end up having a huge game against a 26^th ranked rushing D. With Colt McCoy struggling in Pat Shurmur’s offence and no running game, it could be a long day for the Browns on both sides of the ball.

Dbl Coverage prediction: Houston by 14.

Atlanta @ Indianapolis

It would seem that some fans in Indy have decided that Andrew Luck will be at the Colts next season, even though they are currently 0-8 the Colts have played well at home with Curtis Painter under centre (losing by 3 and 4 respectively), the Falcons may be complacent coming off a bye week allowing the Colts to stay competitive throughout the game.

Dbl Coverage prediction: Atlanta by 3.

Miami @ Kansas City

After week 3 these two teams were firmly in the “suck for Luck” race, since then the Chiefs have won four straight whilst the Dolphins continue to remain winless. Last week’s victory over the Chargers will give the Chiefs a huge confidence boost heading into this game.

Dbl Coverage prediction: Kansas by 7.

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans

After posting 62 points against the Colts, the Saints got brought back down to Earth with a thud. The loss to the Rams might well be upset of the season and the Saints offence was very poor until garbage time. The Bucs should have Blount back for this must win game, a victory this week could put the Bucs in the driving seat for the NFC South crown.

Dbl Coverage prediction: Saints by 6.

San Fran @ Washington

After a solid start we are starting to see the Redskins that have been around for the last few years. Last week’s embarrassment against the Bills may be the game that sums up the ‘Skins season at the end of the year. If Washington wants to win they will need to keep their QB upright, last week they gave up nine sacks and now they have to face a defence with players including Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith, Justin Smith and NaVorro Bowman. If I had the 49ers D in my fantasy football league I’d be so happy with this matchup.

Dbl Coverage prediction: 49ers by 14.

Is Suck for Luck a viable strategy? They should be so Lucky.

Over the last week the media spotlight has shone brightly on the  “Suck for Luck” campaign due in part to a group of Indianapolis Colts fans wearing Luck jerseys to the recent game (and for extra douche points, white Oakleys as well) as well as Phil Simms venting his opinion on the Senior from Stanford. Teams "Suck for Luck", or try and "Win the Luck sweepstakes" by deliberately losing to get the first pick in the draft and replace their current QB with the second coming of John Elway.

Nothing says douche like a white jersey and white Oakleys

The main problem with “Suck for Luck” is the idea that any of the NFL coaches at struggling teams, who have notoriously unstable career prospects at the best of times, would deliberately lose in order to attain a player through the draft. If that were to happen, it would be more likely that the incumbent coach would be fired and the new coach would then get to build a franchise around Luck instead.

Weekly Top 5.

Everybody will have opinions on who the most overrated players in the NFL are. The following five are players who I believe get more hype than they deserve. Like I said it’s just my opinion so feel free to comment on who you would put in there instead.

Number 5 – Devin Hester

Quick, elusive, can read the field and knows how to follow his blockers which is everything you want in a returner. Unfortunately the problem is he gets paid elite receiver money to return kickoffs and punts.

If it wasn’t for his returning skills, Hester wouldn’t be a starting wide receiver, heck I don’t even think he’d be employed by an NFL franchise.

Until Hester starts constantly making plays in the Bears’ offence as a receiver, I will not buy into the hype this guy receives.