If you wanted to play a parlay on Miami and Clemson road-grading Duke and Wake Forest the kind of clubbings usually reserved for the Knicks or Andy Kennedy's cab rides, you probably would've had to look far, far down your betting slip.
Think somewhere in the area of Alex Rodriguez autographing a copy of Joe Torre's new book and Alex Rodriguez shacking up with a woman whose age is less than his homer totals.
Streaks are what happens when you defy the odds long enough to become noticeable. A NFL team wins seven in a row. That's a streak. You flip a coin and get heads half a dozen times consecutively. That's a streak. Alex Rodriguez dates a woman whose age is lower than a Tiger Woods golf score? Even once, that too is a streak.
But long ago, this became less skid and more law of nature, something Newton scribbled about between the bit about apples and equal and opposition reactions.
The Clemson Tigers have lost their last two games after climbing into the top 25 on the strength of four victories to start the season.
This weekend, the ACC Atlantic Division's third-placed Tigers welcome Central Michigan to Death Valley for their homecoming game, hoping to get their season back on track.
And in case you thought that the Tigers weren't going to show up next week against an out-matched opponent, we have good news for you, exclusive from our personal Facebook Feed.
If you're sitting at home wondering where you can get 300 pairs of used Clemson football and baseball pants -- and you totally are -- wonder no more. The EBays have your back:
1 Lot of Used Clemson Tigers Game Pants (300 pairs)
You will be bidding on 1 Lot of Used Clemson Tigers Game Pants (approximately 300 pairs). There are approximately 235 pairs of football pants and approximately 65 pairs of baseball pants in a variety of sizes. Some of these pants might be torn or need repairs but most look to be in fair condition. These pants were turned in by Clemson University.
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So there you go. To the Bowdens, the EBays giveth (approximately $280 dollars according to the latest bid) but as Bobby well knows, the EBays taketh away (Florida State offensive "coordinator" Jeff Bowden's job). Such is the power of the EBays.
Frank Young's first significant college playing time came in Madison Square Garden. Starter Tyrone Salley was ill and glued to a toilet in his hotel room, and coach John Beilein turned to the then-sophomore, and Young's college career began that night -- he scored 14 points and helped WVU destroy Boston College. WVU went on to the finals of the Big East tournament, and then to the Elite Eight.
And Frank Young's career ended last night much like it began -- with a dominating victory on the Madison Square Garden floor. Young shredded the net all night long, partially because he's a great shooter, and partially because Clemson was as well-equipped to guard WVU's offense as Richard Simmons is to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. Frank the Tank finished with 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting from three-point land, and the Mountaineers pounded the Clemson Tigers, 78-73, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the scoreboard would indicate.
Check out the scoring output from Frank Young in the NIT: 17, 31, 25, 16, 24. The man was a blowtorch. Freshman Da'Sean Butler had his career-best game with 20 and 7 off the bench, point guard Darris Nichols had 9 assists and two-guard Alex Ruoff had 8 assists.
So they'll drink heavily tonight in Morgantown in celebration of the NIT Championship (or, as they do on any average Thursday night), but tomorrow, only half of the vomiting will be due to the gallons upon gallons of cheap beer consumed.
The other half, of course, will be out of concern that John Belien, one of best coaches in the nation, is scheduled to talk with people from Michigan this weekend. In the last three years, WVU's gone to the Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen, and won the NIT Championship. There are only a handful of schools out there who can claim that kind of success over a three-year period, and that begins and ends with Beilein.
Two pretty amazing NIT games last night, decided by a combined two points. Here was the buzzer-beating end to the first one.
He misses badly with a few seconds left, and they go right back to him at the buzzer ... splash. Onions, my friend.
In the other NIT semi, Clemson held on to beat Air Force, 67-67, setting up a battle between WVU and Clemson on Thursday night for the title of "Bubble Team With the Most Right to Give the Selection Committee the Middle Finger."
One more NIT post before tomorrow, when the NCAA games start, and we all lose interest in everything else going on in the world ...
Clemson tried their hardest to blow a 17-point lead against Syracuse, but ultimately, couldn't pull it off. The number 17 is not a kind one for Clemson. They started out the season 17-0, before losing 10 of their next 14. They went up by 17 tonight, and Syracuse stormed back.
The Cuse's Josh Wright had a chance to tie things up with a very good look at a three-ball with 10 seconds left, but it clanked. Clemson got the rebound, was fouled, hit a couple of free throws, and that was all she wrote. Demetris Nichols shot 3-of-8 from beyond the arc for Syracuse. The rest of the team combined for 0-of-8. Clemson heads to the Garden for the NIT semifinals.
And they'll be joined there by the Air Force Falcons, who won a thriller (which is not often said about 52-51 games) against DePaul. In the NIT, top seeds get to play at home until the semifinals, which is a bigger advantage for Air Force than it is for most people. They beat DePaul in their own building last night, running their non-conference home winning streak to 33 games. That's a pretty solid home court advantage.
Tuesday night, it'll be West Virginia against Mississippi State, and Clemson against Air Force. Times still yet to be determined.
Few things awe people more than the act of speed. I sit here writing this while the Daytona 500 plays out on my television screen, cars ripping across asphalt at nearly 200 miles an hour. The main event at the Olympic games is the 100 meter dash. In college football, our fastest players have quite often been amongst the most celebrated.
Reggie Bush and Adrian Peterson came along and spent three seasons simply running right by defenders. They gave way to Ted Ginn who capped his career with a kick return touchdown that was Ohio State's lone highlight in January's BCS Championship Game.
But now that those guys are gone, who is left to fill the void as captivating speedster?
For players already on college rosters, Clemson has two of the zoom zoomiest around in receiver/returner Jacoby Ford and tailback CJ Spiller, both sophomores. There are other players out there yet to make their mark and we'll be on the lookout for them. One such burner is Jamere Holland, a redshirt freshman receiver at USC who clocked somewhere in the 10.3 range in the 100 meters in high school.
Florida sophomore receiver Percy Harvin is also a superb choice, weaving expertly through defenses any time he so much as has a step on a defender. West Virginia junior tailback Steve Slaton has excellent speed and is a worthy candidate. Junior Arkansas tailback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden is an obvious selection here. Finally, there is junior Texas tailback Jamaal Charles who ran somewhere in the 10.2 range in high school and owns several long touchdown runs to his name.
Among incoming recruits, many people have made comparisons between Louisiana's Joe McKnight (a USC signee) and Reggie Bush, but McKnight is probably a step slower with a personal best of 10.71. There are some reports of him having clocked a 10.4, but I have yet to find anything legitimate and official backing that up. He's definitely a playmaker but I'm not sure he's quite in that class of guy who simply runs right by college defenders as Peterson and Bush and Ginn were able to do.
My nominee among this year's incoming freshmen to fill the speed vacuum would be tailback Jahvid Best, a 10.41 runner who has signed with California.
Noble reader: now that you've seen my list, I ask you now who else should be under consideration as an impact player with awe-inspiring speed? Feel free to leave a comment below.
The North Carolina Tar Heels may be a 16 point underdog heading to Clemson's Death Valley this weekend, but there's one (albeit insignificant) reason that the Heels may just leave Tigertown with an unexpected victory: It's their turn to win.
That's right, the Tar Heels will win because it's their turn to win. Since 1995, the Tar Heels and Tigers have alternated wins and losses in Death Valley. Clemson won the last meeting, so now it the Tar Heels' turn.
Here are UNC's last 5 scores against Clemson in Death Valley:
1995 L 10-17 1997 W 17-10 1999 L 20-31 2001 W 38-3 2003 L 28-36
I know it's not good science to predict a winner using a harebrained theory like this, but the way the ACC is shaping up this season it's about as good a theory as any.
If I were doing a real analysis and predction, I'd pick Clemson to get the 'W'. But if the Tar Heels get their act together on defense and their offense continues to produce without turning the ball over, Clemson could be primed for an upset coming off of an emotional win over Florida State.
If anything needs a shot in the arm after last season, it's the Tigers punting game. Cole Chason had a horrific year in 2005 , and when his punts were not getting blocked he was averaging a mere 36.4 yards per kick. I spent many fourth downs with my eyes closed. Chason's only true highlight last season came at his second position--holder. He managed to recover a poor snap and place it on the turf, "laces out", in time for kicker Jad Dean to seal a victory against Texas A&M in the first game of the season.
Cole has three varsity letters to his name, and has actually started more games than any other active Tiger (35). But experience does not make you a starter ... productivity does. In that regard, Chason may very well lose his position to a walk-on from Rock Hill by the name of Jimmy Maners.
If you wanted to play a parlay on Miami and Clemson road-grading Duke and Wake Forest the kind of clubbings usually reserved for the Knicks or Andy Kennedy's cab rides, you probably would've had to look far, far down your betting slip.
Long ago, this stopped being merely a streak.
The Clemson Tigers have lost their last two games after climbing into the top 25 on the strength of four victories to start the season.
Frank Young's first significant college playing time came in Madison Square Garden. Starter Tyrone Salley was ill and glued to a toilet in his hotel room, and coach John Beilein turned to the then-sophomore, and Young's college career began that night -- he scored 14 points and helped WVU destroy Boston College. WVU went on to the finals of the Big East tournament, and then to the Elite Eight.
One more NIT post before tomorrow, when the NCAA games start, and we all lose interest in everything else going on in the world ... 
If anything needs a shot in the arm after last season, it's the Tigers punting game. Cole Chason had a horrific year in 2005 , and when his punts were not getting blocked he was averaging a mere 36.4 yards per kick. I spent many fourth downs with my eyes closed. Chason's only true highlight last season came at his second position--holder. He managed to recover a poor snap and place it on the turf, "laces out", in time for kicker Jad Dean to seal a victory against Texas A&M in the first game of the season.
