FanHouse Brent Musberger

Bruce Pearl seems like a pretty intense dude. He's willing to paint himself orange and run around Knoxville, Tenn., shirtless, for one thing. For another, he yells a lot. Well, on Thursday night against South Carolina, he was rocking a blazer-white T-shirt combo. And at one point during the first half, he ripped said blazer off. Brent Musberger noticed, too. Enjoy.

ECU Will. Not. Go. Away.

After a fairly unpalatable morning set of games, we had some intriguing matchups this afternoon; Georgia, East Carolina, Oregon, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech -- the latter by default because the ACC is horrible -- all had BCS aspirations heading into the third week of college football.

Four of those teams still do, but it wasn't for a lack of trying to fail.

Georgia needed a last second interception by Chris Smelley (Dugout Name and license plate: SMLLYCOX) to overcome what really is looking like a disturbingly stout South Carolina defense (it wasn't just NC State, we swear!). The 'Cocks held Knoshown Moreno to just 79 yards on 20 carries even though he punched one in, and Matthew Stafford was hardly effective. But the Dogs held on and their BCS chances prevail.

Exciting recap I know, but that's because I spent most of the afternoon watching a shoddy YouTube-like feed of East Carolina squaring off against Tulane. ECU AD Terry Holland had oh-so-generously offered to play the game in Greenville as Ike, et al approached the coast (what a guy, huh?) and Tulane oh-so-obviously declined the invite.

Here's how ESPN announcers Brent Musberger and Steve Lavin called the end of UCLA's 81-80 win over Cal, an ending that included a controversial call:

(Video via Awful Announcing) Musberger and Lavin are now facing heavy criticism for their seeming cluelessness about the controversial finish, which included a shot (maybe) going over the backboard, which would negate the fact that it then went through the rim.

Writes Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News:

That's the problem. Neither Musburger - who got involved in basketball shortly after Dr. Naismith invented it - nor Lavin, a former coach, even discussed the possibility Shipp's basket should not have counted. Considering ABC replayed the shot eight times, the voices had ample time to tackle the subject.

Writes Neil Best of Newsday:

What I find interesting is they did not discuss the potential illegality of the winning shot from behind the backboard, which was a major topic of conversation on SportsCenter.

I find it interesting, too. When Lavin exclaimed, "From behind the backboard, Brent," they should have addressed whether the shot was legal or not. They dropped the ball there.

But after the jump, see where I think they really dropped the ball.

No. 10 Wisconsin beat No. 19 Michigan State 57-42 Thursday night in a big game between two of the top teams in the Big Ten. Once the game got into garbage time, ESPN's Brent Musberger and Steve Lavin took a little time out to discuss MySpace, YouTube, and the popularity of Erin Andrews on the Internet:

"I can't wait to see Erin Andrews on YouTube tonight," Musberger said. "I mean, I always look to see. She's the star attraction."

College Hoops Journal calls this "Your Weekly Brent Musberger Lusting for Erin Andrews Update."

Here's the way ESPN's Brent Musberger signed off on Tuesday night's Indiana-Purdue game:

"We certainly hope that we see coach Sampson Saturday, still on the sideline with the Indiana Hoosiers," Musberger said, referring to Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, who is expected to be suspended or fired in the next three days because of the multiple rules violations the NCAA says he has committed.

Let's unpack that quote a little bit. If Musberger wants to see Sampson coach on Saturday, that means he doesn't want Sampson to get suspended or fired. So either Musberger doesn't think Sampson committed the violations the NCAA has accused him of, or he doesn't think these violations are offenses worthy of firing a coach.

If it's the former, Musberger is sitting on a huge story. All of the ESPN reporters who have investigated this story, led by Pat Forde and Andy Katz, have given strong indications that Sampson did, in fact, commit the violations he's accused of. If Musberger has information that his colleagues haven't reported, why hasn't he shared that information with ESPN's viewers?

If it's the latter, Musberger ought to explain himself a bit better: If Sampson did break these NCAA rules, repeatedly and after being warned, why on earth shouldn't Indiana fire him? Does Musberger just believe coaches shouldn't be held accountable when they break the rules?

Either way, Musberger's statement doesn't make a lot of sense.

Thanks to Brahsome for posting this video from last night's Illinois at Wisconsin game, demonstrating, once again, just how popular ESPN reporter Erin Andrews is among fans of college sports:

You have to listen closely, but you can hear the Wisconsin fans chanting "Erin Andrews" as she does her report. I then find it a little awkward when Brent Musberger and Steve Lavin proceed to talk about her popularity, with Musberger saying he wants to go to the Playboy Mansion with her. I'm not sure if it's appropriate for a man to talk about wanting to go to the Playboy Mansion with a female co-worker young enough to be his daughter.