A little bit of everything today from college football to the NFL to hockey to the Jazz to prep football. . . .
A few weeks ago we brought up the possibility of Utah and BYU meeting later this month with 5-5 records and a bowl berth and winning season for both teams on the line. After the way the two teams played Saturday, it's looking like both could be 6-4 going into Nov. 19. If that happens, the winner will almost certainly be rewarded with a bowl berth, while the loser could still sneak into a bowl berth of some sort. . . .
But how about this scenario in the Mountain West Conference? Wyoming wins its final two games over BYU and San Diego State. New Mexico loses to Utah and beats Air Force, while Utah, in addition to beating New Mexico, loses to BYU. The Cougars, as already mentioned, lose to Wyoming and beat Utah. That leaves Colorado State, which splits its two remaining games against San Diego State and UNLV. It could happen. And if it does, the MWC would have five teams at 6-5 with only two getting guaranteed bowl games. . . .
Here's an absolute guarantee for you, 12 days before the big Utah-BYU game: More total points will be scored than in the 2003 Utah-BYU game in Provo. Take it to the bank. In fact, the way the two teams' offenses are playing right now, there's a good chance about 100 more points will be scored than the 3-0 game in '03. . . .
I'm not a close follower of the NFL, but it has been fun this year to keep on eye on the locals in the league such as Denver's Mike Anderson, Carolina's Steve Smith, St. Louis' Kevin Curtis and Jamie Martin, New Orleans' Colby Bockwoldt, San Francisco's Alex Smith, the Redskins' Chris Cooley and the Eagles' Reno Mahe . . .
I guess we should give him a little time, but Norm Chow's offense in Tennessee isn't exactly burning up the NFL, is it? The 2-7 Titans rank just 18th in the NFL in total offense and 18th in passing offense. . . .
Still haven't watched an NHL game yet this year, but from what I hear, scoring is way up. I did notice some team scored 10 goals last week, which is akin to scoring 70 points in football. Now if someone could only figure out a way to get rid of those scoreless ties in soccer. . . .
We'll find out a lot more about the Jazz this week on their four-game road trip, but the early reviews are hopeful, aren't they? Mehmet Okur is better than ever, Matt Harpring looks healthy and rookie Deron Williams is exceeding expectations. You have to figure things will get better when Andrei Kirilenko starts finding the hoop and Carlos Boozer finally gets healthy. Of course last year, the Jazz started 6-2 and look what happened after that. . . .
It seems to happen almost every year in the high school football playoffs, where two of the best teams get matched up way too early. Such was the case last week with Brighton and Bingham, the top two ranked teams in 5A getting matched up in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile unranked teams like West Jordan and Skyline advanced to the 5A semifinals in weaker brackets.
The argument could be made that the eventual winner has to beat everyone anyway to become champion. However, it seems a shame that a team like Bingham, which went undefeated during the regular season, doesn't get the opportunity to play at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Perhaps the Utah High School Activities Association should look at a seeding system to prevent championship games happening in the quarterfinals.
E-mail: sor@desnews.com