The prestigious Cy-Hawk Trophy is anyone’s to win - as usual.

Once again, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones are set to do battle for bragging rights in the Tall Corn State. The Big Ten Hawkeyes used to have a stranglehold on this series, but Iowa State has slowly but surely become one of the better teams in the Big 12 under the tutelage of Dan McCarney.

The Cyclones have won the Cy-Hawk six times in the last eight seasons; however, Iowa was pegged as an 8.5-point favorite at the open for this year’s matchup, and that line ballooned to 13.5 points before being taken off the board at the time of publication.

The big question mark that may have caused this game to go off-board was the status of Iowa quarterback Drew Tate. He missed last week’s 20-13 overtime win over Syracuse with an abdominal strain, but is now expected to get the nod against the Cyclones after being named an offensive captain for the matchup.

That’s big news for Hawkeyes supporters. With backup QB Jason Manson at the helm, Iowa failed to cover the 15-point spread versus the boys in Orange. Manson threw just one touchdown pass alongside four interceptions; it took the stout Hawkeyes defense to keep Syracuse out of the end zone during the two overtime sessions.

What’s good news for Iowa is about the last thing the Cyclones needed to hear. They were very fortunate in the season opener to beat the tough Toledo Rockets in triple overtime, then a questionable referee’s decision on a would-be winning UNLV touchdown allowed ISU to escape last week with a 16-10 win. The Cyclones were favored by 14.5 in that tilt.

Those performances will be tiny specks in ISU’s rear-view mirror by the time the team gets to Kinnick Stadium. The Cyclones almost always come up with a big effort when they face their hated rivals. But the focus Saturday is squarely on Tate and his sore abs. When Manson had to take over for Tate during last year’s Cy-Hawk battle, he went just 10-for-31 as the Cyclones pulled off the 23-3 upset. Anything less than a healthy Tate will probably produce a similar result.

Kick-off is at noon Eastern Time on ESPN.

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The Chase is on, and The Shrub has a leg up on the competition.

Kyle Busch is the favorite at +650 to win the first race in NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup, this Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. Since joining the Nextel Cup circuit in 2004, the younger of the Busch brothers has raced at Loudon three times, most recently taking the checkered flag at the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 in July. Sweeping the season series would vault Busch up the drivers’ standings - he’s currently in fourth place, but just 15 points behind leader Matt Kenseth after the pre-Chase points adjustment.

Kenseth is next on the odds list at +800 after winning two of his last four races to seize the top spot in the standings from Jimmie Johnson (+1200). These short odds may not be warranted. Kenseth has yet to win at Loudon in 13 attempts; however, what he has done is crank out five Top-4 results and three other Top-10 finishes on the mile-long track. Many NASCAR observers believe Kenseth will be just as consistent during the Chase and eventually pull away from the pack.

Joining Kenseth at +800 is Kevin Harvick, arguably the driver with the most momentum on the Cup circuit after last week’s big win at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Like Kenseth, Harvick has never won at Loudon, but he has been among the leaders, placing no worse than 13th in six of his last seven visits. That includes a fifth-place result at July’s event. Harvick has also accumulated more points over the past 10 Cup races than anyone else.

The non-Chase driver with the shortest odds this Sunday is the soon-to-be former Cup champion Tony Stewart at +1000. He barely missed the Chase after having to start from 40th spot on the grid last week in Richmond, courtesy of an accident during the practice session that knocked his primary car out of qualifying. Stewart was outstanding at Loudon last year, finishing first and second for Joe Gibbs Racing, but fell to 37th in July’s race after starting fifth on the grid. Stewart will be looking to atone for that result this week.

Race time is 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with TNT on hand for the television coverage. The folks from SPEED will broadcast the qualifying and final practice runs.

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The Rebels lost a tough game last week even though they believe they won it on the final play of the game. In case you were unaware, the last play of the game saw QB Steichen loft the ball into the endzone for an apparent TD catch. However, the officials said the pass was incomplete and the game was over. UNLV was so irate that it refused to go into the locker room for 15 minutes screaming at the officials and waving their helmets in the air. Still, they lost the game and might have lost QB Rocky Hinds for an undetermined amount of time as well. Now they have to trek out to the islands to take on a Hawaii team that I feel is a complete monster this season. The Warriors have one of the best offenses in the country on hand, and its defense will no doubt play better in front of the home crowd. QB Colt Brennan is the best QB in the country whom you’ve never heard of, and he’s got one of the best WR corps in the country as well. UNLV is an improved team this year, but I don’t believe their heads will be in this one. The island is always a tough place for opponents to come and play because of the beautiful surroundings. Hawaii has had two weeks to prepare for this game after nearly upsetting Alabama in Week 1. It’s lights out for UNLV tonight, but at least they’ll get to partake in some beautiful sight seeing and maybe be fortunate enough to get leised.

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Rev up the hype monster, because Michigan/Notre Dame is here!!!! You really never have to dig into all the numbers in this rivalry game. Your best bet is to just take as many points as your out is offering since the underdog is a stellar 9-1 ATS the L/10 times they’ve met. The Irish knocked off the maize and blue in the “Big house” last year as seven-point underdogs, and now it will be Michigan that look’s to return the favor this season. The Wolverines are saying all the right things heading into this match-up, and it’s Notre Dame that’s begging them to come and prove it. Well, I believe they’ll do just that and give the Irish faithful a major scare along the way. Michigan looked awfully good a week ago ripping apart what I believe to be a decent Central Michigan squad. The Irish looked good as well in defeating Penn state, but the Wolverines are a completely different monster. They’re much more experienced on both sides of the ball, and I think they have the better overall defense. Look for them to try and get pressure on QB Quinn on a consistent basis since GTECH showed that as being the key to keeping this Irish offense grounded. Offensively, look for RB Mike Hart to be the reason the Wolverines cash this ticket. Passing has been darn near impossible against the Irish this year with their solid safety tandem, but running the ball hasn’t. The Irish have given up a combined 277 yards in their first two games. Look for RB Hart to bounce back with a huge effort here after getting knocked out of last year’s game in the first half. This will no doubt be a more entertaining game than last season, but as much as things change they tend to stay the same. In other words, grab the points!!!
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Remember, QB Tate sat out last week’s game at Syracuse with an apparent abdomen injury. He won’t be 100% in this one, and if the Cyclones manage to knock him out you’ll cringe once you see back-up QB Manson in action. He looks the part, but he can’t throw worth a damn (4 INT’s). Wow, wow, wow!!! This line is way too high people!!! This is an enormous rivalry that’s seen Iowa State hang with much better Iowa clubs in the past both ATS and SU!!! Don’t fall for the trap!!! Even if you think Iowa will simply take it to the Cyclones after they were embarrassed in Ames last year. Don’t do it. Take all the points you can get here, and enjoy what’s going to be another classic battle. ISU is a solid 6-2 SU and 7-1 ATS the L/8 times these teams have met. Iowa State is a very well coached football team. HC Dan McCarney is an alumnus of the University of Iowa, and has coached on the same staff with Kirk Ferentz in the past. These two guys know each other very well, and that’s a main reason why these games have been so competitive in recent years. The Cyclones still boast a fantastic offense led by QB Bret Meyer who was one of the Big 12’s best QB’s a year ago. They’ve got an excellent WR corps and a solid running game. They will be able to put some points up on the board vs. the Hawkeyes defense. Grab all the points you can get as these teams square off for Iowa bragging rights.

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The Phills have won 3 of Jamie Moyer’s four starts since he came over from the Mariners, and I’m expecting them to complete the sweep this evening before heading out to Houston for an important 3-game set. As long as the Phills continue to pound the ball in the clutch, I’ll be riding them. Even more so with such a nice return!!! Am I seeing this correctly? The Braves are a buck thirty chalk at home to beat the Phillies. The same Phillies that swept a double header from them yesterday, and the same Phillies that have won 11 of the 17 match-ups this year. You must be talking about another Philly team, or is it the one that now only sits 1.5 games in back of the Padres for the Wild Card lead? You’ve got to be kidding me!!!! The Braves do NOT deserve to be the chalk in any meeting with the Phillies at this point in the season. Certainly not this high of one. They’re home field advantage is null and void, and was never a really good one to begin with. Ryan Howard is swinging like a madman, and most of the Braves big hitters are riding the pine injured.

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I really liked the way the Dodgers bounced back last night at Wrigley after giving up a game they should have won the night before. They took off out of the gates, and broke it wide open in the 5th inning with a four run frame. Look for more of the same as the Dodgers continue to battle pretty much the entire NL West for the division crown. This Kuo kid impressed in his one and only start last week at New York pitching 6 innings of shut-out ball while striking out 7 and walking 3. The Cubs tend to make pitchers they’ve never seen before look like Cy Young, so I’m expecting them to be fooled by this guys stuff as well. Wade Miller is making his second start since coming off the DL. The first one wasn’t pretty in Atlanta where he gave up 5 hits and 4 earned runs in only 3 innings of work. He’ll be on a pitch count once again this afternoon, and it shouldn’t take the Dodger bats more than an inning or two to figure his stuff out. It’s weak, and nowhere near what he was capable of a few years back. With an important weekend series with San Diego on deck, look for the Dodgers to get out of Wrigley with a series victory.

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