The 36th Ryder Cup tees off at The K Club in Kildaire, Ireland this weekend with the European squad favored to keep the Cup in the Old Country.

The Europeans have won the last two cups and seven of the last 10. The Europeans are the oddsmakers’ favorite this year despite a talent-laden American team that includes the top 3 ranked golfers in the world in Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk. The trio also boasts more major titles than the entire European team combined, but in all fairness Woods tops the entire field combined from both sides in major wins.

So when faced with what looks like in some ways a David versus Goliath battle on paper (with the Europeans being David of course), why are the Europeans favored? History has a lot to do with it, considering how dominant the Europeans have been in winning the Cup, especially the relatively easy 18 ½ - 9 ½ victory at Oakland Hill two years ago. Home field - or home course - advantage could be taken into account. The Europeans will have a majority of the crowd rooting for them, or more likely politely clapping, as is the European way at golf tournaments. What it really comes down to is the Cup’s format.

The easiest way to see how the format favors the Europeans is to look at Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup history. In four previous Ryder Cup tournaments, Woods is a surprisingly bad 7-11-2. There are two theories as to why Woods has had little success at the Ryder Cup. The first is that he doesn’t play well with others. Considering that 10 of Woods’ 11 losses have come in partnership play, that argument is hard to contest.

The second theory is that Woods wins his tournaments over 72 holes and he’s not as good when he has to make it happen in only 18. Think of it this way; when Woods wins a major how often does he lead the pack at the end of Day 1? The answer, of course, is hardly ever. Woods usually needs at least a couple of rounds to get to the top of the leaderboard, or he makes one of his signature comebacks on the final day. Woods gave this theory some added clout last week when he bowed out of the World Match Play Championship in the first round. The pressure to make shots over 18 hasn’t been Woods’ strength in previous Ryder Cups and unless he comes through this weekend, the Europeans could be hoisting the cup once again on Sunday.
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The New England Patriots might be undefeated this season, but they haven’t exactly looked like a dominating team so far in ‘06. The Denver Broncos picked up a victory last week, but it probably wasn’t deserved. Those teams will get a chance to turn around the doubters when they battle at Gillette Stadium in the Sunday night game (8:15pm ET).

The Patriots had to come from behind to defeat the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 - they scored a third-quarter touchdown, then added a field goal and a safety in the final frame to pull out a 19-17 home victory. Pats QB Tom Brady went just 11-of-23 for 163 yards passing against Buffalo, but did have two touchdown strikes to go along with one interception.

New England then had to hold on for a victory in Week 2 against the Jets, as New York came back from a 24-0 deficit in the third quarter to lose just 24-17. Brady was just over 50% with his passing against the Jets, going 15-of-29 for 220 yards, with one touchdown toss and one interception. Corey Dillon ran for 80 yards and a touchdown.

The Broncos, meanwhile, needed to go to overtime to grab their first win of the season last week - but they didn’t need to score a touchdown to secure the victory. Jason Elam kicked field goals in the third quarter, fourth quarter, and overtime frame to give his team a 9-6 win over a Kansas City Chiefs team playing without starting QB Trent Green.

Denver’s top quarterback, Jake Plummer, was largely ineffective against last week - the veteran went just 16-of-30 for 173 yards passing, with one interception. For Plummer, though, it was an improvement from Week 1, when he completed 13-of-26 pass attempts for 138 yards, with no TD strikes and three INTs in an 18-10 loss to the Rams.

The last time these two teams met, of course, was when the Broncos defeated the Patriots by a score of 27-13 in Denver in January. The Broncos had been a 3-point favorite in that game, while the combined score was an UNDER play. Last October the Broncos topped the Patriots 28-20 at home (also as 3-point favorites) in an OVER play.

Oddsmakers like New England’s chances of getting to 3-0 on Sunday night, as the Patriots are currently listed as 7-point home favorites against the Broncos (with the total at 39 points). Be sure to watch out for line moves and injury updates over the weekend.
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The Texas Longhorns already learned that payback’s a bitch when they faced Ohio State earlier this season. If the Buckeyes have anything to say about it, they’ll be sending the same message to Penn State this weekend.

Ohio State only lost two games last season, to Texas and Penn State. The Buckeyes got their revenge on the Longhorns two weeks ago with a 24-7 victory in Texas. This weekend Ohio State welcomes Penn State to town knowing full well that they haven’t lost since meeting up with the Nittany Lions last season. That loss eliminated any lingering hopes that Ohio State had at a national championship run. This season the Buckeyes can end the Lions’ slim championship hopes with a win.

The Buckeyes are the favorite heading into this game and they rightfully should be considering they are the top-ranked school in the nation and boast one of the most explosive offenses in college football. Quarterback Troy Smith gets another shot at Penn State after a disappointing performance last time out. Smith completed only 13-of-25 passes for 139 yards with no touchdown passes and an interception in Ohio State’s 17-10 loss to Penn State last season.

It’s a different Smith behind center this year though, and the numbers prove it. Smith has a 69.1 passing percentage this season and has thrown for 769 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions in three games. What makes Smith even more dangerous are the weapons at his disposal. Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. has speed to burn and has used it this season to catch five touchdown passes. Ginn Jr.’s immense talent has opened the door for another talented Buckeyes’ wideout, Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez has made the most of Ginn Jr.’s double teams to the tune of a team-leading 340 receiving yards and three touchdowns. When Smith isn’t throwing the ball to Ginn Jr. or Gonzalez, he’s handing the ball off to running back Antonio Pittman who has been rolling over defenses this season. Pittman has rushed for 340 yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries.

The Nittany Lions rebounded from their 41-17 blowout loss to Notre Dame with a 37-3 drubbing of Youngstown State last week, but comparing Youngstown State to Ohio State is like comparing a mouse to a rhinoceros. The Lions once-ferocious defense lost a lot of its bite after losing seven starters from a year ago.

If Penn State hopes to have a chance versus Ohio State they will need quarterback Anthony Morelli and running back Tony Hunt to keep up to the scoring pace set by the Buckeyes. Morelli has put up some pretty good numbers so far this season with 549 passing yards, four touchdowns and an interception, but he had his worst game of the season last week versus Youngstown State with only 154 passing yards and no touchdowns. The exact opposite is true of Hunt, who broke out last week, rushing for 143 yards and a touchdown.

Kickoff is 3:30 pm ET on ABC.

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ECU pulled off a miraculous comeback at home last week vs. Memphis to pick up their first win of the season. They came close in their two previous games, but just fell short. The 4th ranked Mountaineers stroll into Greenville off their big prime time win over the Terrapins looking to pick up their 4th win of the season. They bolted out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter of that game before you could finish your second beer, and never looked back as they cruised to the 45-24 victory. That being said, the Mounty’s have been tabbed large road chalks in this contest, and it looks to be a bit too rich for my blood. Instead, I’m going to look at the ‘Total’ instead as this has the makings of a very high scoring game. WV’s combo of QB White and RB Slaton should be able to run at will, and ECU’s QB Pinckney and WR Allison should combine for another huge day. West Virginia hasn’t shown an ability to put pressure on opposing QB’s this year evidenced by the doughnut they own in the sack department, and ECU couldn’t stop me if I was in your backfield running the ball. These two factors simply dictate that both offenses should be able to achieve enormous success in doing what they love to do. All in all, this game will take forever to play with the amount of first down’s, incomplete passes, and TDs that will be scored. With both squads heading into the bye next week, look for both squads to put forth maximum efforts and for the combined total to soar over this cheapish number.
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I’m still trying to figure out how New Mexico covered last week’s game after perusing through the box score of that game. Evidently, the Tigers pulled up the reigns late and allowed the Lobos to go on their best drive of the game with about a minute and change to go. Awful defeat for Mizzou backers, but you can get it all back and then some tonight as the UTEP Miners invade Albuquerque looking to take two in a row form the red and silver. HC Mike Price and his Miners lost a real tough one two weeks ago at home to Texas Tech. They lost the game in OT, and there’s no doubt they’ll come into this one chomping at the bit after having a couple weeks to prepare for Rocky Long’s club. The rebuilding season is underway for NM as they now stand at 1-2 overall with their lone win being of the six point variety over the in state rival Aggies who won a total of zero games last season. Many more losses are sure to come as they struggle trying to pick up the new offensive schemes, and their offense is now being led by backup QB Chris Nelson after 4 yr starting QB McKamey went down with a season ending knee injury. To make matters worse for their offense, they can’t run the ball (72 YPG), and they can’t keep opposing defenses from killing their QB (8 sacks last week & 15 total). UTEP doesn’t have the greatest of defenses, but it is somewhat improved and should be able to contain this punchless outfit. QB Carson Palmer should be licking his chops coming into this one knowing full well that the Lobos boast the 108th ranked passing defense (281 YPG) through just three games. They can’t stop the rush either, so the Miners should get a boost in that department as well. Even though UTEP’s only a mediocre 3-4 ATS as a road chalk under HC Price, they’re just so much better than the Lobos on both sides of the ball and the home teams severely overmatched. Lay the chalk with conviction!!!

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Bowling Green has had trouble getting past both Buffalo and FL International the last two weeks, and that doesn’t bode well for them this afternoon. Their defense is porous, and their offense lacks punch and will now be led by redshirt Frosh Freddie Barnes who won’t strike fear in the Kent State defenders. Kent QB Julian Edelman has been a pleasant surprise for HC Martin and the program. With Michael Machen out with a shoulder injury, the JUCO product has stepped right in and gotten more comfortable with every passing week. He’s a dual threat that’s passed for 486 yards and 2 TDs, and has run for 174 yards and a score. He and WR Pruden have formed a very nice chemistry, and RB Eugene Jarvis has been a solid complement rushing for 5.4 YPC. The Golden Flashes picked up their first win of the season last weekend by knocking off the Miami (OH) Redhawks in a crucial MAC East battle. Now they have to travel to Bowling Green to take on a Falcons club that doesn’t look to be up to speed on either side of the ball. Since getting pasted by Minnesota to open up their 2006 campaign, the Golden Flashes have gotten progressively better over the last few weeks. They lost a tough one at Army in OT in a game they could have won, and then dominated their game vs. the Redhawks last week before the home team tried to make a late furious comeback. This looks to be a charitable line here, and I’ll back the Flashes once again as they look to pull off the unthinkable; win two straight games!!!

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