It was football time in Montana this last weekend with several high school championships, the NAIA Playoffs, and the Cat/Griz game in Bozeman. The next month or so can be called “football heaven” time with playoffs, bowl games, and the NFL season winding down. Is this a great country or what?

Montana

Can you say playoffs? The Carroll College Fighting Saints rolled over Black Hills 34-0 in the first round of the NAIA playoffs Saturday. The Saints are 12-0. The Saints will host Morningside (9-2) next Saturday in Helena. Morningside College is located in Sioux City, Iowa.

The University of Montana Grizzlies beat the Montana State Bobcats 41-20 on Saturday in Bozeman. Lex Hilliard rushed for 181 yards and three TDs for the Griz. The Griz are 11-0 and 8-0 in the Big Sky. Next up is the playoffs where they will host Wofford (8-3) next Saturday in Missoula. Wooford College is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

It’s nice that the NAIA (where Carroll plays) and the Division Football Championship Subdivision (where Montana plays) have playoffs so we can see who the real champions are.

Big College Football

This has been the season of upsets, especially if you are ranked #2. There were some decent games this weekend. It’s getting down to crunch time in the world of big college football. Losses this late in the season are harder to overcome than losses earlier in the season.

Next weekend is the showdown. The border war! #4 Missouri and #2 Kansas play Saturday night. The game is being carried on ABC at 6:00 p.m. The game will be held at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. It is a sell out and there should be about 80,000 fans in attendance. Get your popcorn ready!

Here’s how the top ten did this weekend:

1. LSU 9-1 -Won
2. Oregon 8-1 –Lost
3. Kansas 10-0 -Won
4. Oklahoma 9-1 –Lost
5. Missouri 9-1 -Won
6. West Virginia 8-1 Won
7. Ohio State 10-1 -Won
8. Arizona State 9-1 -Did not play
9. Georgia 8-2 -Won
10. Virginia Tech 8-2 –Won

Here are the New BCS Standings from Sunday night:

1. LSU 10-1
2. Kansas 11-0 (Kansas should be #1)
3. West Virginia 9-1
4. Missouri 10-1 (Mizzou should be #3)
5. Ohio State 11-1
6. Arizona State 9-1
7. Georgia 9-2
8. Virginia Tech 9-2
9. Oregon 8-2 (It looks like former Great Falls CMR QB, Brady Leaf, will lead the ducks for the rest of the year since Dennis Dixon went down with a knee injury)
10. Oklahoma 9-2

Sunday Tackle Football

It was a decent week picking the winners in ESPN’s Pigskin Pick’em contest. I am 12-3 going into Monday night’s game.

The New York Jets surprised the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime, ouch! The Giants went to Detroit and beat the Lions.

The Field Goal: The Browns beat the Ravens by three in overtime after a last second field goal in the 4^th quarter by the Browns that was first called no good, then it was declared good, after the Refs talked about it. They did make the right call as the ball hit the left upright and bounced off the crossbar before going back into the end zone. Supposedly, they cannot use instant replay for field goals, which is very odd. The rule needs to be changed. In the Sunday night game, a field goal by the Bills hit the camera attached to the goal post. It was declared good.

The Dallas Cowboys finally put away the Washington Redskins 28-23. Cowboys WR, Terrell Owens, caught four touchdown passes. The Cowboys are 9-1.

The Kansas City Chiefs went into Indianapolis and (surprisingly) played the Colts tough, losing 13-10 on a last second field goal. The Colts are 8-2. The Chiefs’ QB Brodie Croyle made his debut and did well. Now they need to take the diapers off and let him play.

The AFC West (AFC Worst) teams continue their losing ways. The Chargers, Chiefs, and Raiders all lost. Denver plays Tennessee Monday night and, with a win, can be tied for the AFC West lead with the Chargers at 5-5. Yes, 5-5.

New England could do nothing wrong in leading the Patriots over the Buffalo Bills Sunday night 56-10 in Buffalo. Brady was 31 out of 39 for 373 yards and five touchdown passes. Randy Moss caught four touchdown passes. The Patriots are 10-0.

The ageless wonder, Brett Favre, threw three TD passes and the Packers beat Carolina 31-17. The Pack is 9-1.

Here are my top five NFL teams:

1. New England
2. Dallas
3. Green Bay
4. Indianapolis
5. Jacksonville

Heads-up: It’s a short week for us NFL fans! There are three NFL games on Thanksgiving. The best one is Green Bay at Detroit on Fox. Dallas hosts the NY Jets on CBS, and Indy plays at Atlanta on the NFL Network.

Go Fast. Turn Left. For The Last Time.

The very long NASCAR season is over and Jimmy Johnson won the championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Congratulations to Jimmy on his second consecutive championship. Jeff Gordon finished second in the chase, 77 points behind.

Next year Dale Earnhardt, Jr. joins Gordon and Johnson as teammates with Hendrick Motor Sports. Earnhardt will drive the #88 car next season, which is nice for those of you with #8 tattoos (#8 was Earnhardt’s number this season). You can easily fix them!

By the way, the Bud Shootout (Feb 9) and the Daytona 500 (Feb. 17) are just about three months away.

Enjoy the sports!