Whoa there is almost too much happening in the world right now. Or at least in the part of the world I occupy. I don’t mean geographically. It’s more of a mindset thing. When I say there is a lot going on in the world, that means there is a lot of football or baseball or fighting or basketball or boxing on TV. That’s generally what excites me. Those things, zombie movies and whacked out conspiracy theories! Especially whacked out conspiracy theories about zombies who play football.

Football can go first. Clemson won impressively in a largely defensive battle with Kentucky. South Carolina lost horribly in a largely horrible game against a far more inspired, driven, competent UCONN team who wanted to win one for a fallen teammate. Good for the Huskies. They’re a better story. ‘Team rallies around fallen teammate’ is a better headline than ‘Dumb QB leads Gamecocks to victory two years after keying professor’s car; pees off balcony during celebration’ and pretty much ever lame duck sportswriter in America was dying to write just one more article where they could exploit Jasper Howard one more time. Because another story about Jasper Howard’s death is easier than trying.

Boise State is the real story, in my mind. They looked great Vs TCU. The pre-game talk was entirely about the TCU defense, which proved to be a phenomenal unit all season long. Every Clemson fan will tell you quickly that TCU’s defense is legit and among the best few in the nation. Every Boise State fan will agree. But the Broncos’ D wasn’t supposed to do what they did to the Horned Frogs. It was an impressive win over a very good team. The game showed everyone, in primetime, that Boise State and TCU deserved to be BCS teams this year. Utah did it last year. Boise State has done it in the past. It’s a beautiful thing.
Even better, that Boise State team from last night is largely the same Boise State team we’ll be seeing on that ugly blue field in the fall. There wasn’t one senior offensive starter for Boise State in last night’s Fiesta Bowl. If that isn’t enough, 10 of 11 defensive starters will be back in the fall. That’s 21 of 22 starters returning to a really, really good football team.
The Fiesta Bowl win and the number of players returning to an already dominant, undefeated team might mean…I can hardly bring myself to think about it. But it probably means a top-5 (more like top-3) pre-season ranking for Boise State football. And another undefeated season (with Virginia Tech on the schedule!) could mean a Boise State date for the BCS Championship this time next year. That’s the biggest sports story to watch. Actual sports story, that is. Sports story that takes place on the field rather than in an electrical closet or Tiger Woods’ Nike golf slacks or Gilbert Arenas’ gun safe.

UFC 108 went down over the weekend. The card was cursed, supposedly. The main event was never going to be the main event till a month ago. Rashad Evans was going to fight Rampage back at UFC 107, but Rampage had a falling out over going to play Mr. T in an A-Team movie. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera was on the card, but he got hurt and will fight in February. Jim Miller beat Duane Ludwig. Miller was originally scheduled to face Tyson Griffin, who was replaced by Sean Sherk, who was then replaced by Duane Ludwig before the fight could finally happen.
Despite all the setbacks, UFC 108 was a really good show. Better than UFC 107 and almost as good as the most recent Strikeforce card on Showtime. Rashad Evans looked a little rusty, but he owned the first two rounds before maybe relaxing too much in trying to wait out the decision in round 3. Still, you can’t question trying to wait out a decision against a fighter as dangerous as Thiago Silva. Rashad proceeded to show why trying to wait out the final round might not be a good idea against a fighter as dangerous as Thiago Silva. There is a downside. The downside, of course, is getting knocked out. It almost happened. We almost wound up with Rampage Vs Thiago Silva. Which would be a fantastic fight, but come on. We want Rampage Vs Rashad.
Thankfully, we get our wish. Rashad had enough guts and a strong enough chin to take a few stiff shots and not go down. So we get Rampage Vs Rashad in 2010, then we probably get that winner fighting the Shogun/Machida rematch winner. It’s a good time to be a light heavyweight in UFC, providing you don’t mind getting beat up.
For the record, I can’t help thinking Gegard Mousasi would steamroll all these dudes if he wasn’t hanging out in Strikeforce with no one to fight. It’s a shame. Mousasi might be the best 205lb. fighter in the world right now and it’s only fair that we get to see him fight in the best 205lb. divison. Instead, the Strikeforce 205lb. division is a shallow, poor comparison where Mousasi can easily run wild the same way BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre have cleaned out the UFC 155lb. and 170lb. classes. That’ll be fun to watch too.