This week, the title should actually include the entire week, rather than just the weekend.  Read on to find out why.

1)      It’s not safe to be in the AP top ten this season!

Every week we see at least one or two top ten teams get knocked off their perches, and this week was no exception.  Numbers three, four and five were all handed their first loss of the season, sending them spiraling down the list.  Several undefeated teams moved up to take their places.

#3 Florida State was edged by unranked North Carolina State, sending them all the way down to #12.  #4 LSU was beaten by #10 Florida, so they only fell to #9.  #4 Georgia had their clocks cleaned by #6 South Carolina, dropping them all the way down to #14.

This week, nine of the top ten teams are undefeated.  Any wagers on how many of them will still be undefeated at this time next week?  I’ll go with two top teams losing this week.  By the end of the season, don’t be surprised if there aren’t any undefeated teams.

2)      No NFL team will reach 10-0 this season!

With only two teams remaining undefeated, that’s hardly a prophetic statement.  Unless, of course, you listen to all of the talking heads.  According to them, Houston and Atlanta are the greatest teams to have ever played the game.

I guess I haven’t been watching the same games they have.  Atlanta could very easily be 3-2 right now, instead of 5-0, with losses to two very mediocre teams.  And did anybody watch the game last Monday?  If the Jets had been able to put something together on offense, the Texans would have been handed a very lopsided first loss.

3)      Although I hate the new MLB playoff format, I can’t ignore the fact that the Divisional round has been spectacular!

Yes, I’ve been complaining about the new playoff format for some time now.  I hate the one game series for the wildcard teams and I have never liked the two-and-three format of a best of five series.  I believe you are penalizing success in both situations.

Yet fans worldwide have enjoyed four best of five series that went the full five games, with the lower seeds winning three out of four of them.  Oakland, Cincinnati and Washington all lost their final games at home.

This is simply a case of the greatest game in sports overcoming a bad situation.  The other major sports can take a lesson from this.  Which leads me to….

4)      The NHL has blown another opportunity to gain ground in the major sports world!

You’d think the NHL would have learned that lockouts and union pickets do not win over the fans (see NFL, NBA, NFL referees, etc.).  But NOOOOOOOO!  (A little John Belushi humor there!)

What in the world are they thinking?  Yeah, we’re all going to hear the same old rhetoric – You don’t know all the facts – It’s just a case of millionaires fighting with billionaires – They’re all a bunch of greedy _______ (fill the blank).

The bottom line is this – The NFL is strong enough to overcome this in one season (or less).  MLB can do the same, since no true sports fan will boycott a six month long season.  Even the NBA, full of divas and playground thugs, can bounce back after one season.

But the NHL has always been #4.  Instead of locking out the players and cancelling games, they should be working towards generating a product that will attract a bigger audience.  This has simply pushed them backwards about a decade.

Not a very smart move, guys!!