Ten years was enough for the original Beverly Hills 90210.  Likewise, Seinfeld, Friends, and Everybody Loves Raymond shut it down nine or ten seasons in.  A good percentage of marriages that end up in divorce occur within ten years.  Even my dog, Boney, only lasted ten years (Okay, he only lasted a day).

After ten years of beatdowns the ACC has put on the Big Ten, it’s time to shut down the annual challenge.  Don’t get me wrong, I geek out every year watching some of the top matchups.  It’s just been so watered down in the past few years with the ACC’s dominance that I think ten years is the perfect amount of time to pull the plug.  The top matchups are great and definitely made for TV.  As a TV viewer, I definitely don’t mind a bit.  There were awesome matchups this season, just like there are every year.  The product’s just been watered down.  Outside of the big games, there are a lot of clunker games that seem to always involve Northwestern, Penn State, and Michigan and whoever they’re playing (Ironically NW and Penn State BOTH won this year).  They don’t even put these games on ESPN or ESPN2 and there may be no worse gym in America to watch a TV game than Welsh-Ryan Arena.  Outside of the big TV matchups (This year was Purdue-Duke, Michigan State-North Carolina, Ohio State-Miami, and Indiana-Wake Forest), I don’t think there’s any reason to continue the series.

It’s a forced game on a schedule early in the season and takes away versatility on the schedule.  In the grand scheme of things, no one really brings up the challenge when debating bubble teams or locks when heading into the tournament.  That being said, I do think the Big Ten gets a rep for being inferior when it comes to the ACC and Big East, and depending on the year the SEC, Big 12, and Pac 10.    For years, I’ve said the matchups always favored the ACC, but after ten straight years of winning, I think my argument is mute.  It’s not the most balanced way to set up a conference vs conference showdown, but I’m sure the Big Ten has had the advantage on key home matchups at least once in ten years.  They just haven’t got the job done.

If I weren’t a Big Ten fan, I’d be all for this challenge as it does produce some nice matchups each season.  Being a Big Ten guy, I say you have to scrap it.  Mainly because I’m tired of losing.

I believe that would also free up IU’s schedule to get Notre Dame back on there, which wouldn’t be bad for the state of Indiana.

All this talk of Dodgers/Diamondbacks and suddenly the Colorado Rockies sit just 6 games back in the National League West.  They blew a lead to the lowly Giants last night or they would have been sitting 5 out with 27 to play.  My baseball interest has faded about as quickly as my interest in the show “Chuck”.  Nontheless, I’ll give the Rockies a week and a half to chip it down to three before I give up.  September has them at Coors Field for 15 of 24 games, which we all know serves as one of the biggest home field advantages, as well as one of the biggest home field DIS-advantages at the same time.  It just depends on how the ball is bouncing off the bat.  They’ve got six games against the first place Diamondbacks, including the final three ballgames…in Arizona.  If they can take 5 of 6 against Arizona and 2 of 3 against the Dodgers, they could win the West.  As my interest wanes in baseball, it’s opening night for college football!!!!

Seven years ago on this Thursday, I rushed home from class on the 6 Bus, parked my body on the couch and watched as the Tommy Jones led Indiana Hoosiers battled North Carolina State.  Remember the Antwaan Randle El Wide Receiver Experiment?  That was ugly and ended up costing the Hoosiers and their top two player of all time a chance to play in a bowl game.  There have been a lot of instances in my life where the buildup for a particular sports moment has totally been way bigger than the actual event.  It’s worse than that.  It’s the moments that aren’t just losses.  I can handle losses.  It’s the moments where you’ve been anticipating getting together to watch a game for a week, and within a half hour, you’re down 21-0. 

For some reason, the IU-NC State game of ‘01 is in my top 5 all time “Hysterical Letdown” games.  The games that let you down so much that all you can do is laugh about it as it goes on.  It’s kind of like your girlfriend breaking up with you.  It may hurt later, but at the moment, you might as well just laugh.  BOUS THEORY WARNING:  HYSTERICAL LETDOWN GAMES COULD CAUSE AN INCREASE IN CONSUMPTION OF ADULT BEVERAGES (AS CAN A GIRLFRIEND BREAKING UP WITH YOU).

By the way, NC State kicks off the season for the 28th year in a row tonight against South Carolina.  Oh yeah, and I’m going to be at the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 concert.  Perfect timing.  College kickoff for me is this Saturday at noon.  Boom.  Outta here.

One more thing….Get your picks in for the initial Bous Theory Pick ‘Em Contest.  If you’ve got a better name, put it in the comment section.  Email your picks (and scores) to chad_bouslog@wrtv.com.  This way no one can see your picks.  If you’re hesitant to enter because you don’t want me to know that you actually read this blog, don’t worry about it.  Make up a fake email address on hotmail or some of you folks who stay quiet, here’s your chance to get active!  Here are the games:

USC @ Virginia

Missouri vs Illinois 

Alabama @ Clemson

Oregon @ Washington

Tennessee @ UCLA

Western Kentucky @ Indiana

Utah @ Michigan

Michigan State @ California

New Mexico @ Texas Christian

Washington State @ Oklahoma State