Feedburner test

Testing this new feed via Feedburner since Blogger feed no longer works and they won't respond to me; so much for Google customer service.  And, of course, they own Feedburner, so who knows if it gets any better...

Michigan State creates hoops on USS Carl Vinson, 11/11/11

Yup, it is finally confirmed.  Michigan State University will play the University of North Carolina on the USS Carl Vinson, on 11/11/11, that's Veterans Day. Notably, the Vinson was the Carrier which disposed of the body of Osama Bin Laden.  This harkens back to a premonition reported by the ES back in 2003...

The ESPN-produced game will feature two college basketball powerhouses, North Carolina and Michigan State, playing each other on the deck of the Carl Vinson while some 7,000 special invitees, mostly military personnel and their families watch from the bleachers specialy constructed on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, docked in San Diego.  Also at the carrier, Navy will play Air Force.  In case it rains, there will be another court built: "one for the hangar deck below in case it does rain. Although the court will be surrounded by temporary stadium seating, there are plans for some kind of wind screen in an attempt to match the controlled environment basketball games are played in."

Congrats to AD Mark Hollis for creating an amazing opportunity.
 
This was originally announced on October 3, 2010... however, the idea dates back to May 20, 2003, when the Enlightened Spartan floated the idea about hosting a football game on an aircraft carrier.  This was covered on Scout.com in 2004.

Here's a look at the Breslin Floor - hinting at the occasion:

Tuesday is MSU Day on Big Ten Network

Got an email today from Mike Vest at BTN... looks like tomorrow is the first of three Big Ten days for MSU on the Big Ten Network this summer. Here is the lineup for June 21, 2011:

• 2 PM. 2009 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Championship: Michigan State vs. Indiana
• 4 PM. The Big Ten's Greatest Games - Basketball: 12/22/07 - Texas at Michigan State
• 6 PM. Michigan State Campus Programming: Spartan Sagas #3
• 6:30 PM. Big Ten Icons: Magic Johnson
• 7 PM. Big Ten Football in 60: Michigan State at Northwestern (2010)
• 8 PM. Big Ten Football Replay: Notre Dame at Michigan State (2010)
• 10 PM. The Big Ten's Greatest Games - Football: 2000 Citrus Bowl: MSU vs. Florida

ES composite preseason Top 25 poll

So, the ES has gone about updating his predictions for the 2011 football campaign, with eager anticipation of our Michigan State Spartan Big Green Touchdown Machine, 2011-12 edition… Using eight services so far, MSU ranks #18, with a high ranking of #8 by the Orlando Sentinel, while Phil Steele is the only dolt out there not to rank the Spartoonies.

That said, the ES has gone ahead and listed the top teams so far below. First place gets 1 point, Second place 2 pts, etc, all the way down to 25 pts for #25. If a school is not in the prediction, it receives 26 points. The lowest average is the top team from these predictors. So far, we have Athlon (AT), Lindy (L), Phil Steele (PS), Street & Smiths/The Sporting News (SNSS), About.com (AB), NCChamps.net (NC), ESPN.com/Schlabach (ESP), and the Orlando Sentinel (OS).

Ohio State NOTE: all of these predictions were made pre-Tressel firing and pre-Pryor departure; so, how Ohio State fares after all this, one can only wonder. But, the Ohio State Tre$$el$ are the top B1G Ten team at #10, with Bo “I scream” Pelini Nebraska at #13, the low down, lack of integrity Wisky Badgers at #17, JoePa at #23, The No-mo Gin Mill Northwestern at #29, and scUM at #32.

Whaddy’all think so far? Two Polls at the right – who is most overrated, who is the most underrated so far for those listed in the ES composite top 25? The ES will add more to this listing in the coming weeks…

#	as of 6/7	pts	AT	L	PS	SNSS	AB	NC	ESP	OS
1	Oklahoma	1.50	2	1	2	2	2	1	1	1
2	Alabama	2.13	1	2	1	3	3	2	2	3
3	Oregon	3.38	3	3	4	5	1	4	5	2
4	LSU	4.38	8	4	7	1	4	3	4	4
5	Boise St.	6.25	5	6	3	6	6	6	8	10
6	Stanford	7.88	13	8	16	4	5	5	7	5
7	Texas A&M	9.63	11	13	8	9	9	9	12	6
8	Florida St.	9.75	4	5	10	7	13	10	3	26
9	Oklahoma St.	10.25	12	7	19	12	7	8	10	7
10	Ohio St.	10.75	9	14	15	8	12	7	6	15
11	TCU	13.63	15	15	11	20	14	13	9	12
12	Notre Dame	13.88	6	19	6	18	11	20	14	17
13	Nebraska	14.13	10	9	12	10	18	19	24	11
14	Arkansas	14.13	16	10	13	11	21	15	11	16
15	S. Carolina	14.88	21	11	14	19	8	17	15	14
16	Virginia Tech	15.00	7	12	5	13	17	18	22	26
17	Wisconsin	16.75	23	17	23	25	10	14	13	9
18	Michigan St.	17.25	22	22	26	17	15	12	16	8
19	Georgia	19.13	14	16	9	26	26	26	18	18
20	Mississippi St.	21.00	26	21	26	15	20	16	25	19
21	Auburn	21.50	26	24	26	21	23	11	17	24
22	Florida	22.50	18	20	26	26	22	22	20	26
23	Penn St.	22.63	26	26	24	14	16	26	26	23
24	W. Virginia	22.63	17	18	26	23	24	26	26	21
25	Missouri	22.88	25	23	26	26	19	21	21	22
26	Texas	23.63	24	26	18	26	26	24	19	26
27	USC	24.13	20	26	17	26	26	26	26	26
28	Arizona St.	24.38	26	25	22	24	26	23	23	26
29	Northwestern	24.75	26	26	26	16	26	26	26	26
30	Miami-Florida	25.00	19	26	26	26	25	26	26	26
31	S. Miss.	25.25	26	26	20	26	26	26	26	26
32	Michigan	25.25	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	20
33	Houston	25.38	26	26	21	26	26	26	26	26
34	Utah	25.50	26	26	26	22	26	26	26	26
35	South Florida	25.88	26	26	25	26	26	26	26	26
36	Tulsa	25.88	26	26	26	26	26	25	26	26
37	C. Florida	25.88	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	25