Perhaps a bit premature, but here are the conference rankings at the midway point (everyone has played 8 games except the Texans and Giants who will take their byes this coming week) starting with the AFC:

1. Indianapolis
2. Denver
3/4. Cincinnati/New England*
5. Pittsburgh
6. San Diego
1/2 game out of 6th: Houston**
1 game out of 6th: NY Jets, Baltimore, Jacksonville
2 games out of 6th: Miami, Buffalo
3 games out of 6th: Tennessee, Oakland
Planning for 2010: Cleveland, Kansas City

And in the NFC:

1. New Orleans
2. Minnesota
3. Dallas
4. Arizona
5/6. Philadelphia/Atlanta*
1/2 game out of 6th: NY Giants**
1 game out of 6th: Green Bay, Chicago
2 games out of 6th: Carolina, San Francisco, Seattle
3 games out of 6th: Washington
Planning for 2010: Detroit, Tampa, St. Louis

* In the case of Cincy/New England and Philly/Atlanta the teams have not played each other (Eagles and Falcons will later in the year) they have identical conference records, and its too early to parse out the tiebreakers further down the list

** I did not bother placing tied teams outside playoff position in “correct” order.

Week 11 (the games centered around Sunday November 22nd) are the first subject to the NFL’s flexible scheduling system. With the exception of Week 17 the schedule will be finalized 12 days in advance wrt the start times for the Sunday games. The NFL announced today that none of the start times for November 22nd have been altered from what was originally announced in April.

November 10, 1975. By Gordon Lightfoot:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore – 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they’d been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T’was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed, ’til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

This column from espn.com gives breakdowns on the races in all the “1-A” conferences. I warn you ahead of time that the PAC10 synopsis may cause headaches:

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/category/_/name/conference-race-091109

From ohsaa.org:

2009 OHSAA Football Tournaments – Regional Semifinal Pairings
Division I – All Games at 7 p.m. Saturday Unless Otherwise Noted
Crew Region 1
34 1 Cleveland St. Ignatius (11-0) vs. 5 Cleveland Glenville (10-1), Lakewood Stadium
42 2 Solon (11-0) vs. 3 Mayfield (10-1), Parma Byers Field
Region 2
45 8 Canton McKinley (7-4) vs. 4 Canton GlenOak (9-2), Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium (1:00 p.m.)
37 2 Twinsburg (10-1) vs. 3 Massillon Washington (8-3), Canton Fawcett Stadium
Region 3
8 1 Dublin Coffman (11-0) vs. 4 Westerville South (9-2), Upper Arlington Marv Moorehead Memorial Stadium
25 2 Hilliard Davidson (9-1) vs. 3 Pickerington Central (10-1), Gahanna Lincoln Stadium
Region 4
18 1 Cincinnati St. Xavier (9-2) vs. 4 Cincinnati Elder (8-2), Nippert Stadium (5:30 p.m.)
6 7 Middletown (10-1) vs. 3 Cincinnati Anderson (11-0), Nippert Stadium (2:30 p.m.)
Division II – All Games at 7:30 p.m. Friday Unless Otherwise Noted
Crew Region 5
5 1 Mentor Lake Catholic (10-1) vs. 4 Canfield (10-1), Twinsburg Tiger Stadium
1 2 Warren Howland (10-1) vs. 3 Ashland (10-1), Canton Central Catholic Lowell Klinefelter Field
Region 6
19 1 Toledo St. Francis DeSales (10-1) vs. 5 Avon Lake (8-3), Fremont Ross Harmon Stadium
13 2 Toledo Central Catholic (9-2) vs. 6 Maple Heights (9-2), Huron Memorial Stadium
Region 7
9 8 Columbus Marion-Franklin (9-2) vs. 4 Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (9-2), Dublin Scioto Stadium
22 2 Logan (11-0) vs. 3 Columbus Brookhaven (9-2), Columbus Hamilton Township Hamilton Field
Region 8
32 1 Cincinnati Turpin (11-0) vs. 5 Trotwood-Madison (8-3), Cincinnati Princeton Viking Stadium
39 2 Cincinnati Winton Woods (9-2) vs. 3 New Carlisle Tecumseh (10-1), Centerville Stadium
Division III – All Games at 7:30 p.m. Friday Unless Otherwise Noted
Crew Region 9
2 1 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (11-0) vs. 4 Hubbard (10-1), Warren G. Harding Mollenkopf Stadium
44 2 Poland Seminary (9-2) vs. 3 Akron Archbishop Hoban (8-3), Uniontown Lake Blue Streak Stadium
Region 10
3 1 Columbus St. Francis DeSales (8-3) vs. 5 Tipp City Tippecanoe (9-2), Dayton Welcome Stadium
4 2 Columbus Bishop Watterson (8-3) vs. 3 Napoleon (9-2), Findlay Donnell Stadium
Region 11
41 1 Steubenville (10-1) vs. 5 Salem (9-2), New Philadelphia Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium
21 2 Dover (10-1) vs. 6 Canal Fulton Northwest (8-3), Canton Fawcett Stadium
Region 12
24 8 Springfield Shawnee (8-3) vs. 4 Circleville Logan Elm (9-2), Hilliard Bradley Athletic Complex
15 2 Cincinnati Wyoming (10-0) vs. 6 Monroe (9-2), Kings Mills Kings Stadium
Division IV – All Games at 7:00 p.m. Saturday Unless Otherwise Noted
Crew Region 13
46 1 Chagrin Falls (11-0) vs. 5 Cortland Lakeview (8-3), Aurora Veterans Stadium
43 2 Girard (11-0) vs. 6 Peninsula Woodridge (9-2), Uniontown Lake Blue Streak Stadium
Region 14
17 8 Pemberville Eastwood (9-2) vs. 5 Ottawa-Glandorf (9-2), Findlay Donnell Stadium (7:00 p.m.)
29 2 Genoa Area (11-0) vs. 3 Orrville (8-3), Ashland Community Stadium
Region 15
26 1 Amanda-Clearcreek (11-0) vs. 5 Coshocton (9-2), Zanesville Sulsberger Memorial Stadium
40 2 Ironton (9-2) vs. 3 Heath (9-2), Nelsonville-York Boston Stadium
Region 16
16 1 Clarksville Clinton-Massie (11-0) vs. 4 Kenton (10-1), Troy Memorial Stadium
28 2 Kettering Archbishop Alter (11-0) vs. 6 Carlisle (9-2), Monroe Stadium
Division V – All Games at 7:30 p.m. Friday Unless Otherwise Noted
Crew Region 17
10 1 Cuyahoga Heights (11-0) vs. 5 Gates Mills Hawken (9-2), Solon Stewart Field
7 2 Columbiana Crestview (10-1) vs. 3 Youngstown Ursuline (7-3), Austintown-Fitch Falcon Stadium
Region 18
35 1 Hamler Patrick Henry (11-0) vs. 5 Jeromesville Hillsdale (9-2), Tiffin Frost-Kalnow Stadium
27 2 Defiance Tinora (10-1) vs. 3 Lima Central Catholic (9-2), Defiance Fred Brown Stadium
Region 19
47 1 Fredericktown (11-0) vs. 5 Wheelersburg (9-2), Nelsonville-York Boston Stadium
11 2 Oak Hill (11-0) vs. 6 West Lafayette Ridgewood (11-0), Lancaster Fulton Field
Region 20
48 8 St. Henry (8-3) vs. 4 West Liberty-Salem (11-0), Piqua Alexander Stadium
38 2 Coldwater (10-1) vs. 6 Anna (9-2), Wapakoneta Harmon Field
Division VI – All Games at 7:00 p.m. Saturday Unless Otherwise Noted
Crew Region 21
31 8 Bascom Hopewell-Loudon (9-2) vs. 4 Bucyrus Wynford (11-0), Tiffin Frost-Kalnow Stadium
14 2 Norwalk St. Paul (11-0) vs. 3 Mogadore (10-1), Medina Ken Dukes Stadium (Friday, Nov. 13 – 7:30 p.m.)
Region 22
12 1 Delphos St. John’s (11-0) vs. 4 Leipsic (10-1), Lima Senior Stadium
20 2 Ada (11-0) vs. 3 Carey (10-1), Findlay Donnell Stadium (1:00 p.m.)
Region 23
23 1 Malvern (10-1) vs. 4 Bridgeport (10-1), Steubenville Harding Stadium
33 7 Shadyside (6-5) vs. 6 Grove City Christian (10-1), TBA
Region 24
30 8 Covington (8-3) vs. 5 Maria Stein Marion Local (6-5), Kettering Fairmont Rousch Stadium
36 7 Fort Loramie (9-2) vs. 6 South Charleston Southeastern (9-2), Dayton Welcome Stadium

And on a local note, Oak Glen did qualify for the West Virginia state playoffs in AA. They are seeded #16 and will visit #1 Wayne at 1:30pm on Saturday 11/14

Beating Penn St 24-7 to improve to 5-1 in Big Ten play and setup a showdown for the conference title next Saturday against Iowa at the ‘Shoe. Pryor played mistake free if unspectacular and it was a supreme effort by the Buckeye defense. Indeed it would have been shutout if not for a dubious ruling to give Daryl Clarke a touchdown on 4th & Goal in the 2nd quarter. But the Lions never threatened to score after that and the Buckeyes were able to slowly pull away. As for Pryor he missed a couple wide open receivers, particularly at the very end of the 1st half, but he didn’t commit any turnovers, and the way the Buckeye defense was playing not screwing up was what it took.

Like I said it sets up a big showdown next week with Iowa who will probably be without their starting quarterback after he severely sprained his ankle in the Hawkeyes loss to Northwestern today. Unless there is a 6-2 triangle or quadrangle of death scenario I am not thinking of, the winner of the Iowa/Ohio St game will win the conference’s auto BCS bid.

In other college football news, the SEC continues to rig it so that Alabama and Florida are undefeated heading into the conference title game, guaranteeing one and perhaps both of them make the national title game. Alabama up 6 late in the game throws an obvious interception to LSU that is ruled incomplete (out of bounds) on the field. Easily correctable by review as the Tiger clearly possessed the ball. One could argue it was an interception by NFL rules as he had one foot down in bounds when he caught the ball, then the toe of his other foot clearly kicks inbounds after that. Review refuses to correct the call and Alabama ends up kicking an icing field goal. Inexcusable and when coupled with a couple calls late in the Florida v Arkansas game and other plays over the years I really can’t help but think that the SEC is having its refs make sure the correct team wins these big games. Perhaps even more to the point, even if that is not happening its the easy conclusion for people to come to, and that is a real problem that goes to the integrity of the sport. And its easily correctable. Don’t have the conferences assign officials. Have officials work across the NCAA like they do in basketball. Because the money involved makes it too tempting for conferences to rig game in favor of their top teams.

The redesignation of the Parkway West and the Beaver Valley Expressway as being a continuation of the Parkway East’s I-376 has been officially completed. The collection of freeways north and west of Pittsburgh from the Ft. Pitt Bridge to Mercer County will now bear that simplified designation, rather than at various places being I-279/US 22-30, US 22-30, and Rt 60:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011377-455.stm

For a group of Republican lawmakers, the answer was to attend radical nutcase Michelle Bachman’s Tea Party rather than try to mold Patriot Act reauthorization to their liking:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/patriot_games_gop_reps_pick_tea_party_rally_over_n.php

Of course red-meat serving rallies make better theater than boring committee votes.

Signs seem to be pointing towards the Steelers holding safety Ryan Clark out of this coming Monday Night’s game at Denver:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10277078/Rare-blood-condition-likely-to-keep-Steelers-S-out

I fervently hope he doesn’t play. This one game isn’t worth his health and his wife. It wouldn’t be worth if it were the AFC Championship Game and certainly isn’t worth a November regular season game. Tomlin should simply deactivate him for this game plain and simple end of discussion. Shut him down and tell him see you next week.

All local affiliates will show a Fox game in the 1pm window. Pittsburgh and Youngstown will carry Arizona @ Chicago with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman while Wheeling will show Washington @ Atlanta with Kenny Albert, Moose, and Goose. At 1pm all local CBS affiliates will show Baltimore @ Cincinnati with Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts. At 4:15pm all local CBS affiliates, along with the vast majority of the country, will show San Diego @ NY Giants Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Of course the NFL Red Zone Channel will do its usual continuous whip around the league commercial free all afternoon. The Sunday Night game on NBC is Dallas @ Philadelphia with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and the Monday Night game on ESPN is Pittsburgh @ Denver with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden. As usual this info courtesy of the506.com and subject to change. Enjoy the games!

The ESPN/ESPN2 schedule is slightly thinner due to Breeder’s Cup coverage. As a result Pam Ward & Ray Bentley will be on one of the regional ABC 3:30 games and the Big Ten Network has four different games at noon, something that usually only happens during non-conference play in September. Anyhow, this info courtesy as usual of awful announcing:

Thursday, November 5th

Virginia Tech @ East Carolina (ESPN, 7:30pm)- Rece Davis, Mark May, Lou Holtz, Tod Harris
Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois (ESPNU, 7:30pm)- Charlie Neal, Jay Walker

Friday, November 6th

Boise State @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN2, 8pm)- Dave Lamont, Rod Gilmore

Saturday, November 7th

Northwestern @ Iowa (ESPN, Noon)- Dave Pasch, Bob Griese, Chris Spielman
Central Florida @ Texas (FSN, Noon)- Bill Land, Gary Reasons, Emily Jones (Will Air on FS Arizona, Detroit+, Florida, Midwest, North, Ohio, South, Southwest, West; FSN Northwest, Rocky Mountain; CSN Bay Area, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington; MSG+; FCS Central)
Syracuse @ Pittsburgh (ESPNU, Noon)- Clay Matvick, David Diaz-Infante
Wisconsin @ Indiana (BTN, Noon)- Craig Coshun, Glen Mason, Mike Hall
Illinois @ Minnesota (BTN, Noon)- Matt Rosen, Ron Johnson, Ron Johnson
Western Michigan @ Michigan State (BTN, Noon)- Ari Wolfe, Rod Woodson, Kenny Jackson
Purdue @ Michigan (BTN, Noon)- Wayne Larrivee, Chris Martin, Charissa Thompson
South Carolina @ Arkansas (SEC Network, Noon)- Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano (Will Air on MSG, FS Detroit, CSN California)
Louisville @ West Virginia (Big East Network, Noon)- Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Quint Kessenich (Altitude, CST, MASN, SNY)
Virginia @ Miami (Raycom, Noon)- Steve Martin, Rick Walker, Mike Hogewood
Kansas @ Kansas State (Verus, 12:30pm)- Ron Thulin, Kelly Stouffer, Lewis Johnson
Tennessee Tech @ Georgia (CSS PPV, 1pm)- Matt Stewart, Buck Belue, Sandra Golden
Eastern Kentucky @ Kentucky (Big Blue PPV, 1pm)- Rob Bromley, Tim Couch, Dick Gabriel
Maryland @ North Carolina State (ESPN360, 1pm)- Ryan Rose, Danny Kanell
Texas A&M @ Colorado (FCS Central, 1:30pm)- Dan McLaughlin, Yogi Roth, Samantha Steele
Furman @ Auburn (CSS PPV, 1:30pm)- Andy Burcham, Cole Cubelic, Melissa Lee
Brigham Young @ Wyoming (MTN, 2pm)- James Bates, Todd Christensen, Andrea Lloyd
Navy @ Notre Dame (NBC, 2:30pm)- Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Alex Flanagan
Rice @ Southern Methodist (Mustang Sports, 3:30pm)- Brad Sham, Allen Stone
Louisiana State @ Alabama (CBS, 3:30pm)- Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson
Ohio State @ Penn State (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30pm)- Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Holly Rowe
Oklahoma State @ Iowa State (ABC, 3:30pm)- Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese
Wake Forest @ Georgia Tech (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30pm)- Pam Ward, Ray Bentley
Oregon @ Stanford (FSN, 3:30pm)- Barry Tompkins, Petros Papadakis, Rebecca Haarlow (Will Air on FS Arizona, Detroit+, Florida, Midwest, North, Ohio, Southwest, West; FSN Northwest, Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain; CSN Bay Area, Chicago, New England, Washington+; MSG)
Duke @ North Carolina (ESPNU, 3:30pm)- Todd Harris, Charles Arbuckle
Army @ Air Force (CBS College Sports, 3:30pm)- Dave Ryan, Jason Sehorn
Washington State @ Arizona (FCS Pacific, 3:30pm)- Dave Sitton, John Fina, Glenn Howell
Washington @ UCLA (FS Regional, 3:30pm)- Bill MacDonald, James Washington, Brooke Olzendam, Courtney Jones (Will Air on FSN Northwest; Prime Ticket, FCS Pacific)
Louisiana-Lafayette @ Arkansas State (Sun Belt TV, 3:30pm)- Todd Kalas, Derek Rackley (Will Air on CSS, CST)
Texas-El Paso @ Tulane (ISP Sports, 3:30pm)- Sam Smith, Roger Schultz (Will Air on FCS Atlantic)
Texas Christian @ San Diego State (Versus, 4pm)- Tim Neverett, Glenn Parker, Lindsay Soto
New Mexico @ Utah (MTN, 4pm)- Dan Gutowsky, Blaine Fowler, Sammy Linebaugh
Oregon State @ California (FSN, 7pm)- Steve Physioc, Mike Pawlawski, Drea Avent (Will Air on FS Arizona, Detroit+, FS Florida, Midwest, South, West, Wisconsin; FSN Northwest, Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain; CSN Bay Area, Chicago, Washington+; SUN; FCS Pacific)
Memphis @ Tennessee (ESPNU, 7pm)- Eric Collins, Brock Huard
Vanderbilt @ Florida (ESPN2, 7:15pm)- Mark Jones, Bob Davie
Houston @ Tulsa (CBS College Sports, 7:30pm)- Tom Hart, Aaron Taylor
Northern Arizona @ Mississippi (SEC Network, 7:30pm)- Bob Rathun, Dave Archer, Jenn Hildreth (Will Air on CSS, CST, Comcast Network)
Florida State @ Clemson (ESPN, 7:45pm)- Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Erin Andrews
USC @ Arizona State (ABC, 8pm)- Mike Patrick, Craig James, Heather Cox
Connecticut @ Cincinnati (ABC, 8pm)- Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Lisa Salters
Oklahoma @ Nebraska (ABC, 8pm)- Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham
Colorado State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (MTN, 8pm)- Bill Doleman, Robert Griffith, Molly Sullivan
Utah State @ Hawaii (Oceanic PPV, 10pm)- Jim Leahey, Russell Yamaoha
Fresno State @ Idaho (ESPNU, 10:30pm)- Charlie Neal, JC Pearson

Sunday, November 8th

Nevada @ San Jose State (ESPN, 8pm)- Terry Gannon, David Norrie