Games that don't matter, T.O., and a chin job

BIGTIME SPORTS by DAN LUTMAN

Welcome to the first installment of Bigtime Sports. Each week, Dan will cover Buffalo sports, the week's top national story, and throw in his three opinions on anything going on in the sports world that he hasn’t discussed.

BUFFALO BEAT
The two Buffalo sports teams are on the opposite sides of the spectrum right now and seem to be poised to stay that way for a while.
The Sabres, despite just their second loss in regulation on the season, a 4-2 defeat at home to the Ottawa Senators hold the best record in the NHL at 15-2-1. They achieved this despite the absences of top goaltender Ryan Miller and key players Maxim Afinagenov, Tim Connolly, and Henrik Tallinder. The Sabres will have their chance to bounce back Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home and have their chance for payback in Ottawa Saturday against the division rival Senators.
The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, sit at a dismal 3-5 and head to Houston this week to face the lowly, injury-plagued Houston Texans. They also sit at 3-5, but have played well as of late.
This game is merely a game, which may lead to a jockeying of draft position in next year’s NFL draft. The lone story for Bills fans in this one is that it will be the first time Buffalo will go up against former Bill Eric Moulds. The 11-year veteran is second in receiving for the Texans with 34 catches for 363 yards and one touchdown. That’s well below his career averages despite playing with a multitude of inept quarterbacks over his career.

TOP STORY
The top story in sports this week is the biggest rivalry in college football. Hated rivals Ohio State and Michigan meet in each team’s season finale at “The Horshoe” on the campus of Ohio State with plenty at stake. Anyone from these two schools would say this is the biggest game of the year regardless of records and standings, but throw in a Big Ten Championship, a berth in the National Championship game, bragging rights, and the chance to knock your hated rival out of the National Championship (most likely), and you have one hell of a match.
As excited as I am to watch this game, I’ve had just about enough about hearing about it. Every sports television program and radio program you turn on is just beating this game into the ground. It makes me miss hearing about Terrell Owens, Barry Bonds, and steroids scandals.
Of course, I just wrote about it so I guess that kind of makes me a hypocrite. Oh well. I had to join in. My prediction: Ohio State over Michigan, 27-17.

DAN'S THREE CENTS
1. Can we leave Bobby Knight alone, please? The world is ready to execute him like he just committed a double homicide. He tried to lift Texas Tech player Michael Prince’s chin to get him to look at him. Could he have done it a different way? Yes. But, if the player didn’t care, the school didn’t care, and his parents didn’t care, then we shouldn’t care. Let it go everyone!
2. Terrell Owens came out with a children’s book recently titled, “Little T Learns to Share”. Obviously, this must be fiction.
3. It’s good to have college basketball back. Now I can finally put the NBA on the shelf until April, just in time for the NBA Playoffs. The parity of the NCAA teams should make it an interesting year as witnessed by last year’s surprising championship by the youthful Florida Gators. My preseason prediction for this year’s Final Four: North Carolina, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Texas A&M.