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10.17.2013 Daily Bears Report: Week 8 Viewing Guide, Reviewing The System, and Baylor Prepares for Iowa State

Thursday has come again, meaning you are all to be subjected to my bungling today of the Daily Bears Report. I promise that anyone upset with how things go gets a full refund!

By Aqua
Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Last night, Peter and Prashanth recorded Episode 11 of OurDailyPodcast with the man himself, Spencer Hall, of SB Nation and EDSBS fame.  I was scheduled to be on with them, and I had no greater ambition yesterday than to do so, then I ended up spending about 8 hours in the hospital with my wife.  She's better now, but I missed the podcast, which recorded in my absence and will go up (hopefully) later today.  I apologize now to everyone that I didn't get the opportunity to disappoint once again with my performance on the ODP.

One good thing came out of yesterday-- Sitting in the hospital gave me time I haven't had recently to finish the book I received some weeks ago about college football: The System, by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian.  I skimmed it when I first received it out of fear of what I might find, considering the book billed itself as an inside look at the big-time world of college football, and the guy who contacted me about it initially said Baylor played a big role.  I found almost immediately that Baylor does not play a big role, so with that concern allayed, I put the book aside until yesterday.

I am not a literary critic, so I'll keep my thoughts relatively short: Despite the relative lack of anything Baylor, I greatly enjoyed this book on almost every level.  The authors obviously spent an incredible amount of time researching the subject matter, interviewing players, coaches, administrators, and even officials from the NCAA, and their dedication to even-handedness is evident.  They wanted to show college football as it is without falling into the Serbonian Bog of anti-amateurism or a discussion of football's place in American society.  Those things come up, especially within the context of the economics of college athletics, but I felt like they were much more concerned with detailing how things are rather than why.  Why is a much trickier subject, and one more likely to be tarnished by bias.  All in all, I found myself hoping as I got to the last few pages that the stories would continue, that they would bring in new programs and talk about them the same way.  The book left me wanting so much more in a good way, which is about all you can ask.

Now to the news!!!

Shotgun format again today because I'm already late with this.  First, a smattering of links from around SB Nation.  Then, Baylor and the Big 12.

THE CFB NATION AT LARGE

Easy Call: Week 8 college football spread picks and lobster rolls - SBNation.com
Dan Rubenstein breaks down and picks college football's five biggest games -- Florida State/Clemson, UCLA/Stanford, Auburn/Texas A&M, Florida/Missouri, and USC/Notre Dame. He does this all while evaluating superior seafood sandwiches.

Is Florida State-Clemson the biggest ACC game ever? Here are the top 10 others - SBNation.com
Could Saturday's showdown between the Seminoles and the Tigers top the best conference games in ACC history?

What's good and bad about the College Football Playoff selection committee - SBNation.com
We know it's not perfect, but here's what those behind the new college playoff system got right and wrong.

The Florida State-Clemson elimination game: Rattling Jameis Winston is the key - SBNation.com
Florida State holds most of the statistical advantages against Clemson, even when you account for strength of schedule. But Clemson's aggressive defense could make life hell in the pocket for FSU quarterback Jameis Winston.

The Jadeveon Clowney question will be answered in Tennessee rematch - SBNation.com
Saturday, Part II of Jadeveon Clowney vs. Antonio Richardson (and the rest of the Vols' very good offensive line) will likely give the potential No. 1 NFL Draft pick the biggest challenge of his final season.

The Fleming System: The Human Element of Computer Polls
The Game Outcome Measure (GOM) is the central metric used by my rating program to determine how much better the winning team is than the losing team in a s

2013 Oregon Black and Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Uniform
Check out this Oregon Ducks uniform for the 2013 season. Our community of Uniform Critics gave it a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars. View more photos and submit your own rating for it on our website.

College Football Playoff results won't be perfect
Rarely will there be a right answer, but beginning in 2014, there will have to be one answer.

BAYLOR AND THE BIG 12

2013 Game VI: Iowa State vs Baylor Preview - Wide Right & Natty Lite
Saturday night's game in Waco marks the halfway point of the 2013 season and the intersection of two programs once in the cellar together but now in very different places.

Big 12 living up to its predicted unpredictability
The Big 12 is living up to its preseason prediction of being unpredictable at midseason.

Big 12 predictions: Week 8 - ESPN
Last week, Tyler, the K-State fan from California who is getting married this weekend, flaked out on being the guest picker. Or so I thought. I assu

What to watch in the Big 12 in Week 8 - ESPN
Baylor seeks to reach 6-0 while Oklahoma looks to bounce back big; TCU and Oklahoma State fight for their Big 12 title hopes, and we’ve got a ba

No. 12 Baylor knew it needed to be challenged | College Football
WACO, Texas (AP) — After scoring all those points in four lopsided games to start the season, Antwan Goodley and the 12th-ranked Baylor Bears knew

Big 12 storylines: Week 8
K-State showed last week how to slow down Baylor. Did Iowa State take notes?

Big 12 predictions: Week 8
Texas beating the Sooners caught everyone off guard last week. Will there be any surprises in Week 8?

That was fun.

STUFF FROM THE TWITTERVERSE:

A LITTLE BASKETBALL JUST HIT YOU RIGHT IN YOUR FACE. A little more...

Finally, I'm still very curious about this from a few days ago...

Very interesting, Jeff.  Very interesting.

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