College football needs nothing more than another BCS buster to crash the party this year and create more havoc and hand-wringing for the BCS officials come January.
[caption id="attachment_30633" align="alignleft" width="203" caption="Junior Sanam Singh captured the A-2 singles title at the Plus One Invitational with a straight set victory against Tennessee freshman Rhyne Williams.
The National Hockey League regular season begins with a doubleheader Thursday ... Still reading? Even if you don't like hockey, this column is - hopefully - an interesting read because the NHL had some offseason storylines that any sport would find interesting: rising star punches cabbie, superstar gets traded to title contender, wunderkind heads to Long Island and stuff like that. I consulted my trusted NHL advisers, Andy Roos and Mike Bukantz, both fellow fourth-year students at the University, and together we came up with the following list of players and teams to watch this season, as well as the requisite preview article picks. Offseason News in Chicago and San Jose The Chicago Blackhawks are loaded with star-caliber players, including 21-year-old captain Jonathan Toews, recently-signed Marian Hossa and Brian Campbell.
[caption id="attachment_30630" align="alignleft" width="231" caption="Sophomore Greg Monaco is part of stalwart Cavalier defense that has given up only four goals in seven games this season, three of which were shutouts.
[caption id="attachment_30628" align="alignleft" width="181" caption="Now in his second season as Virginia's coach, Lee Maes has always encouraged his players to follow three basic rules: continually strive to improve, treat each opponent the same regardless of ranking and always stay in the present.
[caption id="attachment_30625" align="alignleft" width="243" caption="Virginia swim coach Mark Bernardino has led the men's and women's squads to 19 conference titles combined during his 31 years at the helm.
[caption id="attachment_30607" align="alignleft" width="219" caption="Midfielder Jimmy Simpson saw scoring chances against Clemson, but failed to convert as Virginia fell.
[caption id="attachment_30604" align="alignleft" width="211" caption="Virginia coach George Gelnovatch has led the Cavaliers to the NCAAs in all 13 of his years at the helm, extending Virginia's streak to 27 straight.
[caption id="attachment_30602" align="alignleft" width="261" caption="Sophomore midfielder Inga St
[caption id="attachment_30600" align="alignleft" width="298" caption="Senior midfielder Jess Rostedt scored the Cavaliers' backbreaking second goal against Clemson in Sunday's victory at home, Virginia's first ACC win.
[caption id="attachment_30558" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Virginia senior Michael Shabaz will team with No.
[caption id="attachment_30555" align="alignleft" width="218" caption="Sophomore midfielder Paige Selenski, who has started all eight games this season, leads the team in shots and points.
Though I'm sure you've all been absorbed in the Kasparov-Karpov chess rematch in Spain these past few days, I'd like to talk about a less-followed sport: primetime football. It's rare that any Dallas game lives up to the hype that surrounds it, but the Cowboys-Giants game was a fast-paced thriller.
[caption id="attachment_30552" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Senior forward Chase Neinken, who has appeared in five games, has taken four shots but has no goals.
Jack Bird, Dan Stalcup and Nick Eilerson break down the football program's ailments at Scott Stadium and look to the future - not to mention a much more successful Virginia men's soccer team...
[caption id="attachment_30507" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Senior outside hitter Tara Hester has seen playing time in 19 sets so far this season.
[caption id="attachment_30504" align="alignleft" width="211" caption="Sophomore Chantel Jones is fourth in the ACC in both goals against average and save percentage.
For University students, midterms are about two weeks away. But Virginia athletics run on a different schedule, with the fall season starting a couple weeks before the academic semester starts, and ending a couple weeks before the academic semester ends. So, I find this an ideal time to give each of the fall sports midterm grades.
[caption id="attachment_30501" align="alignleft" width="184" caption="Senior guard Monica Wright has piled up preseason honors.
