These are the names of Nigeria's kidnapped girls -- Feministing "Thanks to the tireless efforts of activists — on the ground and on social media — the world finally seems to be caring about Nigeria’s kidnapped girls. That this case has belatedly started getting the attention it deserves is likely due in part of the horror of so many young people taken at one time. As many as 276 girls have been abducted — unbelievably, just last night, in the midst of growing international pressure to #bringbackourgirls, eight more were taken. But though the stark numbers are powerful, it’s important to remember that each of these girls is an individual, with a family, friends, dreams — and a name." Stanford to Purge $18 Billion Endowment of Coal Stock -- New York Times "The trustees’ decision carries more symbolic than financial weight, but it is a major victory for a rapidly growing student-led divestment movement that is now active at roughly 300 universities. At leas...

That's right, ladies in gentlemen, it's the second MOOOST WONDERFUL WEEEEEK OF THE YEEEAR! (next to Bowl Week, which is slowly approaching) So, let's not waste any time! Last Week Overall: 2-3 Upsets: 1-3 Season Overall: 51-19 Upsets: 11-10 12:00pm -- #2 Florida State @ Florida -- ESPN This is easily my favorite season in Gator history. And it's not getting any better today. FSU is favored by 28.5 and I would take them with the spread in a heartbeat. If they don't hang at least half a hundred on the Gators, the Buckeyes should play for the national title. Hobbitcore sez: Florida State 12:00pm -- #3 Ohio State @ Michigan -- ABC On paper, this one looks like a blowout too but I'm not sure the Buckeyes are the world-beaters everyone thinks they are and the Big House is always rocking for the biggest game of the year. This one could be closer than the experts think, at least for a while. I'm not ready to wake up the Upset Hobbit but he did...

So, inevitably there comes a day when you just look stupid. For me, that day happened twice: last Thursday and last Saturday. It's funny because I used to take a lot more risks. A few years ago I probably would have picked Baylor and Stanford. Maybe I need to do some soul-searching and start taking more risks on this thing. Let's see what happens... Last Week Overall: 1-3 Upsets: N/A Season Overall: 47-14 Upsets: 9-6 3:30pm -- #25 Georgia @ #7 Auburn -- CBS (UPSET ALERT) The Upset Hobbit seems convinced that this will be a better game than it might seem with Georgia slowly returning to full strength. The key, obviously, will be Georgia's ability to defend Auburn's running game but there are other things to watch for as well. Upset Hobbit will be looking to see who makes the most mistakes, specifically who turns the ball over. A big part of the success of Auburn's running game is their ability to make big plays downfield when the defense starts to cr...

So I've really been trying to avoid covering Thursday games this year because, frankly, as you've seen, it's hard enough to get this thing done by Saturday morning. This week, however, it was unavoidable as the two biggest games of the week are BOTH Thursday night games--one of them a matchup of two top ten teams and the other a meeting of two top five teams. Not including these would kinda defeat the purpose of this column so I'm coming at you early this week because I love you all and want you to be happy (or something). ALSO THIS WEEK: I will be tweeting LIVE from the Miami/Virginia Tech game at Sun Life Stadium Last Week Overall: 4-0 Upsets: 0-1 Season Overall: 46-11 Upsets: 9-6 THURSDAY 7:30pm -- #10 Oklahoma @ #6 Baylor -- FOX SPORTS 1 Baylor has been mighty impressive so far this year, averaging nearly 64 points PER GAME. But they still have yet to play a team with anything resembling a pulse and will now spend the next five weeks in the states ...

Well.  August is finally here.  And you know what that means: FOOTBALL!!! Today the 2013 Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll was released and with it, five months plus of punditry, speculation, and analysis BEGINS!  Hobbitcore is SO EXCITED!  Let's dive right in and discuss everything right and everything wrong with our first poll of the season... 1. Alabama (58) -Well.  Yeah.  Remember last year when Alabama was in a "rebuilding" year?  Well now all those young guys on defense are a year older, QB A.J. McCarron is a savvy Senior gunslinger, two thousand-yard rushers return in Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon as well as a thousand-yard receiver in Amari Cooper.  Two of the Tide's three toughest games come off of two-week layoffs (@ Texas A&M, vs. LSU) and the SEC championship may end up being a repeat of last year's de facto national championship game that turned into an instant classic between #2 Alabama and #3 Georgia. 2. O...

Well, I took a week off this week because A. it was sort of an unspectacular week of games and B. I didn't feel like it, so in addition to the top 25, I'll do my Heisman ballot and BCS predictions in this post... 1. Auburn Why They Should Be #1: It's almost a toss-up between the top three teams in the country. Bottom line is, Auburn has the best resumé in the country right now. Two terrific comeback wins over South Carolina and Clemson, an impressive shootout win over Arkansas, and the Mississippi State win on the road suddenly looks a lot more impressive. Cameron Newton has officially supplanted Denard Robinson as the most exciting player to watch in college football as well as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. Why the Ranking Should Be Lower: The defense has struggled immensely in pass defense and is ranked 63rd in the country in scoring defense which is an outright abomination at Auburn, especially considering the talent they have on defense this (and every) ...