Sports on Monday (Week 9) wants to remind you that there are only 155 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training!

Meanwhile, and with the surprising conclusion of the baseball season in mind, here are a few things that are freakin' unbelievable in the sports world right now.

1. The Florida Marlins are World Champions (obvious choice).
2. 23 year old (my age) Josh Beckett pitching a complete game shut-out on three days' rest in Yankee Stadium to win it all.
3.Going into this weekend's Bedlam matchup, No.1 ranked Oklahoma and No.15 Oklahoma State are a combined 15-1, and the Big XII South title is possibly on the line.
4.The Cardinals and the Bengals both won this week. (The Cardinals, I might add, on former-Sooner Tim Duncan's game winning field goal.)

There are, as ESPN.com and other sports news outlets that are even half trying will tell you, a number of big matchups in college football this weekend. With Virginia Tech-Miami no longer a battle of unbeatens (you would think Tech might have watched some Miami-West Virginia game tape, but I guess not), it is my humble and admittedly very biased opinion that OU-OSU is the game to watch this weekend. Unfortunately, I will likely not be watching it, as ABC is dooming the northeast to the battle of pathetic offenses that is Ohio State-Penn State. Still, this game is BIG. Bedlam (this is what OU-OSU matchups in any sport have been called for about 50 years, for reasons that have never been confirmed) is always a big deal in Oklahoma, and though OU has a historical dominance in the football series, recent unfortunate history in Sooner Nation leaves us three years removed from our last triumph over the Cowpokes and 3-5 in the last 8 years. In fact, OSU has a history of playing OU tighter the higher OU's national ranking is. But this is the first time anyone can remember that both teams were ranked and in position for some major postseason play. The winner of this game will hold first place in the Big XII South; this could potentially translate into a Big XII Championship and a BCS birth. This could also make or break OU's national championship bids, although since OSU is much better than last season, a loss wouldn't kill us as bad as a loss to any of our remaining opponents would. And if Miami somehow loses to Virginia Tech, than the field is wide open once again.

But of course the most important thing at stake in a Bedlam game is bragging rights. Oklahoma has no professional sports teams, so this is as big a sporting event as possible in the state. The coaches and players usually stay out of it, but the fans can be downright vicious. As the sole OU fan in my OSU loving family (my parents, a cousin, several second cousins, a grandfather, and my baby brother all attend/have attended OSU) I have had to endure a lot on family holidays the last two years. And unlike other sports, such as basketball, where the teams play two or more times over the course of a season and can split the series, football is a one chance a year thing. Part of me is glad not to be in the middle of all that craziness right now. But part of me really, really wishes I could be in Norman this weekend.

I have work to do so I'm not going to do the formal scores thing this weekend. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Tulsa all won, and the Jets lost. That's all you need to know.
Sports on Monday Team of the Week:
The Florida Marlins, duh. It's a big cliche, but I think this was one instance of a team believing in themselves when no one else would.