This looks like the least compelling week of the season to me. GameDay is going to be at… Wait for it… Oregon-Arizona State!
Let’s talk about some of the games that you’ll be watching, as well as why we should tune in.
I’m going to go way off the radar with a Thursday night game, San Diego State at Air Force.
It’s not exactly fair to call these teams disappointments. The Aztecs (3-2 overall, 0-1 MWC) have lost to TCU and Michigan this year. Air Force (3-2 overall, 0-1 MWC) has fallen to TCU and Notre Dame.
On the other hand, plenty of pundits were touting these two teams as potential BCS busters this season, and both have hit rough patches. SDSU’s supposedly explosive offensive is sputtering, scoring 7 points versus Michigan and 14 against TCU. Coach Rocky Long benched star running back Ronnie Hillman in the second half last week versus the Horned Frogs. He’s also answering questions about talented quarterback Ryan Lindley’s frame of mind.
On the other side, the Falcons are having problems stopping people. They’re surrendering an average of 34.4 points per game, including 59 to Notre Dame and 35 to TCU.
These Mountain West games can get pretty crazy. Plus, you get to watch Air Force run the triple option. Sounds like a nice Thursday night distraction to me.
Aaron Torres: I would say the most intriguing to me has to be Baylor-Texas A&M.
On the surface, it seems like it’ll be just another goofy shootout between two decent, but not great, teams. Personally, I’m not so sure.
The simple truth is that we know Texas A&M has talent, and for the crap the Aggies have taken the last few weeks, they do still only have one loss in Big XII play. They could really put a wrinkle into the conference title chase, but it won’t happen if they don’t win Saturday. This is also the first time they’ve been back to Kyle Field since the debacle against Oklahoma State, so in theory, they should be pumped. And for as close of a win that we saw against Texas Tech, it was still a win.
Was that Tech game a turning point to getting on track, or just the Aggies escaping against a lousy team?
We don’t know right now. But if it was the former and not the latter, A&M is still very dangerous.
Tom Perry: It never fails, you always get one of these so-so weekends of college football. Why? Well, teams like Ohio State end up sucking so you can’t find any good match-ups.
But if you look deep enough you can find some potential in every weekend.
I’m going to start with all of the potential new Big East teams. That’s pretty much every team but Marshall and East Carolina (for some reason the Big East just won’t show the Pirates any love).
Michigan at Michigan State is very intriguing. For about three to four years now, Sparty has enjoyed rubbing in their wins over the Wolverines. That may come back to haunt them this year.
Another game I have some interest in watching is Florida at Auburn. Both teams are sort of reeling right now and they each have a chance to reclaim their season. The loser may go into a serious tailspin.
Aaron Torres: Wow, OK, I just gave this weekend’s slate a better look, and my God, Allen was right: It is wretched. The 3:30 slate alone might be enough for me to consider wandering into traffic.
So really, when evaluating these games, it’s not what’s “the best” game, per se, but whether or not you can find an interesting angle on it. I already mentioned Texas A&M and Baylor, and as Allen said, San Diego State and Air Force is intriguing as well. And here’s another for you: Indiana at Wisconsin.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: Aaron, you were away from football for one week, and you clearly lost your mind. And to a degree, you’re probably right (although the dozens of drinks I consumed over the weekend probably didn’t help either). However, why I find this game interesting is not under the guise of “whether Wisconsin will win,” but how the Badgers do it. As the college football season continues to take shape, style points are going to matter more and more, especially as the top teams in the top conferences continue to win. I think most seem to assume that the SEC champ will be undefeated, and quite honestly, I expect the Big XII champ to likely be as well.
Enter Wisconsin. Looking at the schedule, it’s not totally infeasible that the Badgers get tripped somewhere along the way, but given what we’ve seen from them and what we’ve seen from everyone else, going undefeated is totally conceivable too. Ohio State is a trainwreck. (An improving trainwreck, yes, but a trainwreck none the less.) Penn State’s quarterback situation is still unsettled halfway through the year. Purdue and Minnesota are so bad that if they got kicked out of the Big Ten, even the Big East wouldn’t consider adding them. Michigan State or Illinois could beat the Badgers, but even at home would still need their best game of the season.
But even if Wisconsin were to run the table and go undefeated, it still might not be enough given the situations in the SEC and Big Ten. That’s of course why “how you win” is so important. As we saw last year from Bret Bielema, he’s not afraid to run up the score, and if anything he gets a sick, Steve-Spurrier-in-the-mid-90s kind of thrill out of it. The best example last year was against this same Indiana team in Bloomington, when Wisconsin put up 83 on the Hoosiers. Yes, you read that correctly, 83 points. In a regulation college football game.
Well, arguably, this year’s Wisconsin team is better, this year’s Indiana team is worse and the game is at Camp Randall.
Forget “half a hundred.” Can Wisconsin just put up a flat 100?
Matt Yoder: There are a few interesting games this week, but the one that most interests me is Michigan-Michigan State. Michigan finally faces a top 25 team and it’s time to find out if this team is for reals. Take a look at the Wolverines’ wins so far: Western Michigan, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, San Diego State, Minnesota and at Northwestern.
Too bad there were no more directional schools in Michigan to face that play Division-I football. Five home games against five not so great teams and a road win at a disappointing Northwestern team belies the Wolverines’ No. 11 ranking.
Make no mistake about the importance of this game. Michigan State always gets up for Michigan because of the inherent little brother syndrome. Michigan State comes off a bye with an extra week to prepare as well. Add on the Legends division implications (shudders) with Nebraska struggling a bit, and this game takes on even more meaning. A win here by Sparty may catapult them to a B1G title game appearance and send Michigan’s season towards another downward spiral.
Michael Felder: Call me nuts, but I’m looking forward to Oregon hosting Arizona State this weekend.
The Sun Devils have run the football pretty well, and while I think the Ducks handle Dennis Erickson’s squad this weekend, I do like the idea of this game being a preview of the Pac-12 title game.
As for “off the radar” games, I’m going to go with Ohio State at Illinois and Virginia Tech at Wake Forest. The Buckeyes have so many issues on offense that their stout defense has gone largely unnoticed.
Illinois brings a legit scoring squad into the contest and it will be interesting to see if Paul Petrino’s unit can put the pressure on the Fighting Fickells to score the football.
As for VT, the Hokies found a way against Miami last weekend, while Wake Forest upset Florida State in Winston-Salem.
The Hokies offense improved from a poor showing against Clemson, but the team’s defense will have to come to play against Wake Forest and the Demon Deacons’ emerging star Tanner Price.
Still better than every weekend from mid-January until the end of August, no?
Tom Perry: Michael, you have never spoken truer words.
