Honestly, it looks like a pretty boring weekend. We have zero top 25 match-ups. Still, there may be some compelling football! We can hope!
Let's look at some interesting longshots, shall we?
#4 Notre Dame vs #59 USC: I want to tell you a story about this game. It's a bit long, and I don't know how well it translates to print, but what the heck.
In 1986 I was a junior at Mater Dei high school (yes, that Mater Dei). This was 2 years before Rollinson took over, but he was already a teacher there. He was also a running back at USC, though he only played during the 1969 season and not much at that. Still, he was and is a huge USC fan. Anyway, on the Friday before the ND-USC game he regaled us with stories of the rivalry, and of traveling to South Bend and sitting in the visitor locker-room while the early crowd chanted "Gooooo Irish...beeeeaaat Trojans" over and over and it echoed throughout the stadium. Needless to say we didn't get much work done that day.
On Saturday, 1st year HC Lou Holtz led his team back from a 37-20 4th quarter deficit (with the help of some questionable officiating) to win 38-37 on a last second field goal.
You can imagine Coach's demeanor on Monday morning. We were instructed to stick our noses in our books and that was that. He looked ready to explode, and I just could not help myself. After everyone had settled down and gotten quiet, I chanted "Gooooo Irish.." and to my everlasting delight, the rest of the class responded with "...beeeeaaat Trojans." I thought Rollo was going to have an aneurysm.
That's my ND-USC story. Hope you got a chuckle.
#14 Air Force vs #44 SDSU: Funny to me how the voters have this one reversed. AF has better 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level points, and while neither team has run the gauntlet, AF definitely has the better SoS.
#18 Pitt vs #31 Clemson: I keep waiting for Swinney to figure out how to make DJ successful. The kid has the arm and the smarts, so what's happening over there? this is an important game for both teams; I think the reasons are obvious.
#12 Ole Miss vs #34 LSU: Not to be one of "those guys," but Coach O has been a bit of a disappointment outside of the Burrow era. That said, he and Kiffin have a history together and it could be an interesting game.
#3 Michigan vs #80 Northwestern: Fitz is having a tough year, no question. 3-3 against the 107th ranked SoS is not good. UM, on the other hand, has beaten everyone they should even though they've struggled in the 2nd half. That's pretty typical for Harbaugh, though. The real question is: which Northwestern shows up?
#67 Iowa State vs #2 Oklahoma State: I keep saying it. The Cyclones play up and down to their competition. Hall will need a monster game to help them beat the Cowboys. This is my top upset watch.
#33 UCLA vs #26 Oregon: Another of those "which team shows up" games. Will we see the Bruins who beat LSU like my mom beat me when I mouthed off? Or will we see the UCLA that laid that turd against Arizona State? Oregon has looked pedestrian, even when they beat OSU week 2. Kelly vs Cristobal could be the first CFB game to have an over/under closer to 200 than 100 (kidding - I think it's about 60 right now, but that feels low).
Anyway, I hope we all have a great and safe weekend!
Ray
No comments:
Post a Comment