Half way through the season and still a lot of questions to answer in the college football world.
Is Texas for real? Is Mike Gundy now an old man since he is 56 and losing games? Can Maryland come up with a uniform ugly enough to distract Ohio State from destroying their so far unbeaten season? Can Kentucky continue their dream season and can Virginia end their season-long nightmare? Oh, and how quickly will the real estate signs show up in Coach Matt Rhule’s yard if Nebraska loses again to a bad Illinois team?
Wednesday football is back, for those of you who were missing watching teams nobody cares about playing in half empty stadiums.
If you like bad football take your pick. Jacksonville State (4-1) has fattened up their record on lousy teams while Middle Tennessee (1-4) has only beaten a bad FCS team but did play Missouri and CSU close. The other game has Florida International (3-2) at New Mexico State (2-3) putting two teams with terrible schedules and worse talent together.
Thursday isn’t much better. Sam Houston (0-4) who has at least lost to some good teams goes to Liberty (4-0) who has beaten a bunch of nobodies.
Friday night doesn’t have any ranked teams but has some teams that are used to being ranked trying to save their seasons.
Kansas State (3-1) at Oklahoma State (2-2) has the Wildcats trying to stay in position to sneak back into the B12 title chase. Oklahoma State is not used to looking at a losing record this late in the season. Has Gundy lost his magic in Stillwater?
The Cornhuskers lost their magic a long time ago and Matt Rhule isn’t likely to find it in the next Runza sandwich he eats.
Nebraska (2-3) takes the Big Red Clown Show on the road to Illinois (2-3) with each team clinging to faint bowl hopes. Always fun to watch the corn fans file out of an away stadium on their way back to kicking manure piles in frustration again.
Saturday opens with a couple of huge games.
The giant game of the day, one of the nation’s storied rivalries is the Red River Rivalry, still better known by it’s pre-PC name the Red River Shootout.
For the first time in eleven years both teams come in undefeated, this is the last year the teams will be playing in the B12.
(12) Oklahoma and (3) Texas will each fill half the Cotton Bowl each will want to ruin the other’s season. This is a great game even when one of the teams isn’t ranked.
(4) Ohio State is a big favorite over visiting Maryland (5-0) but the Terps have been rolling against a so far weak schedule. Is this a potential upset which would make Maryland one of the year's big stories.
(23) LSU is still ranked with a 3-2 record because, well SEC, but a loss at (21) Missouri who is 5-0 against a less than impressive schedule would knock them out of the standings and get the fans very concerned. Solid bet that Tigers are going to win this one.
Those two games will insure that very few people are watching Virginia (0-5) with probably their best chance this year to avoid going winless against the neighbors Bill and Mary. William and Mary is FCS but are 4-1 this year. After this 4 of the remaining 6 games for Virginia are against ranked teams and the other two won’t be pushovers. The Cavaliers aren’t as bad as the Buffs were last year but may finish with a worse record.
After that kind of a start the rest of the day is bound to be a bit of a letdown but still there are some games worth watching.
Best mid-day game looks to be (11) Alabama (4-1) at Texas A&M (4-1) who would love to pull the upset and get back into the rankings. Bama isn’t used to being out of the top 10 but unless Sabin can solve some problems with his offense the Aggies have a good chance here.
Syracuse (4-1) failed to upset Clemson last week. This week they get another chance at (14) North Carolina.
Big game late in the day has (1) Georgia hosting (20) Kentucky. Georgia got a scare from Auburn last week while Kentucky easily handled Florida. If Georgia stumbles again Kentucky could get their biggest football win in decades.
(2) Michigan is at Minnesota (3-2). Some Gophers fans are grumbling about Coach PJ Fleck suggesting they would love to send him to Michigan State. He has had some big wins though so this one may not be as easy for the Wolverines as it looks.
(25) Louisville (5-0) just got themselves back into the rankings. A win over visiting (10) Notre Dame could move them up much higher. Notre Dame has struggled some on offense this year.
Garbage game of the week goes to Sad Jose State (1-4) at Boise State (2-3.) Watching games on that ugly blue turf is bad enough when the teams are good, these two aren’t.
Not sinking to the level of the garbage game but Baylor can’t sink much lower in terms of moral standards. This year the Bares (as in tear of the co-eds clothing before they can object) have managed to beat mighty LIU Brooklyn, a winless FCS team from New York and escape with a big comeback against UCF who went to sleep after leading 35-7 early in the 3rd quarter. This week Baylor (2-3) plays a team that should stay awake in Trailer Trash University, oops Texas Tech (2-3)
Blowout of the week will likely be Virginia Tech (2-3) at (5) Florida State (5-0) who gets a nationally televised game to show off their speed.
PAC 12 Games of note include (13) Washington State (4-0) trying to avoid the upset at UCLA (3-1,) and (15) Oregon State (4-1) at Cal (3-2.)
(9) USC (5-0) coming off a scare last week gets Arizona (3-2) at home.
In what could be the game of the season in the Mountain West (24) Fresno State (5-0) is at Laramie to play Wyoming (4-1) and are lucky enough to be there before the weather turns bad.
Somehow the Sheep could come out of this weekend with a better than .500 record. Colorado State (2-2) goes to Utah State (2-3.)
Air Force has their bye week.
Speaking of bye, Northern Colorado is off this week in their quest to go winless before getting back to the business of getting beaten up every week.
Local small colleges are well into the season as well as the conference is sorting itself out.
Both leaders are traveling this weekend
Western Colorado (3-0,5-0) is at South Dakota Mines (2-1, 3-2)
Colorado Mines (3-0,5-0) goes to Grand Junction to play Colorado Mesa (1-2, 2-3)
CSU Pueblo (1-2, 2-3) hosts surprising Adams State (2-1, 3-2)
And last but definitely least Fort Lewis (0-3, 0-5) coming off a close 85-7 loss at least doesn’t have to lose in front of their remaining friends and family on the road at Chadron State (0-3, 1-4.) Don’t know if this is homecoming weekend for Chadron but it should be since Fort Lewis is one of the few teams bad enough for them to look at as a comfortable win.
Is Texas for real? Is Mike Gundy now an old man since he is 56 and losing games? Can Maryland come up with a uniform ugly enough to distract Ohio State from destroying their so far unbeaten season? Can Kentucky continue their dream season and can Virginia end their season-long nightmare? Oh, and how quickly will the real estate signs show up in Coach Matt Rhule’s yard if Nebraska loses again to a bad Illinois team?
Wednesday football is back, for those of you who were missing watching teams nobody cares about playing in half empty stadiums.
If you like bad football take your pick. Jacksonville State (4-1) has fattened up their record on lousy teams while Middle Tennessee (1-4) has only beaten a bad FCS team but did play Missouri and CSU close. The other game has Florida International (3-2) at New Mexico State (2-3) putting two teams with terrible schedules and worse talent together.
Thursday isn’t much better. Sam Houston (0-4) who has at least lost to some good teams goes to Liberty (4-0) who has beaten a bunch of nobodies.
Friday night doesn’t have any ranked teams but has some teams that are used to being ranked trying to save their seasons.
Kansas State (3-1) at Oklahoma State (2-2) has the Wildcats trying to stay in position to sneak back into the B12 title chase. Oklahoma State is not used to looking at a losing record this late in the season. Has Gundy lost his magic in Stillwater?
The Cornhuskers lost their magic a long time ago and Matt Rhule isn’t likely to find it in the next Runza sandwich he eats.
Nebraska (2-3) takes the Big Red Clown Show on the road to Illinois (2-3) with each team clinging to faint bowl hopes. Always fun to watch the corn fans file out of an away stadium on their way back to kicking manure piles in frustration again.
Saturday opens with a couple of huge games.
The giant game of the day, one of the nation’s storied rivalries is the Red River Rivalry, still better known by it’s pre-PC name the Red River Shootout.
For the first time in eleven years both teams come in undefeated, this is the last year the teams will be playing in the B12.
(12) Oklahoma and (3) Texas will each fill half the Cotton Bowl each will want to ruin the other’s season. This is a great game even when one of the teams isn’t ranked.
(4) Ohio State is a big favorite over visiting Maryland (5-0) but the Terps have been rolling against a so far weak schedule. Is this a potential upset which would make Maryland one of the year's big stories.
(23) LSU is still ranked with a 3-2 record because, well SEC, but a loss at (21) Missouri who is 5-0 against a less than impressive schedule would knock them out of the standings and get the fans very concerned. Solid bet that Tigers are going to win this one.
Those two games will insure that very few people are watching Virginia (0-5) with probably their best chance this year to avoid going winless against the neighbors Bill and Mary. William and Mary is FCS but are 4-1 this year. After this 4 of the remaining 6 games for Virginia are against ranked teams and the other two won’t be pushovers. The Cavaliers aren’t as bad as the Buffs were last year but may finish with a worse record.
After that kind of a start the rest of the day is bound to be a bit of a letdown but still there are some games worth watching.
Best mid-day game looks to be (11) Alabama (4-1) at Texas A&M (4-1) who would love to pull the upset and get back into the rankings. Bama isn’t used to being out of the top 10 but unless Sabin can solve some problems with his offense the Aggies have a good chance here.
Syracuse (4-1) failed to upset Clemson last week. This week they get another chance at (14) North Carolina.
Big game late in the day has (1) Georgia hosting (20) Kentucky. Georgia got a scare from Auburn last week while Kentucky easily handled Florida. If Georgia stumbles again Kentucky could get their biggest football win in decades.
(2) Michigan is at Minnesota (3-2). Some Gophers fans are grumbling about Coach PJ Fleck suggesting they would love to send him to Michigan State. He has had some big wins though so this one may not be as easy for the Wolverines as it looks.
(25) Louisville (5-0) just got themselves back into the rankings. A win over visiting (10) Notre Dame could move them up much higher. Notre Dame has struggled some on offense this year.
Garbage game of the week goes to Sad Jose State (1-4) at Boise State (2-3.) Watching games on that ugly blue turf is bad enough when the teams are good, these two aren’t.
Not sinking to the level of the garbage game but Baylor can’t sink much lower in terms of moral standards. This year the Bares (as in tear of the co-eds clothing before they can object) have managed to beat mighty LIU Brooklyn, a winless FCS team from New York and escape with a big comeback against UCF who went to sleep after leading 35-7 early in the 3rd quarter. This week Baylor (2-3) plays a team that should stay awake in Trailer Trash University, oops Texas Tech (2-3)
Blowout of the week will likely be Virginia Tech (2-3) at (5) Florida State (5-0) who gets a nationally televised game to show off their speed.
PAC 12 Games of note include (13) Washington State (4-0) trying to avoid the upset at UCLA (3-1,) and (15) Oregon State (4-1) at Cal (3-2.)
(9) USC (5-0) coming off a scare last week gets Arizona (3-2) at home.
In what could be the game of the season in the Mountain West (24) Fresno State (5-0) is at Laramie to play Wyoming (4-1) and are lucky enough to be there before the weather turns bad.
Somehow the Sheep could come out of this weekend with a better than .500 record. Colorado State (2-2) goes to Utah State (2-3.)
Air Force has their bye week.
Speaking of bye, Northern Colorado is off this week in their quest to go winless before getting back to the business of getting beaten up every week.
Local small colleges are well into the season as well as the conference is sorting itself out.
Both leaders are traveling this weekend
Western Colorado (3-0,5-0) is at South Dakota Mines (2-1, 3-2)
Colorado Mines (3-0,5-0) goes to Grand Junction to play Colorado Mesa (1-2, 2-3)
CSU Pueblo (1-2, 2-3) hosts surprising Adams State (2-1, 3-2)
And last but definitely least Fort Lewis (0-3, 0-5) coming off a close 85-7 loss at least doesn’t have to lose in front of their remaining friends and family on the road at Chadron State (0-3, 1-4.) Don’t know if this is homecoming weekend for Chadron but it should be since Fort Lewis is one of the few teams bad enough for them to look at as a comfortable win.
