This is the debut post of the Athletically Ineligible college football blog. It is written by Nils Hansen, an avid sports fan who decided to write about college football.
This week in the land of FBS football feels like the week random rerun week during the fall TV schedule, there might be some good stuff on, but you still wish the week didn't exist. I feel like this is a good week to start a college football blog.
Last week was a crazy week, where we saw two National Title contenders fall (Oklahoma was favored by 30 and Wisconsin had won their first six games by an average of 40.5 points). Next week we have the biggest regular season game since at least Michigan v. Ohio St. in '06, or further back for that matter. LSU and Alabama are clearly the two best teams in the country and they get this week off, before they play the defacto National Championship on Nov. 5.
With all that said, this is a pretty solid week in the league where the play for secret pay. We'll start out east, with the Big East. It's been a rough week or so for the Big East (in reality, a rough few years) fans are either asking if it's basketball season yet or "are we still in the Big East?" There could have been a nice game this week for this downtrodden conference, West Virginia at Rutgers, on ABC at 3:30, but not just one, but both teams decided to shit the bed last Friday against lesser opponents. Cincinnati has the inside track to a BCS game, but I still have to think that the Mountaineers are the best team and should get the bid. Only Rutgers (2-1) and South Florida (0-3) have played more than two games in-conference, so conference braging rights and big BCS money are still up for grabs. UConn heads to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night and Louisville hosts Syracuse (the two teams that benefited from RU and WVU losing last week) on Saturday, along with the "marquee" game in Piscataway on ABC, the Big East should look a little more clear on Saturday night. If anyone really cares.
Clemson is the clear class of the ACC, which will contain at least two of those Big East team. The Tigers do have a legitimate shot at the crystal football, but they will probably need some help. Clemson is fun team to watch, they don't have a great defense to go with a high-powered offense, making most of their games high-scoring. They have three wins over ranked opponents, the Florida St. win doesn't look as good anymore, but that was a huge game for them to propel their season into the "possibly historic" category. Virginia Tech is still a good win (a 23-3 beating) and they could see them again in the conference title game. Auburn is still the defending champs and a win over any SEC team is a positive. They get Georgia Tech this week, the Yellow Jackets are not as good as their lofty ranking made you think a few weeks back, but Paul Johnson's option offense can be tricky and should keep the game close, along with Clemson's propensity to shot themselves in the foot, this game could end the Tigers title hopes. I still like Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington and the rest of the men in orange to stay perfect. VT and Wake Forest are the other two good teams in the ACC and they both have walks against Duke and UNC respectfully.
One of the the best games on the schedule is in the now wide open Big Ten. Michigan St travels to Lincoln to face the Cornhuskers. The Spartans did what the newcomers couldn't last week, they beat Wisconsin. Their defense keep them in the game against the Badgers and Kirk Cousins, who didn't look good on the final drive, threw the ball as far as he could, miracle happened, Wisconsin falls. Nebraska on the other hand has not looked good this season. The defense is not what we thought it was going to be at season's start, "QB" Taylor Martinez has gone form a Heisman contender to a liability. Both teams can make the inaugural Big Ten title game, if MSU wins they will have the clear inside track to the title game and an outside shot at the BCS Title game. With a win on Saturday, Nebraska can right the ship on their season and make a play for the Big Ten title in their first season. Penn St is some how 4-0 in the conference and 7-1 overall this season, they get an Illinois team that have dropped two straight after a loss to a bad Purdue team, after starting 6-0. Michigan are also in the picture to represent the Legends division, but with a loss to "Little Sister" Michigan St., Big Blue is going to need a lot of things to happen. It seems to me, the Big Ten really is a top heavy conference; Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, and Indiana are all bad teams.
Even with the loss to Texas Tech, the Big 12 is still Oklahoma's conference, in my opinion. I know Oklahoma St. is ranked 3rd in the BCS and K-State is undefeated, but Oklahoma battles the Wildcats at K-State this week and then there is the Bedlam game to finish the season against Ok. State, so I still feel they control their season. Texas A&M is the only other team in the conference that matters. They have played some of the most exciting football games this year, the problem for the Aggies is the excitement comes from the fact A&M couldn't stop anyone on the last drive of the game. They travel to Norman to take on the Sooners next week. Wow, next week is shaping up to be an amazing week for college football fans. Baylor has lost their luster a bit, but they do get a shot at Oklahoma St. this week, in what could be a very good game. Robert Griffin III is probably the most exciting player in the land, so if your team is off this week or you need a game to watch at 3:30 on Saturday, this one is a pretty safe bet.
Out west in the Pac-12, we are waiting for the Stanford v. Oregon game in two weeks, those two teams are clearly the best two in that conference. Andrew Luck is good, really good. Stanford crushed a barely-ranked Washington last week, using their run game as much as their future number one overall pick quarterback. If Oregon is healthy they can play with every non-SEC team in the country. That game sound be a hell of game, and maybe exactly what Stanford needs to vault them into the BCS Title game, but that game is two weeks away.
Finally we move to the NFL Jr. LSU and Alabama are off, but there are still some very good teams playing this Saturday. Sadly, they are not playing each other. Arkansas' only loss is to Alabama, their passing offense is on par with any team in the country, they take on Vandy this week in what should be a blowout. South Carolina is looking like they will win the SEC East, but they did loss Marcus Lattimore, possibly the best RB in the country. The Gamecocks travel to Tennessee to play a not good Vols team that does not have their starting QB. The game of the week in the SEC is the yearly rivalry game between Florida and Georgia. Georgia stands even with South Carolina in the East, but their early season loss to So. Car. will probably be their undoing. Florida has lost three straight SEC games to Alabama, LSU and Auburn to derail the first post-Urban Florida season.
The Picks
Rutgers (+7) vs. (25) West Virginia
September 10, 1994, Rutgers 17 - WVU 12, that is the last time the Scarlet Knights beat West Virginia. On that same day, #24 Stanford played Northwestern to a 41-41 tie. THERE WERE STILL TIES BACK THEN! With that said, this Rutgers grad is taking the points, WVU wins, but not by 7.
Georgia (-2.5) vs. Florida
The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Florida has lost three straight games to better teams, Georgia is a better team, I'll gladly lay two-and-a-half with that math. Either way, on Saturday, I'm taking Vodka with the ice.
(11) Oklahoma (-13.5) at (10) Kansas St
Oklahoma is pissed off. Are they two touchdowns pissed off? I believe so, Landry Jones had Heisman hopes this season, he doesn't anymore, but he is going to want to show the country he is still a top 3 or so QB in the land, I'm thinking 4 TDs.
(9) Michigan St (+4) at (13) Nebraska
I think Michigan St has the defense to stop Taylor Martinez from using his feet, and Martinez's arm stops Martinez's throwing game, so I think Michigan St wins this game.
North Texas (+17) at Arkansas St
Remember when North Texas won the Sun Belt conference with an overall losing record? They would only loss like 3 games over 4 years in the conference. That was a long time ago, but NOT long enough, I'm taking the points in this Sun Belt show down.
I plan on posting at least once per week, this week was very much an overview of the season so far, since it's the first post. That will probably chance.
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