COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND PREVIEW

by WCT, Wasting Company Time

It is week 6 already. Isn't that scary? Most of D-1A will be halfway done with their regular seasons after this Saturday. It seems like just yesterday we were hooting at the procession of red-faced Michigan fans as they left the Upper East Side sports bar I was at on the afternoon of September 1st. Now we're at the halfway point. Sad really.

But the good news is this weekend is jam-packed with intriguing matchups. Unfortunately for me, I will miss most of them, but more on that later. Lets get it on!

Wisconsin at Illinois (Noon EST) - Don't laugh, this should be a really, really good game. First, Wisconsin has let everybody hang around far too long in games, and its going to come back to haunt them sooner or later. Couple that with a confident Illini squad, that just defeated a suddenly-crappy Penn State team, playing at home. Wisconsin wins, but this game should be "closer than the experts think."

Oklahoma vs. Texas (3:30pm) - Yikes! What the hell happend to these teams last week? I thought this was going to be a matchup of two top 10 teams in which the 'Horns would finally be exposed for the frauds that they were by way of a beat-down at the hands of the Sooners. Now its just going to be a regular, run-of-the-mill beat-down at the hands of the Sooners. Kind of dissappointing.

Georgia at Tennessee (3:30pm) - After being blown out by the Gators a few weeks ago, the schedule makers have given the Vols chance to claw back to respectability. And I think they take it. Doesn't this always seem to happen in the SEC? A team is left for dead, then pulls an upset over a team they have no business beating just to screw up the standings, and causes all of the "the SEC is soooo deep!" losers (of which I am one) to get up on their soapboxes? This will be one of those games.

Virginia Tech at Clemson (6pm) - I am really torn here. On the one hand, it has been my claim all year that Clemson mails in at least one performance vs. a lesser team each year, and that seemed to happen last week. But in order to truly tease their fans, wouldn't they need to win games like this one against the Hokies? On the other hand, I think Virginia Tech is somewhat undervalued, and Frank Beamer teams always improve as the season goes on. I'm going to go agaist my better judgement (what a cop out that is huh? I'm right either way!)and take Tech.

Cincinnati at Rutgers (8pm) - Toughest game on the board by far. Cinci has been a rising star for a while now, and this would be just the win that would put the on the national radar. I really want to beleive that Rutgers is a good team, and last week's performance against Maryland of all people was just a hiccup. The number one rule in betting college football, if all else fails, take the home team. Gimme the Knights

Ohio State at Purdue (8pm) - When a team with offense as its strength meets a team with defense as its strength, its usually bad news for the offensive team. Ohio State is likely to lose a game pretty soon, but I don't think its going to be this one.

Nebraska at Missouri (9:15pm) - this will be the game that pushes Mizzou into the national spotlight and pushes Beau Bridges Bill Callahan and Nebraska out of the top 25 and into obscurity. Sam Keller should've never left Tempe.

Florida at LSU (8pm) - Wow, what can I say? I haven't been to a college football game in years and now I get to go to this one. Yes, it precludes my usual routine of showing up at the bar, pen and paper in hand, and watching literally five football games at once, but life is all about sacrifices. If only Urban Meyer's jedi mind tricks had worked on Wes Byrum, and Washington had been able to recover a miracle onside kick, this would be a 1 vs. 2 matchup.

Anyway, enough about me, this should be a hell of a game. I think that LSU is the better team, but to be honest, I think what the pollsters did to Florida after the loss to Auburn was criminal. If Florida and South Florida were to play a neutral site game today, does anyone honestly think that the Bulls would be favorites? The oddsmakers have done the same thing. LSU is great and all, but eight point favorites? Florida hasn't lost to a team not named "Auburn" since November of 2005. Yet the "experts" think they are nothing more than tackling dummies for for the Tigers. I think LSU wins, but I wouldn't lay those eight points if I were you.

I will be back next week with a full recap of the tailgating, the gametime atmosphere, the quality of the cajun co-eds and the postgame debauchary. This much, I promise. Wish me luck with the co-eds! Laissez les bons temps rouler!