COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND PREVIEW

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

Week three is here and we're starting to get into the real meat of the schedule. Last week provided some under-the-radar matchups that proved to be nail-biters (well, some of them did anyway. Some of them, not so much.), but this week we really have some intriguing games involving top teams going head-to-head.

We have a west-coast team coming east to play a Big Ten team, a Big Ten team going west to play a west coast team (not the one you're thinking of), a traditional rivalry where the loser has to take a good, hard look at itself in the mirror, and of course, the game-of-the-century-of-the-week in primetime.

I don't know what you came to do, but I came to preview some games!

(all times eastern)

Iowa State at Iowa (-13.5) - Noon - Is this a rivalry? I have no idea. Apparently these teams are playing for something called the Cy-Hawk trophy. I really just included this game so that I can highlight the most overrated coach in America, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz. Every time an NFL job opens up, his name gets tossed around. Does any other coach of a mediocre, perpetually middle-of-the-road, program get this kind of love? I'm taking the Cyclones

Georgia (-7) at South Carolina - 3:30pm - Its tough to know what to expect from South Carolina. They looked great in week 1 (although it was NC State) but looked like crap last week against Vandy. Did you know that Steve Spurrier has now lost more SEC games in his 3+ years in Columbia than he lost in 12 years in Gainesville? But the funny thing is, South Carolina actually beat Georgia last year. And UGA barely beat the Gamecocks in '05 (17-15). For all of his failure at South Carolina, Steve Spurrier could very easily be 2-1 vs. UGA coming into this game. The 'cocks QB is named "Smelley." I turn 30 in a few days, and yet I still find this funny. The spread here really makes you think. Does someone know something we don't know? Why is the team that many people think is the best or second-best team in the nation only a 7 point favorite over a hugely disappointing S.C. team? Careful here folks...

Oregon (-8) at Purdue - 3:30pm - Very interesting. The last time a Pac-10 team came east to play in Big Ten country, it was Oregon State, and they got their doors blown off by Penn State. The one thing we know about these two teams is that they can both light up the scoreboard. Oregon has scored 110 points(!!) in two games this year, and Purdue plays the same basketball-on-grass, spread offense that is all the rage in the Big 12. For once in my life I'm going to drink the Pac-10 Kool-Aid. I'll take Oregon and lay the points.

UCLA at BYU (-8) - 3:30pm - 8 points?? Has Vegas not seen the renaissance in Westwood? Do they no that Rick Neuheisel has declared the football monopoly in Los Angeles to be over? And now this non-BCS upstart is supposed to push around the Bruins? I'll take UCLA and those points.

Michigan (-1.5) at Notre Dame - 3:30pm - All week we have heard people saying snarky things like "remember when this game used to matter?" Make no mistake, this game matters. Not in the sense that the winning team is booking their flights to Miami for the BCS title game, but in the sense that there is serious pressure on the coaches here. After losing at home to Utah, and squeaking by Miami University, Michigan fans are going to start to wonder what kind of coach they hired if they lose this game. Crewcut Charlie turned the heat up on this rivalry back in the offseason when he said that Michigan would come into this game with all of their built-in excuses, and punctuated his tirade by saying "to hell with Michigan!" Now he has to deliver. I would argue that this is the most intriguing game of the season that involves two teams that almost assuredly won't play for the title. If you say you aren't interested in this game, then I'm sorry, you just aren't a college football fan. I have seen the better part of both Michigan games this year, and they do not look like a team that should be laying points on the road in a rivalry game. Gimme the Irish.

Oklahoma (-20.5) at Washington - 7:45pm - Man! for Ty Willingham, its going to get worse before it gets better!

Wisconsin (-1.5) at Fresno State - 10:30pm - What a game this should be - But who are the ad wizards who came up with this start time?? 10:30 in the east? Could this be any more anti-climactic? During the 4th quarter of the game-of-the-millennium? Do they really think that the game in L.A. will be such a blowout that college football degenerates like you and me will be flipping channels at 10:30 and happen upon this game and watch it?

Ohio State at USC (-10.5) - 8pm - This game is so big that I broke from my traditional chronological-order previews, and saved this one for last (I mean, seriously... 10:30?? I still can't get over that.) This game breaks down very simply: If Chris Wells can't play, and play well, the Buckeyes don't have a chance. If QB Todd Boeckman has to take the game in his hands, the Buckeyes don't have a chance. As good as the USC offense is, the strength of this team is actually its defense. If the OSU offensive line plays like they have the first two games, the Buckeyes don't have a chance. Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing weren't playing for either Youngstown State or Ohio, and those defensive units look pretty good against the Buckeyes. By that same token, Ohio State is a lot better than Virginia - last week notwithstanding - but they will have to reach a level of play that they haven't hit yet this year to beat the best team in the nation in their own house.

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Allow me to use this matchup as a backdrop to get one more thing off my chest: The last two years, USC fans have used Rose Bowl romps over Big Ten teams as evidence to the greatness of their program, while OSU's BCS title game failures have proved to "expose" the Buckeyes as frauds. Each year, USC has had at least one unforgivable loss (UCLA in '06, Stanford in '07) and one other, more legitimate loss (Oregon State in '06, Oregon in '07) to end up 10-2. After those inexplicable losses end up costing them a trip to the BCS title game, they end as the #1 team in the Pac-10, and taking on one of the also-rans of the Big Ten (because OSU has won the conference and bypassed the Rose Bowl). As a result, USC ends up taking on the Big Ten's second-best (Michigan in '06) or third-best (Illinois in '07. Tied with Michigan but lost at home head-to-head) team.

What if, instead of ending the year with 2 losses, USC ended the last two years with 1 loss? In other words, what if they didn't have those huge embarrassing losses? And instead of ending the year with zero or 1 loss, OSU mixed in a loss or two to a huge underdog to end up 10-2? What if OSU had gone to the '06 and '07 Rose Bowls and destroyed some middling Pac-10 team, and USC had gone on to the BCS game and gotten blown out by a pissed-off Florida in '06 and beaten by 2 TDs by a basically-at-home LSU? Would we look at these two programs differently? Something to think about...

Ok, end of soapbox rant.