Thursday, December 5
TIME (ET) MATCHUP 7:30 PM No. 19 Louisville at Cincinnati (These teams are a combined 19-3, and the best win either of them has is over #39 Houston. If Cincy wins and UCF loses to SMU, Cincy and UCF would tie for the American title. If Louisville wins and UCF loses, then they'd both be 7-1, but UCF won head to head)
Friday, December 6
TIME (ET) MATCHUP 8:00 PM Bowling Green vs. No. 14 Northern Illinois* (The MAC Title game. Vegas continues to be really, really bearish on NIU, having made them only a 3 point favorite here. Jeff Sagarin actually has the 9-3 Falcons pegged as the favorite, and all nine of their wins have come by 17 or more. Jordan Lynch will be playing on national TV for a potential Heisman invite and BCS bid, so a lot at stake here for NIU)
Saturday, December 7
TIME (ET) MATCHUP 12:00 PM No. 17 Oklahoma at No. 6 Oklahoma State (Huge stakes at Bedlam, and the Cowboys must be thinking about what could have been if not for an inexplicable home loss to woeful WVU. Other than that game, OSU has only been challenged once all year, and was most recently seen laying a smackdown on Baylor. Oklahoma is is still ranked #17, presumably because their jerseys say Oklahoma on the front, and this one will likely be decided by double digits in Stillwater - but games where Little Brother is a big favorite are always dicey)
12:00 PM No. 16 UCF at Southern Methodist (UCF is playing for the American title and a BCS berth, while SMU is fighting at home for a bowl bid and their first win over a top-80 opponent this season)
12:00 PM Marshall at Rice (A couple of surprises for the C-USA title game in what was a hotly contested race where both teams locked up entries on the final weekend. Marshall finished 9-3, winners of 5 straight including stomping ECU in the finale, and their three losses came by 3 points, 2 points and in OT. Rice Also finished 9-3 and hung with JFF-less A&M for a half and beat Kansas earlier in the season)
1:00 PM Memphis at Connecticut
3:30 PM No. 25 Texas at No. 9 Baylor (Baylor still has an outside shot at an at-large BCS berth, and both of these teams are 7-1 in conference and the winner of this game wins the Big-12 if Oklahoma State should fall. Baylor remains #5 in the predictor despite needing two pick-sixes to beat TCU last week and getting annihilated by OSU the week before)
4:00 PM No. 5 Missouri vs. No. 3 Auburn* (Do not adjust your TV set ladies and gentlemen, THIS is your SEC title game. In their second year in the league, Mizzouri cruised through the SEC East to secure a title berth, with a very quiet yet extremely good defense, and is one long 4th down conversion away from playing for the national title. Auburn has run hotter than the sun and seems blessed by baby Jesus, and if you miss the last few minutes of this game for any reason whatsoever, shame on you because it's probably going to be awesome. The line is pretty close on this one, and it should go down to the wire)
7:30 PM South Florida at Rutgers
7:45 PM No. 7 Stanford at No. 11 Arizona State (The nation's toughest and deepest conference comes down to a pair of 10-2 teams who each boast an impressive slate of victories and one frustrating loss. Stanford built a huge lead and staved off a furious comeback the first time these two teams met. After starting 0-1 in the Pac, ASU then won 8 consecutive conference games by an average of 23 points)
8:00 PM No. 20 Duke vs. No. 1 Florida State* (Remember when Butler played Duke in the NCAA-B national championship and it was like the most awesome underdog vs evil empire story ever? Well, this is the same thing, except this time Duke is the toon squad and FSU are the Monstars. If Duke (...DUKE) somehow knocks off an undefeated FSU, it will probably be the #1 or #2 most awesome upset in the history of the sport. Duke, you guys... DUKE)
8:00 PM Louisiana-Lafayette at South Alabama
8:17 PM No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Michigan State* (The Schadenfreude will be strong in this one. I'm really curious to see MSU, who *still* only has one top-40 win on the season, but has a pretty awesome YPP defense)
10:00 PM Utah State at No. 23 Fresno State (Oh Fresno, what could have been. Utah State's been a great story this year, rallying and going 5-1 after losing CHUCKIE, who everybody thought was their whole team. These guys lost by 4 at Utah and 3 at USC, and are a pretty legit squad)
Thursday, December 5
TIME (ET) MATCHUP 7:30 PM No. 19 Louisville at Cincinnati (These teams are a combined 19-3, and the best win either of them has is over #39 Houston. If Cincy wins and UCF loses to SMU, Cincy and UCF would tie for the American title. If Louisville wins and UCF loses, then they'd both be 7-1, but UCF won head to head)
Good decision. He probably took into account what happened to Darron Thomas when he declared early then went undrafted. Not saying Mariota would go undrafted, but I've been hearing that Mariota is first round talent and that bothers me a little, especially when the former QB Thomas and many other Oregon QBs just haven't been NFL ready.