This Weekend's College Football Guide

[EifertPower]

Since there are so many meaningful games in the country that should be fun to watch and in which we should have rooting interests in, I thought I'd make a master sheet that would summarize all of this for us so that we can consult this throughout Saturday.

Friday, Nov. 9
Pitt (4-5) at UConn, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 10
Purdue (3-6) at Iowa, noon
Miami (5-4) at Virginia, noon
Northwestern at Michigan (6-3), noon
Georgia Tech at North Carolina, 12:30 p.m.
Arizona State at USC (6-3) 3 p.m.
Wake Forest (5-4) at NC State, 3 p.m.
Oregon State at Stanford (7-2), 3 p.m.
Baylor at Oklahoma (6-2), 3:30 p.m.
Navy (6-3) at Troy, 3:30 p.m.
Penn State at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m.
Texas A&M at Alabama, 3:30 p.m.
Kansas State at TCU, 7 p.m.
Notre Dame at Boston College, 8 p.m.
Idaho at BYU (5-4), 10:15 p.m.
UCLA at Washington State, 10:30 p.m.
Oregon at California, 10:30 p.m.

Michigan State has a bye

If Georgia Tech can beat UNC and Miami wins then all of a sudden they appear to be in great shape in the ACC

If Penn State can win and Michigan can win then Michigan has a decent chance of going to the Big 10 title game (although they still would have to beat Ohio State first so this is probably pie in the sky).

Even though I want Stanford to win out, I don't think that is realistic. Their schedule gets really tough and I doubt they would beat Oregon State and Oregon in back-to-back weeks. Plus, if they beat Oregon State they'd be a Top 10 team going into the Oregon game and that would help Oregon out more than us. People want us to hold our hopes Stanford wins out and thus makes us look good and knocks Oregon out of the mix, but I think this Stanford team (a) matches up terribly with Oregon and (b) is not as good as their current ranking indicates.

Same goes for Michigan. They really hurt us by losing to Nebraska and I wouldn't count on them to go to the Big 10 title game, let alone win it, anymore.

To me, I'd like to see teams like Pitt and Miami and BYU make surges late and Mich State finish above .500, while Purdue creeps back to .500, Oklahoma looks impressive, and Navy has 9 wins.

 

[EifertPower]

Things that went well for us this weekend:

*Michigan's miracle last drive in regulation against Northwestern really helped us. If Michigan wins out--and that's a huge "if" since they play Iowa and Ohio State they'll be no worse than #15 in the nation approximately. They should get in the Top 25 again this week after the Northwestern win

*Stanford's win over Oregon State was huge too because Stanford will now be a Top 10 team. This is good news for us but also good news for Oregon as a win over them would look real impressive for Oregon. However, Stanford beating Oregon State at least won't have Oregon State be a Top 10 team when they play Oregon in 2 weeks.

*Miami's loss was grueling for them and us. They had a golden opportunity to finish the season 8-4 and go to the ACC Championship which would've made our 41-3 win over them look even better. They still have a chance but really blew it by losing yesterday.

*Penn State losing to Nebraska (and that fumble call on Penn State in the 4th quarter was a horrible call and changed the game) makes it unlikely Michigan will win the Big 10. This might be a good thing though as i'd rather Michigan not play an extra game and lose, and rather their regular season end with a win over Ohio State.

*Good thing USC won this week and if they can beat UCLA next week they have a ranking somewhere between #10 and #15 for our game.

*Oklahoma took care of business but their upcoming schedule is tougher than it looks. We need them to go at least 2-1 and preferably 3-0.

*Nice job by Purdue winning this weekend to remain bowl eligible.

*All of our opponents are bowl eligible still except for BC which is eliminated. I'd like to see 10 or 11 of our opponents make a bowl this year, especially since we don't play any Division 1-AA cupcakes.

 

[EifertPower]

Some key games of interest for us ND fans today:

Iowa at Michigan (7-3), noon
Northwestern at Michigan State, noon
Virginia Tech at Boston College, 12:30
South Florida at Miami, 3:00
USC at UCLA, 3:05
Minnesota at Nebraska, 3:30
Purdue at Illinois, 3:30
Texas State at Navy, 3:30
Wake Forest at Notre Dame, 3:30
Duke at Georgia Tech, 3:30
Oklahoma at West Virginia, 7:00
Kansas State at Baylor, 8:00
Stanford at Oregon, 8:00
BYU at SJ State, 10:30
Cal at Oregon State, 10:30


And then of course there also is the SEC/FCS challenge which includes:

Western Carolina at Alabama, 12:20
Jacksonville State at Florida, 1:00
Wofford at South Carolina, 1:00
Georgia Southern at Georgia, 1:30

Plus also Mississippi at LSU, 3:30

 

[Canuck]

Not trying to change the topic but what the hell is the SEC doing with these garbage matchups. If they want to be known as the best football conference then quit playing D2 teams. Kirk Herbstreit called them out a bit just now on college gameday but it's not enough. The media needs to come down on all the programs that play D2 teams especially the ones that are in the national title conversation. It amazes me how these games actually count as wins. There is my two cents. Probably the wrong thread but had to throw it out there

 

[ickythump1225]

Not trying to change the topic but what the hell is the SEC doing with these garbage matchups. If they want to be known as the best football conference then quit playing D2 teams. Kirk Herbstreit called them out a bit just now on college gameday but it's not enough. The media needs to come down on all the programs that play D2 teams especially the ones that are in the national title conversation. It amazes me how these games actually count as wins. There is my two cents. Probably the wrong thread but had to throw it out there

I agree. Nothing irritates me more than to see people downgrade Notre Dame for playing close against Pitt but they are tight lipped when I bring up Oregon playing Fresno State, Tennessee Tech, and Arkansas State, or any one of the top SEC team's cupcake schedules. Just take a look at Georgia's schedule, it is a fraud of a schedule.

 

[EifertPower]

Obviously this isn't quite as meaningful this week since we are in the national semifinals against USC and we control our own destiny. But nevertheless here is a guide to the weekend's important games with potential impact on ND

Friday, Nov. 23
Nebraska at Iowa, noon....if Nebraska loses and Michigan wins then they go to the Big 10 title game. I'm not sure if we want this or not. A Michigan win over Ohio State would be good enough to bump them in the polls without risking another loss which could just drop them back
LSU and Arkansas, 2:30....it would be nice if LSU lost so that the SEC cluster of the teams in the Top 10 would end

Saturday, Nov. 24
Michigan (8-3) at Ohio State, noon.....it would be really nice if Michigan won for a variety of reasons (a) strength of schedule for us (b) we dont want an undeated Ohio State team (c) we dont want Braxton Miller to have any chance at the Heisman
Indiana at Purdue (5-6), noon.....Purdue goes bowling if they win which makes us look better
Rutgers at Pitt (4-6), noon.....Pitt needs to win to have a chance to go bowling
Georgia Tech at Georgia, noon...really nice if the ACC can hold its own against the SEC this weekend. If Georgia loses then they are out of the national title mix
Miami (6-5) at Duke, 12:30....Miami hurt us by imposing a bowl ban but it still would be nice to a have 41-3 win over a 7-5 team
Boston College (2-9) at NC State, 3:00......BC is brutal but if they beat the only team that Florida State lost to that would be nice
Oregon at Oregon State, 3:00....Oregon is out of the title game mix if they lose
BYU at New Mexico State, 3:30
Auburn at Alabama, 3:30
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest (5-6), 3:30
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (8-2), 3:30
Michigan State (5-6) at Minnesota, 3:30
Florida at Florida State, 3:30
Stanford (9-2) at UCLA, 6:30
Missouri at Texas A&M, 7:00
South Carolina at Clemson, 7:00

 

[DSully1995]

Id say a no to Mich winning now, SOS doesnt help anything for us now since we control our own destiny and even if we lose were not gonna make the NCG and are a lock for a BCS bowl so Mich can suck it

 

[Meacon Irish]

I'm hoping Michigan wins only so Ohio State won't have a shot at the AP #1.