Allen Bored
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Week 10 Featured Games
Thursday
Arizona State at Washington State, 10:30/7:30 PM, ESPN
Spread: Arizona State -11.5
Announcers: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack
All-Time Series: Arizona State leads 25-12-2
Last Meeting: 11/17/12 Arizona State 46, Washington State 7
Reason to Watch: Thanks to the Pac-12 schedule makers sentencing UCLA to die on the road to Stanford and Oregon, Arizona State is now in the driver’s seat in the Pac-12 South. The Sun Devils were last seen two weeks ago scorching the Washington defense for 53 points, the fourth time this year they’ve topped the 50 point mark. They will need to try to win a few games on the road though if they plan on winning the division and they begin a three out of four week road stretch in cold ass Pullman. The Cougs bowl hopes are dwindling and it’s not likely that they’ll take a step forward in their quest for bowl eligibility here.
Back Up Game: Rice at North Texas, 7:30/4:30 PM, FOXS1
Friday
USC at Oregon State, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN
Spread: Oregon State -4
Announcers: Carter Blackman, Danny Kannell
All-Time Series: USC leads 58-9-4
Last Meeting: 11/20/10 Oregon State 36, USC 7
Reason to Watch: One has to wonder if the Southern Cal defense tanked against Arizona State a month ago in order to finally rid them of Lane Kiffin. In that game they gave up 62 points. They’ve given 92 points total in their other seven games and have been one of the best defenses in the country outside of that one game. Oregon State finally ran into a good defense last week against Stanford and was held in check. Quarterback Sean Mannion is on pace to have a record breaking season but was held to 3.2 yards per attempt in that game compared to his season average of 8.3. He didn’t throw any picks though and for the year still has a crazy good touchdown to interception ratio (30 TD, 3 Int).
Early Saturday
#24 Wisconsin at Iowa, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC/ESPN2
Spread: Wisconsin -9.5
Announcers: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman
All-Time Series: Iowa leads 42-41-2
Last Meeting: 10/23/10 Wisconsin 31, Iowa 30
Reason to Watch: By my calculation this is one of the 37 B1G rivalries that is for a trophy, this one for the Heartland trophy which didn’t even originate until 2004 thus making it very lame. This is the first time they’ve played in three years though as the bizarre, and impossible to remember, Legends/Leaders division split broke up the rivalry but they’ll be in the same division next year when the conference does a regional realignment. Wisconsin has the title of best non-SEC two loss team in the country that should have only one loss if it weren’t for Pac-12 officials. That’s probably too long of a title and I don’t think you get a trophy for it. Iowa has been better than expected but that’s probably bad news for Iowa fans as it can only lead to another 15 year Kirk Ferentz contract extension.
Back Up Game: Virginia Tech at Boston College, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC/ESPN2
Mid-day Saturday
#21 Michigan at #22 Michigan State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC
Spread: Michigan State -6
Announcers: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge
All-Time Series: Michigan leads 53-30-4
Last Meeting: 10/20/12 Michigan 12, Michigan State 10
Reason to Watch: I have this game ranked lower than the Georgia/Florida game but this game has more at stake and features two Top 25 teams. Primary reason the game is ranked lower is I just don’t think Michigan is particularly good. This is a team that probably should have lost to Akron and had a really hard time beating Connecticut. Combined record of those two teams: 2-14. That’s not to say they can’t win this game and they have a long history of pulling the football away Lucy style from their tormented rivals. Michigan State is basically half a team. The defense is arguably the best in the country but the offense is painful to watch.
Back Up Game: Georgia vs. Florida, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS
Primetime Saturday
#7 Miami at #3 Florida State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC
Spread: Florida State -22
Announcers: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit
All-Time Series: Miami leads 29-26
Last Meeting: 10/20/12 Florida State 33, Miami 20
Reason to Watch: My love affair with the game of FOOTBAW blossomed in 1991 and that season featured one of the legendary games of the 90’s, the Wide Right game between #1 Florida State and #2 Miami. At that time it was pretty much the must see rivalry game in college football. It’s that nostalgia that hopes that this will be a classic game. I mean they are both ranked in top 10 after all and historically this rivalry usually produces close games, 12 of the last 22 games have been decided by 8 points or less. But reality is Florida State is really, really good while Miami is well not so good. FSU demolish Clemson on the road two weeks ago while The U had to struggle to wins over North Carolina and Wake Forest. Miami’s signature win over Florida was one of the ugliest football games you’ll ever see and looks less impressive by the week. They are not one of the ten best teams in country; they probably aren’t even one of the twenty best teams in the country. But I’ll tune in anyways and think back fondly of the days when I thought Casey Weldon would be the next Joe Montana.
Back Up Game: #18 Oklahoma State at #15 Texas Tech, 7:00/4:00 PM, FOX
Late Night Saturday
Nevada at #16 Fresno State, 10:30/7:30 PM, ESPNU
Spread: Fresno State -20.5
Announcers: Joe Davis, David Diaz-Infante
All-Time Series: Fresno State leads 9-7
Last Meeting: 11/10/12 Fresno State 52, Nevada 36
Reason to Watch: Fresno is in the driver’s seat to steal a BCS at-large bid and draw Kirk Herbstreit’s ire during the BCS selections. They are very fortunate the computers aren’t allowed to take into account margin of victory as they’ve had four one score games including an overtime escape last week over a not exactly scintillating San Diego State team. Their only true test left is a likely rematch with Boise State in the Mountain West title game. Nevada is off to a rough start in the post-Chris Ault era. They will either need to get an upset win here or against BYU to close the season in order to keep their eight year bowl appearance streak alive. Maybe they can convince Ault to come out of retirement yet again next season.
Week 10 Game Rankings
1. Miami at Florida State
2. Georgia vs. Florida
3. Oklahoma State at Texas Tech
4. Wisconsin at Iowa
5. Michigan at Michigan State
6. USC at Oregon State (Fri.)
7. Tennessee at Missouri
8. Minnesota at Indiana
9. Arizona State at Washington State (Thur.)
10. Mississippi State at South Carolina
11. Northwestern at Nebraska
12. West Virginia at TCU
13. Auburn at Arkansas
14. Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech
15. Virginia Tech at Boston College
16. Navy at Notre Dame
17. Wake Forest at Syracuse
18. Illinois at Penn State
19. Rice at North Texas (Thur.)
20. North Carolina at N.C. State
21. Iowa State at Kent State
22. Clemson at Virginia
23. Colorado at UCLA
24. Boise State at Colorado State
25. Arizona at California
26. San Jose State at UNLV
27. Kansas at Texas
28. Ohio State at Purdue
29. Nevada at Fresno State
30. Tulane at Florida Atlantic
31. South Florida at Houston (Thur.)
32. Arkansas State at South Alabama
33. UTSA at Tulsa
34. Louisiana-Monroe at Troy (Thur.)
35. Middle Tennessee at UAB
36. Temple at Rutgers
37. Hawaii at Utah State
38. Army at Air Force
39. Kent State at Akron
40. Texas State at Idaho
41. New Mexico at San Diego State
42. Northern Illinois at Massachusetts
43. East Carolina at FIU
44. UTEP at Texas A&M
45. Western Kentucky at Georgia State
46. Eastern Michigan at Toledo
47. Southern Miss at Marshall
48. New Mexico State at Louisiana-Lafayette
