Allen Bored
Check Sports on Your Television for the full national schedule. Well with the exception of Eastern Michigan/Army (Noon/9:00 AM, CBS Sports Network) which I left off by mistake. But no matter how much you love America you shouldn’t watch that game.
Week 7 Featured Games
Thursday
Rutgers at #8 Louisville, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN
Spread: Louisville -19
Announcers: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack
All-Time Series: Rutgers leads 7-5
Last Meeting: 11/29/12 Louisville 20, Rutgers 17
Reason to Watch: The is second best chance that Louisville will lose a game this season with their toughest opponent UCF coming next week. That says a lot more about the trail of tears that is the American Athletic Conference than it says about Louisville. Rutgers did almost beat Fresno State in a tough late night, west coast road trip to open the season and beating Arkansas I suppose is some sort of accomplishment. On the other hand they had to go to overtime to beat SMU after blowing a 21 point lead in the 4th quarter this past week. The real reason to tune in is to see the heir apparent to Blaine Gabbert as the next Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater.
Back Up Game: Arizona at USC, 10:30/7:30 PM, FOXS1
Friday
Temple at Cincinnati, 8:30/5:30 PM, ESPN
Spread: Cincinnati -20.5
Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Danny Kannell
All-Time Series: Temple leads 9-5-1
Last Meeting: 11/10/12 Cincinnati 34, Temple 10
Reason to Watch: Oh man is there really no other game on? This is a tough one. Cincinnati has been one of the biggest disappointments in the country. They were supposed to be Louisville’s toughest challenge this year in the AAC but so they’ve been blown out by Illinois and last week lost to what has been a monumentally bad South Florida team. As for Temple…they’re Temple. They aren’t very good at the whole playing football thing. I suppose tune in to get a look at what will likely be a very short stay for Tommy Tuberville as Cincinnati head coach as his coaching career flames out while sitting on a huge bed of money.
Early Saturday
#25 Missouri at #7 Georgia, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN
Spread: Georgia -8
Announcers: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese
All-Time Series: George leads 2-0
Last Meeting: 9/8/12 Georgia 41, Missouri 20
Reason to Watch: In this timeslot last week we had an ACC game featuring a traditional conference power (Florida State) against possible conference upstart (Maryland). It ended in one of the biggest blow outs in college football history that involved two Top 25 opponents. This week we have a similar match up with Georgia playing the role of traditional power and Missouri as the upstart. Georgia has played a brutal schedule so far and though it’s not even quite mid-October they have the injury report of a team who’s already played a full 12 game season. They will be without their two top running backs Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall for this one. Missouri on the other hand has played a pillow soft schedule to this point and unlike last year has a healthy James Franklin at quarterback. Serious upset potential here but I kind of thought that last week about Maryland so just assume Georgia wins 87-0.
Back Up Game: Indiana at Michigan State, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2
Mid-day Saturday
#2 Oregon at #16 Washington, 4:00/1:00 PM, FOXS1 – ***GAME OF THE WEEK***
Spread: Oregon 13.5
Announcers: GUS JOHNSON, Charles Davis
All-Time Series: Washington leads 51-38-4
Last Meeting: 10/6/12 Oregon 52, Washington 21
Reason to Watch: Last week Washington went toe-to-toe with #5 Stanford on the road, outgaining the Cardinal 489 to 279, but ultimately came up short in their upset bid. Despite the loss it was an excellent performance by them and legitimized them as a serious threat in the Pac-12. Their reward? They get to play murder death squad known as Oregon. The Ducks have outscored their opponents by an average of 47.4 points per game so far. While their schedule has been far from taxing it is still impressive none the less. It is up in the air if star running back D’Anthony Thomas will play after missing last week due to a sprained ankle. Washington hasn’t beaten Oregon in ten years as the programs went in opposite directions around that time but maybe that is about to change.
Back Up Game: #17 Florida at #10 LSU, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS
Primetime Saturday
#9 Texas A&M at Mississippi, 8:30/5:30 PM, ESPN
Spread: Texas A&M -6
Announcers: Brad Nessler, Kirk Herbstreit
All-Time Series: Texas A&M leads 5-0
Last Meeting: 10/6/12 Texas A&M 30, Mississippi 27
Reason to Watch: This is about as unappealing a primetime schedule as you can get this week as all the big games are loaded earlier in the day. But hey you can tune into ABC to watch a bunch of rednecks drive around in a circle for five hours instead! Boy I know I love the endless NASCAR promos during college football games on ESPN while the announcers always pretend they give a shit about who wins this nonsense. I swear the NASCAR season must last at least 13 months a year. Wait I’m getting off topic. As for this game, Ole Miss is reeling after being disemboweled by Alabama two weeks ago and then being upset by Auburn last week. It doesn’t get any easier with Johnny Football coming to town to throw touchdowns and destroy the fabric of our great country.
Back Up Game: Georgia Tech at BYU, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU
Late Night Saturday
Oregon State at Washington State, 10:30/7:30 PM, ESPNU
Spread: Washington State -1
Announcers: Joe Davis, Jay Walker
All-Time Series: Washington State leads 46-39-3
Last Meeting: 10/6/12 Oregon State 19, Washington State 6
Reason to Watch: While I know I’ll enjoy the snuff film that will be Cal/UCLA you’d probably be better off flipping over to ESPNU to catch this game instead. With the exception of a bloody loss to Stanford, Wazzu has actually been pretty good this year and bowl eligibility is not out of the question. To obtain that this is a game they really need to win as the remaining schedule is treacherous. While Oregon State has rebounded after their stunning opening week loss to Eastern Washington they are still vulnerable and have an awful defense. What isn’t awful though has been the performance of quarterback Sean Mannion who is leading nation in yards passing, touchdowns, and passing rating.
Back Up Game: California at #11 UCLA, 10:30/7:30 PM, ESPN2
Week 7 Game Rankings
1. Oregon at Washington
2. Florida at LSU
3. Missouri at Georgia
4. Texas A&M at Mississippi
5. Northwestern at Wisconsin
6. Georgia Tech at BYU
7. Stanford at Utah
8. Rutgers at Louisville (Thur.)
9. Arizona at USC (Thur.)
10. Oregon State at Washington State
11. Indiana at Michigan State
12. Oklahoma vs. Texas
13. Michigan at Penn State
14. Baylor at Kansas State
15. Boise State at Utah State
16. South Carolina at Arkansas
17. Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech
18. Boston College at Clemson
19. Bowling Green at Mississippi State
20. Syracuse at N.C. State
21. Navy at Duke
22. Iowa State at Texas Tech
23. Alabama at Kentucky
24. Colorado at Arizona State
25. California at UCLA
26. Virginia at Maryland
27. East Carolina at Tulane
28. San Jose State at Colorado State
29. Kansas at TCU
30. Nebraska at Purdue
31. Marshall at Florida Atlantic
32. Memphis at Houston
33. Middle Tennessee at North Texas
34. Kent State at Ball State
35. San Diego State at Air Force (Thur.)
36. Rice at UTSA
37. South Florida at Connecticut
38. Hawaii at UNLV
39. Louisiana-Monroe at Texas State
40. New Mexico at Wyoming
41. Temple at Cincinnati (Fri.)
42. Central Michigan at Ohio
43. Akron at Northern Illinois
44. Tulsa at UTEP
45. Idaho at Arkansas State
46. Buffalo at Western Michigan
47. Eastern Michigan at Army
48. UAB at FIU
49. Troy at Georgia State
50. Miami (OH) at Massachusetts
Featured Image Credit: Scott Olmos/USA Today
