Dude has Saban's back in his Baton Rouge return.After only 2 top 25 matchups last week, the post-election lineup is a three day affair that features 6 ranked matchups and is guaranteed to political ad free.
BCS posturing has begun this week, with Bob Stoops and Pete Carrol speaking their minds. This weekend is going to shake things up even more and I'm sure the chatter is only going to get louder next week.
National Games
#11 TCU at #9 Utah, 8:00PM - CBS College Sports
It all kicks off tonight when TCU travels to Utah in a battle for the Mountain West title and potential BCS bid. Both teams are undefeated in conference play, but the Utes still have to battle #19 BYU in a couple of weeks, while TCU has one game left against Air Force. The Horned Frogs only loss was at Oklahoma and their defense has given up 14 or less points in all 10 games this season.
Friday - 8:00PM
Of course the festivities continue Friday night in Chicago at Casey Moran's where we hope to meet plenty of you, while we slurp down some barley sodas, try not to get out of hound and script out offensive plays we've dreamed of on bar napkins.
#20 Georgia Tech at #18 North Carolina, 12:00PM - ESPN Gameplan
Both teams come in with two losses in conference play, but the Yellow Jackets have played two more ACC games and still have to face Miami and Georgia. UNC has lost two games by a total of six points and will face Maryland, NC State and Duke to close out the season.
#1 Alabama at #16 LSU, 3:30PM - CBS
The hated Nick Saban rolls back to Baton Rouge with his newer, sexier team, while his former team has given 50+ points in two of the last three weeks and will look to play spoiler in the Tide's run to the national title.
LSU has won five straight in the series and have gone 36-4 at home since 2003. This game is a shot of redemption for the Tigers after being blown out by Florida and Georgia. Alabama has only Miss. State and Auburn before the SEC Championship game.
#21 California at # 7 USC, 8:00PM - ABC
USC's defense has shutouts in three of the last four games and has given up a total of 51 points in 8 games. California actually controls their own destiny, following up this game with a trip to Corvallis next week. OSU, USC and Cal each have one loss in the conference, with the Trojans having road tests against Stanford and UCLA remaining.
#8 Oklahoma State at #2 Texas Tech, 8:00PM - ABC
Can the Red Raiders continue their dream? This is the third straight week they have faced a ranked opponent, scoring 102 points in the first two and they have a looming matchup at Oklahoma next week. This game promises to live up to the Big 12 stableford scoring system and a Cowboy upset could really shake up the BCS rankings.
Big Ten Games
#12 Ohio State at # 25 Northwestern, 12:00PM - ESPN2
The weather report has a mixture of hangovers and rain/cold for the early kickoff. Lake the Post was kind enough to stop by and tell us the Wildcats have only beaten the Buckeyes six times at home since they started play in 1913, with one of those losses coming in 2004. Ohio State has outscored Northwestern 112-17 in the last two meetings.
#3 Penn State at Iowa, 3:30PM - ABC
The Hawkeyes have lost three conference games by a total of 11 points and have a chance to provide Penn State with a road scare on the shoulders of Shonn Greene, the second leading rusher in the Big 10. The Nittany Lions are coming off a bye week and will look to reduce Greene's 6.3 YPC average with similar tactics that held Beanie to a season low.
