Games of Interest:
Tonight's games are... well, they're games. ECU at Cincinnati could be a good one, and Cincy does feature former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville. Cal at USC features two unranked teams and is on very late, but it may be a good game. Plus we can all start pulling for Cal to be good and make our future non-conference series with them look much better!
Friday's only feature is Tulsa at Central Florida, which is only watchable because it's football.
On Saturday, we'll actually have a really good slate of games. #19 Clemson travels to #22 Georgia Tech for a noon ESPN game, while #8 Ohio State travels to #25 Minnesota. The next Top 25 match-up is the big one for the SEC when #1 Mississippi State travels to Tuscaloosa to face the #5 Alabama Crimson Tide. Also in the 3:30 time slot is #16 Nebraska at #20 Wisconsin.
The night slate begins with our game against #15 UGA at 7:15pm EST. Also of interest that evening is #3 Florida State at unranked Miami. Miami has been coming on strong late in the season and could present the last tough test the Seminoles will face. Unless Florida continues it's curr - ok, I can't finish that statement without laughing. This is likely their last tough test.
I know you don't want to stay up that late (actually, what am I thinking, sure you do), but another very important game comes on at 10:45pm when #6 Arizona State travels to Oregon State. The Beavers aren't having the best season, but they do have a history of upsetting highly ranked teams at home.
Playoff Race:
So, to sum up, here is your rooting guide if you're wanting chaos to reign, Auburn to go to Atlanta, and to move back into the playoff discussion:
#5 Alabama over #1 Mississippi State. I know there are plenty of you out there saying "I will never EVER pull for Bama EVER." Ok, that's fine. If that's the way you approach football, that's fine. We all have our ways. However, see, I am all about Auburn having the best chance to go to the national championship game. In order for that to happen, I need Alabama to beat Mississippi State. When we were a one loss team, we may have been able to sneak into the playoff ifMSU wins out. Not as a two-loss team, though. So, we need Alabama to win this weekend.
If MSU wins this game, then they win the SEC West and they're going to Atlanta. They'll likely be the SEC's lone representative in the College Football Playoff. I'll be pulling for them (even though it hurts for me to think of Dan Mullen being that happy) in that case. You know what I'd rather have happen, though? Auburn win the SEC West. Auburn go to the College Football Playoff. The chance of it happening are small right now, but there IS still a chance. It's why I'm adding this "rooting interest" section to the TV Guide.
So we need MSU to lose. Twice. The only remaining options are Alabama and Ole Miss. I see this as rooting for Auburn's interests. I won't be pulling FOR Alabama, just for whatever serves Auburn best. You can bet that Auburn's players still want a shot at the national title and will be pulling for Alabama.
Miami over #3 FSU. This could legitimately happen. And as much as it would make the Noles fans go nuts, I'm not sure a 1-loss ACC champion makes it in over a two-loss SEC champion given the comparison in schedules. I could be wrong, though.
Kansas over #4 TCU. No way this actually happens, but we can dream, right? As things stand, it looks like the rols have flipped to where the Big XII is in the best position to get two teams into the playoffs in Baylor and TCU. If they win out and Auburn somehow manages to win out and go to Atlanta and win, then we'll see how the Committee treats "Conference Championships." Many consider TCU the better team over Baylor. However, Baylor won the head-to-head and will likely win the conference.
Oregon State over #6 Arizona State: As I pointed out, the Beavers have a history with this kind of upset. Can they pull it off, here?
#25 Minnesota over #8 Ohio State: Can Jerry Kill's Golden Gophers pull this off? Anything is possible, I guess. I'm definitely pulling for it. But then I always pull for Urban to lose.
If all of that happens (and I can only legitimately seeing one, MAYBE two of them happening this weekend), then Auburn jumps right back into the thick of things. So we should all be rooting for Professor Aubie Chaos!
The Full Schedule:
Thu, Nov 13, 2014 | ||||
7:00 PM ET ESPN2 |
East Carolina | at | Cincinnati | |
8:00 PM ET CBSS |
Southern Miss | at | Texas-San Antonio | |
9:00 PM ET ESPN |
Cal | at | USC | |
Fri, Nov 14, 2014 | ||||
8:00 PM ET ESPN2 |
Tulsa | at | UCF | |
Sat, Nov 15, 2014 | ||||
12:00 PM ET ESPNU |
Virginia Tech | at | (21) Duke | |
12:00 PM ET SECN |
South Carolina | at | Florida | |
12:00 PM ET ESPN |
(19) Clemson | at | (22) Georgia Tech | |
12:00 PM ET ESPN2 |
Temple | at | Penn State | |
12:00 PM ET BTN/BTN2 |
Iowa | at | Illinois | |
12:00 PM ET ABC/ESPN3 |
(8) Ohio State | at | (25) Minnesota | |
12:00 PM ET CBSS |
Army | at | Western Kentucky | |
12:30 PM ET ESPN3/ESGP |
Pittsburgh | at | North Carolina | |
1:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Miami (OH) | at | Central Michigan | |
2:00 PM ET ROOT |
Nevada | at | Air Force | |
2:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Eastern Michigan | at | Western Michigan | |
2:30 PM ET FSN |
Rice | at | Marshall | |
3:00 PM ET ESPN3/ESGP |
Wake Forest | at | NC State | |
3:00 PM ET FS1 |
(4) TCU | at | Kansas | |
3:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Appalachian State | at | Arkansas State | |
3:30 PM ET CBSS |
Georgia Southern | at | Navy | |
3:30 PM ET NBC |
Northwestern | at | (18) Notre Dame | |
3:30 PM ET BTN/BTN2 |
Indiana | at | Rutgers | |
3:30 PM ET CBS |
(1) Mississippi State | at | (5) Alabama | |
3:30 PM ET ESPN |
Oklahoma | at | Texas Tech | |
3:30 PM ET ABC/ESPN3 |
(16) Nebraska | at | (20) Wisconsin | |
3:30 PM ET FOX |
Washington | at | (14) Arizona | |
3:30 PM ET AMSN |
Middle Tennessee | at | FIU | |
3:30 PM ET ESPNU |
Memphis | at | Tulane | |
4:00 PM ET SECN |
Kentucky | at | Tennessee | |
4:00 PM ET ESPNN |
New Mexico | at | Utah State | |
4:30 PM ET OCPV |
Hawaii | at | San Jose State | |
5:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Troy | at | Idaho | |
6:00 PM ET PAC12 |
(23) Utah | at | Stanford | |
7:00 PM ET ESPNU |
UNLV | at | BYU | |
7:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Louisiana-Lafayette | at | Louisiana-Monroe | |
7:15 PM ET ESPN |
(9) Auburn | at | (15) Georgia | |
7:30 PM ET FOX |
Texas | at | Oklahoma State | |
7:30 PM ET SECN |
Missouri | at | (24) Texas A&M | |
7:30 PM ET ESPN3 |
Texas State | at | South Alabama | |
8:00 PM ET BTN/BTN2 |
(12) Michigan State | at | Maryland | |
8:00 PM ET ABC/ESPN3 |
(3) Florida State | at | Miami (FL) | |
8:00 PM ET ESPN2 |
(17) LSU | at | Arkansas | |
8:00 PM ET CBSS |
South Florida | at | SMU | |
10:00 PM ET FS1 |
North Texas | at | UTEP | |
10:15 PM ET ESPNU |
San Diego State | at | Boise State | |
10:45 PM ET ESPN |
(6) Arizona State | at | Oregon State |