Last Saturday’s record: 5-3; for the
season: 67-20.
Thursday:
The Eyes of Texas are upon them.
Texas Tech @ Texas.
Gone are the days
when college fans in Texas went to the Texas-Texas A&M game
or watched it on TV on Thanksgiving day/night, Friday or Saturday of the holiday weekend. Now, with the Aggies in their fourth SEC
season, fans have to settle for the Longhorns and the Red Raiders.
Minus the upset
over OU in the Red River Rivalry, UT fans have not had a lot to cheer about in HBC
Charlie Strong’s second year in Austin.
The Horns are 4-6 and even with a win Thursday night may finish with a losing
season (they still have to play Baylor) and no bowl game.
Meanwhile, Tech HBC---and
reigning champion of the Ryan Gosling lookalike contest---Kliff Kingsbury brings
his Air Raid disciples to DKR-Memorial Stadium for a showdown as most of the
nation settles in after the first two NFL games for a third helping of T-Day cuisine.
After the Raiders
fire up their very potent offense, Texas fans will likely depart the
game early and head down to Sholz’s Beer Garden or 6th Street to
wash away their sadness.
Projected
winner: Texas Tech
Friday:
Anchors Away. #15 Navy
@ Houston.
Everything was
going just swell for the Cougars until they were upset last weekend. The Midshipmen, behind record-setting TD rushing QB
Keenan Reynolds have one loss, and that, to Notre Dame. And, the Middies are having their best season
in 110 years.
But, oh, that
Tom Herman Cougar offense can rack up some points---and they have a FBS top 15
D, too.
Projected
winner: Houston.
Children of the Corn. #4 Iowa @ Nebraska.
Plotline to the
1984 horror movie, from geeksofdoom.com: While
driving through Nebraska, Linda Hamilton and the guy from 30 Something have a
run-in with the murderous children who sacrifice adults to the evil corn god.
In the
breadbasket of the U.S., the undefeated---and currently in the Final Four---Hawkeyes
will circle the Lincoln skies looking for something on which to feast. The 5-6 Cornhuskers could prove to be mighty
tasty. Of course, that’s what Sparty,
thought, too, a couple of weeks ago.
Projected winner…
in an upset: Nebraska.
“Ward, I’m worried about the Beaver.”—June Evelyn Bronson Cleaver. Oregon St. @ #17 Oregon.
Decisions,
decisions. Which one of the gazillion
uni combinations will the Ducks wear at Autzen Stadium against the Beavers? Because with the PAC 12’s #1 offense, the
Ducks are pretty likely to outscore the Beavs’ FBS 121st ranked
offense and the Ducks uni scheme may be the most interesting aspect of the game.
Projected
winner: Oregon.
Thy Kingdom Come. #7 Baylor @ # 19 TCU.
When these two
Texas church school scoring machines meet in Ft.
Worth, you can count on one thing: The
heavens will open and points will rain down.
They combined
for 119 last year in Waco.
Bring your
calculators to the game. You’ll need
them.
Projected
winner: Baylor.
Saturday:
Just A Little Bit South Of North
Carolina-Dean Martin. #1 Clemson @ South Carolina.
There will be no visor throwing in Columbia on Saturday now that the original
HBC is gone.
The Fightin’ Dabos need to preserve their top spot in the CFP—and behind
Heisman contending QB Deshaun Watson, so they shall.
Projected winner: Clemson.
"Ya’ll get into the truck, we goin’ up to the big house."—Jeff Foxworthy. #8 Ohio State @ #10 Michigan.
The spirits of
Woody and Bo will linger over the Big House when the Buckeyes come to Ann Arbor
to face the Wolverines.
A chance for Ohio State to get
into the Big 10 championship game (if there’s losing help from Mich. St. and
Iowa) is on the line.
This year's stats for both teams indicate that
whoever wins the ground game is likely to prevail.
Projected winner:
Michigan.
“Big wheels keep on turnin,’ takin’ me home to see my kin.”-Lynyrd
Skynyrd. #2 Alabama @ Auburn
Intrastate country cousins
the Tide and Tigers meet at Jordan-Hare Stadium on what is considered New Year’s
Day in Alabama. That’s because whichever team wins, the other team and their
fans have to live with it—HARD--for the next 365 days.
Oh sure, you say, there
are other rivalries as bitter as this one. Yeah, like the
Israelis and the Palestinians. However, if they fielded FBS teams, Israel-PLO
would probably still come in second to Bama-Auburn in rivalry status . Maybe third.
Or, fourth. Or….
Bama has to win to
stay alive for an SEC championship game berth and preserve its spot in the Final
Four. Auburn…is just playing for pride
after a dismal year when at the start of the season many prognosticators had them
winning the SEC West.
Now…when we last
left our heroes Gus and Nick on the Pat Dye Field turf two years ago with :01 to play…….nah,
nothing like that would ever happen again, would it???
Hey, c'mon, it’s the Iron
Bowl.
Projected winner…in
possibly a close one: Bama.
“Rock, sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating
the boys, tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for
the Gipper.”—Ronald Reagan in Knute
Rockne, All American. #6 Notre Dame @ # 9 Stanford.
SAT scores and athleticism
meet in Palo Alto. The Irish, after a
CFP drop due to the sluggish win in Boston last week, face the two-loss
Cardinal in what very much still has CFP implications for the Leprechauns.
If there’s a team
this year that’s been more injury-bitten than the Irish and has still found a way
to win, Coach Jim Bob would like to see it.
The Cardinal boasts
a Heisman-contending runner in Christian McCaffrey and three-year starter Kevin Hogan behind center.
The Irish will need
all the luck they can get to go the distance with Stanford.
Projected
winner: Stanford.
“You’re the reason God made Oklahoma.”—Shelly West and David Frizzell.
#3 Oklahoma @ #11 Oklahoma State.
Not since Miranda
and Blake (who, BTW, did a duet of the 1981 hit, as well) split earlier this year has there been a family feud in Oklahoma that’s
drawn as much attention as when the Sooners meet the Cowboys in Stillwater.
And, not since the
great Oklahoma land rush of 1889 has there been the possibility of an offensive
stampede like there might be in Boone Pickens Stadium Saturday night.
With OU’s Bob
Stoops and State’s Mike Gundy prowling the sidelines, there could possibly be
some uproariously funny HBC antics based on what the Generation Z/Boomlets do
on the field.
CFP possibilities
abound in what could be a track meet with a football thrown in for good measure.
Hey, they don’t
call it “Bedlam” for nuthin’.
Projected
winner: OU.
Now, some Quick Headlines…
“Abe said, ‘Where you want this killin’ done?’ God said, ‘Out on highway 61.”-Bob Dylan. #18 Ole Miss at #21 Miss. State.
As sure as U.S. 61,
aka the Blues Highway, winds its way up the west side of the Magnolia State, the
Egg Bowl in Starkville will be a raucously entertaining evening affair
featuring two very good QBs in Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly and State’s Dak Prescott.
But, the ‘Dog D may
prove the difference.
Projected
winner: Miss. State.
“We already won, we already won, And ain't no need to play no more games.”—Flo
Rida. # 13 Florida State @ #12 Florida.
The Gators have a
SEC East slot in the conference championship game sewn up already. The two-loss Seminoles are now playing to try
to get a really good bowl bid somewhere south of the CFP.
Saban acolytes
Jimbo Fisher and Jim McElwain will have their charges keyed up and playing hard
long after the home crowd sings “We Are The Boys,” just before the fourth
quarter begins.
Projected
winner: Florida.
“Such a strange situation stoppin’ every hundred miles…callin’
Baton Rouge”—Garth Brooks. Texas A&M @ LSU.
Oops. I left out their rankings. Oh. Wait.
No, I didn’t.
In just 28 days,
the Tigers and the Aggies have completely dropped out of the AP Top 25 due to a
brutal November.
Now, in his 11th
season, after a BCS National Championship—but, now facing the possibility of back-to back 4-4 SEC seasons--LSU
HBC and HGE (Head Grass Eater) Les Miles may be out of Baton Rouge in mere
days.
WHAAAATTTT!?!?!?!?!
Gee, I faintly remember
when Bama ran off Gene Stallings, UT ran off Mack Brown and Texas A&M ran
off R.C. Slocum. As Dr. Phil would say,
how’s that working out for ya???
Careful, now LSU admin. and fans. As Emmylou Harris would say, "the thing they don't tell you about the blues when you got 'em, you keep on fallin' 'cause here ain't no bottom."
Now…stay tuned for
the return of the Leonard Fournette Show.
Projected
winner: LSU
Sources: ncaa.com; IMBD.com; Associated Press;
geeksofdoom.com; A-Z Lyrics.