NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK FIVE PREVIEW
-West Virginia and South Florida meet in the first of what will probably be many big games in the Big East this season. Both teams are unbeaten. West Virginia is way ahead in the polls, but South Florida is very happy to be ranked #18th, which is the highest ranking they’ve ever had. USF’s defense is pretty solid, so it will be interesting to see what they can do against WVU’s high powered running offense. It should be a great scene in Tampa tonight.
-California and Oregon, two other unbeaten and highly ranked teams, will square off Saturday. Both teams are chasing USC and I don’t know if either team could beat the Trojans, but it’s possible that the winner of this game could still get to a BCS Bowl. The problem for California is that they play the Trojans late in the year, which would give them less time to climb up the polls if they were to lose to USC and drop in the rankings.
-Michigan State at Wisconsin is our third game of the week that features two unbeaten teams that are ranked. Michigan State hammered Notre Dame last week, but that’s hardly an indicator that they are any good. Wisconsin is unbeaten, but they haven’t been winning quite as impressively as many probably thought. Personally I don’t see either of these teams winning the Big Ten title, but the winner of this game will still be very much alive. For Michigan State, it would be a huge road win that would really give them a big jump in the rankings.
-Temple is at Army. I don’t know if it’s possible for two teams to lose in the same game, but if any two teams can do it it’s these two.
-Akron is at Connecticut. One normally wouldn’t call Akron a true test for an opponent, but in this case Akron is clearly better than nearly every team Connecticut has played. UConn did look good against Pittsburgh last week, but that is the only team UConn has played that’s actually beaten an FBS/1A team.
-Auburn has gotten off to a rocky start, and that could continue as they travel to Florida on Saturday. Florida really struggled last week against Ole Miss, which was the first road game for the Gators. They have been simply amazing at home, though. The Gators could run in trouble in a road game later on, but expect them to roll on Saturday.
-Alabama and Florida State will square off in Jacksonville. This is a big game for Florida State. They’ve won two in a row, and it’s been a long time since the Seminoles have had any sort of momentum or real excitement. Alabama has played well this season and they aren’t likely to beat themselves.
-Clemson and Georgia Tech will face off in a huge ACC game. Clemson is trying to remain unbeaten, and Georgia Tech is trying to reverse their fortunes. With two conference losses already, the chances of them winning a division title are very low, but they need to win this game if they want to get into the Gator or Chick-Fil-A Bowls. Remember, the fact that they are located in Atlanta will impress bowl scouts from Chic-Fil-A.
-East Carolina and Houston, two strong teams in C-USA square off. Many are picking Houston to win the West. East Carolina dropped a tough one to Southern Mississippi in the opener, so hopes of a divisional title could evaporate if they can’t pull the upset on the road today. East Carolina can play tough defense, and Houston really appears to have a strong offense, so that match-up will be fun to watch.
-Penn State travels to Illinois in what is a huge opportunity for the Illini. Penn State better be on upset alert. The Illini have won three straight since losing their season opener to Missouri, and have looked better and better each week. They went into Indiana and controlled the Hoosiers for most of the game. Penn State is coming off a loss to Michigan, and their season could really nose-dive if they drop two conference games in a row.
-Indiana visits Iowa in a game the Hawkeyes really need to win. They’ve lost two straight, both of which were close games, and took Wisconsin to the wall last week. IU is still trying to get their win total high enough to go bowling, which would be a huge step forward for their program.
-Air Force visits Navy in a game that will likely determine the Commander-and-Chief trophy. It isn’t likely that Army would be able to compete with either of these teams. Navy’s schedule is so weak that it looks as if they’ll get the six wins they need to qualify for the Poinsettia Bowl, but they do not look like a very good team. Needing a last second field goal to beat Duke and losing to Ball State are indicators that maybe a team isn’t so good.
-Winless Notre Dame visits lossless Purdue. A loss for Notre Dame means they are just two away from being eliminated from the bowl picture entirely. A win for Purdue really doesn’t mean much other than they are still undefeated, and therefore technically still in the BCS Title picture…for now. There isn’t a whole lot of buzz about Purdue despite their perfect record. Blowing out Notre Dame should get them some attention though, even though the Irish are not a very good team.
-Mississippi State visits South Carolina. MSU has been playing very well since being blown out in their season opener against LSU. South Carolina is coming off of a loss at LSU. They played much better than Mississippi State did in the season opener, but this appears to be a more evenly matched game than the rankings indicate. Still, the Gamecocks have done a good job defending their home turf.
-Tulane is the “home” team against LSU, but don’t be fooled. The game is in the Super Dome and it promises to be a very pro LSU crowd. The two teams are not evenly matched and although they are geographically close, it’s hard to call this a rivalry.
-Virginia is trying to win their fourth straight game as they host Pittsburgh. Given how good Virginia has looked and how bad Pitt has looked, I’m predicting a win for the Cavaliers.
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