The Other Fifteen

Can Boise get back in to the BCS despite their schedule? Our debate continues.

I missed last week’s picks because I was busy with my real job. Glad I did, because I most certainly would have picked Iowa to beat Northwestern. Just goes to show what a fool I am. They can’t play offense, it turns out. Only defense.

They’re in luck, because Ohio State can’t seem to play offense these days either. This might be the most boring big-name Big 10 game in a long while. I’ll get to it later.

Meanwhile, I want to talk about something I mentioned earlier this week. Boise State recently said they were having a lot of trouble scheduling any games for 2011. There was a list of BCS schools 10-deep, they said, that wouldn’t schedule them.

Our other college football expert Steve Knox gave me something of a rebuttal today. He makes a great point in saying that the big-conference teams have no reason to schedule teams like Boise State or TCU, because it does them no good, win or lose. I agree with this.

But he also says, and I quote: “[...] why should Florida have to schedule another difficult game when they’ve already got games against Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and an annual non-conference game against Florida State? Just because they’re the #1 team in the country doesn’t mean they should have to kill themselves week-in and week-out.”

Well, my response would be, if a team calls themselves the best team in the country they SHOULD kill themselves week-in and week-out. Why the hell shouldn’t we expect a top-tier football team to give 100% effort every week? If the Gators really are that good, they would be expected to be able to play teams like Boise State and TCU in addition to their regularly-scheduled conference games.

And if they can’t? Well, maybe they don’t deserve to be called the “best”.

Now, onto the picks.

Big East
As I write this, the Bearcats have just pulled ahead of the Mountaineers. And until they stop scheduling them, I will keep complaining about Friday night college football. Is nothing sacred anymore?

Notre Dame (6-3) at Pittsburgh (8-1)
The Irish are one of few teams in the country that can teeter on decent and yet still be in BCS consideration. However, I think last week’s loss to Navy put an end to that once and for all. I still love Golden Tate, but ND’s pass defense is horrible. Pitt, meanwhile, has quietly racked up an 8-1 season and No. 12 BCS ranking. I haven’t watched Pitt much but this should be a fairly good game I think. Panthers should win.

Syracuse (3-6) at Louisville (3-6)
The perfect storm of Big East suck. I’ll go with the Cards at home.

Big 12
No. 3 Texas (9-0, 5-0) at Baylor (4-5, 1-4)
I still think Texas will get upset. But Baylor is not the team that will do it. I think they used up all their upset power for 2009 by beating Mizzou for the first time ever.

Missouri (5-4, 1-4) at Kansas State (6-4, 4-2(
Speaking of which, Mizzou really sucks this year, huh? I mean, they were never that good the past two years anyway (as evidenced by their painful Big 12 championship showings). But now they really suck. K-State, on the other hand, can lock up another Big 12 North championship for Bill Snyder. I think he has proved this year that he is a football genius. They were nothing before him, nothing after him and before him again. I think the Purplecats need to keep him a zombie forever. Of course, they win this week.

Colorado (3-6, 2-3) at Iowa State (5-5, 2-4)
Cyclone fans, if they haven’t already jumped off a bridge following their hometown basketball star’s recent decision to go to UNC, must be pretty pleased with their football season so far. A win gets them bowl eligible. They should hold on at home.

Nebraska (6-3, 3-2) at Kansas (5-4, 1-4)
Nebraska is (slowly) regaining their rightful place in the pantheon of the football elite. Kansas is also slowly regressing to their rightful place of waiting for basketball season. The world is as it should be.

Texas A&M (5-4, 2-3) at Oklahoma (5-4, 3-2)
OU hadn’t lost to the Huskers in a while. Or maybe it hasn’t been that long, but it sure seems like a lifetime ago. Either way, they’ll come out this week and dominate after that one.

Texas Tech (6-3, 3-2) at No. 19 Oklahoma State (7-2, 4-1)
At the beginning of this season, this would have been the game of the year in the Big 12. It’s lost a lot of that luster but it should be great fun to watch. I’ll go with the Pokes at home.

Big Ten
Well, at least the Hawkeyes saved us the agony of Big 10 teams trying to argue their conference into relevance (Full disclosure: That guy would have been me). Now we get to see who “deserves” to play in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan (5-5, 1-5) at No. 20 Wisconsin (7-2, 4-2)
Michigan will finish 1-7 in the Big Ten this year despite managing to win 4 other games. Somehow, this is even worse than last year.

Indiana (4-6, 1-5) at No. 18 Penn State (8-2, 4-2)
Indiana might even finish ahead of Michigan this year.

South Dakota State at Minnesota (5-5)
Wake me up when the Gophers win by 80.

Northwestern (6-4, 3-3) at Illinois (3-6, 2-5)
Somehow, this is Illinois’ last conference game. I’m sure they are very pleased to hear that in Champaign. Purplecats win.

Michigan State (5-5, 3-3) at Purdue (4-6, 3-3)
So, is Sparty ever going to be on television again? The answer is most likley no, and that’s good, because I don’t think I can watch them anymore. I’m sure more eyes will be turned on this matchup in January when it matters on the basketball court. Until then? I’ll go MSU. They reaaaaaly want to be bowl eligible. Motor City Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl, here we come!

No. 10 Iowa (8-1, 5-1) at No. 11 Ohio State (8-2, 5-1)
Our national nightmare is now over. Let us now determine who will become Duck bait (Iowa by a ridiculous score of 9-7).