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).

No. 8 Cincinnati (7-0, 3-0) at Syracuse (3-4, 0-2), noon/ 11c
Bearcats keep on trucking. Syracuse looked good last week to, but they beat Akron. Cincy keeps rollin’.

Rutgers (5-2, 0-2) at Connecticut (4-3, 1-2), noon/ 11c
UConn couldn’t get it done last week for their fallen comrade, but I say they do it today.

Arkansas State at Louisville (2-5, 0-3), 3:30/ 2:30c
Why? Just why? Louisville, I guess.

Big 12
Finally, a league I care about! And know nothing about, apparently. Last week I was an atrocious 1-4 in the Big 12. Admittedly, there were some big upsets: Most notably, Iowa State’s first win over Nebraska in Lincoln since 1977.

Hopefully the upsets don’t continue today.

Nebraska (4-3, 1-2) at Baylor (3-4, 0-3), 12:30/ 11:30c
Nebraska can’t drop three straight games to inferior conference teams. They just can’t. Can they? Baylor better not pull an upset here…

Missouri (4-3, 0-3) at Colorado (2-5, 1-2), 1:30/ 2:30c
I used to think Mizzou was awesome. Now, not so much. Their defense is terrible. Blaine Gabbart will be good in two years but I think we can all see that he isn’t the heir apparent to Chase Daniel quite yet. Also, they got upwards of 30 inches of snow in the Rockies. This does not bode well fort Mizzou.

Iowa State (5-3, 2-2) at Texas A&M (5-3, 1-2), 3:30/ 2:30c
Plucky little ISU beat Nebraska with half the team sick with [swine?] flu. A&M beat Tech with offense. I’m pulling for the Cyclones. Just ’cause.

Kansas (5-2, 1-2) at Texas Tech (5-3, 2-2), 3:30/ 2:30c
Reesing? Heisman? Seriously? No.

Kansas State (5-3, 3-1) at Oklahoma (4-3, 2-1), 7/ 6c
Don’t look now, but the Purplecats are on top of the Big 12 North. I don’t think they can beat OU though.

No. 3 Texas (7-0, 4-0) at No. 14 Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-0), 8/ 7c
Colt McCoy. (I agree with Knoxy, this is the game of the week).

Big 10
Michigan State has now given away three games in the final minute, while Iowa has won three different games in the final minute. Most definitely last week’s game of the week.

Indiana (4-4, 1-3) at No. 4 Iowa (8-0, 4-0), noon/ 11c
Iowa has one last real test before them if they want a shot (however outside) at some major hardware. This, however, is not it. Hawks big at home.

New Mexico State (3-5) at No. 17 Ohio State (6-2, 4-1), noon/ 11c
What the f*%k am I supposed to say about this?

Purdue (3-5, 2-2) at Wisconsin (5-2, 2-2), noon/ 11c
Hey now Boilers, two in a row! And Wisconsin has lost two coming off a bye week. This could be a terrible football game. I’ll go with the momentum and pick Purdue.

Michigan (5-3, 1-3) at Illinois (1-6, 0-5), 3:30/ 2:30c
Boy, Michigan looked bad against Penn State. I was way wrong about them maybe pulling the upset. But they won’t have any trouble with Illinois.

No. 12 Penn State (7-1, 3-1) at Northwestern (5-3, 2-2), 4:30/ 3:30c
The other Purplecats are in good position to finish in the top half of the league. They won’t do it against Penn State, but it will happen. Mark my words…

Michigan State (4-4, 3-2) at Minnesota (4-4, 2-3), 8/ 7c
MSU should win if their defense doesn’t fall apart in the final five minutes again.

A final complaint: This will be the fourth game of the past five of Sparty’s that has appeared exclusively on the Big Ten Network. Next week’s game will also be on the Big Ten Network. Is there some a$$hole somewhere that has personally decided to piss me off? Have I ever wronged any ESPN or ABC executives in any way? I will grovel.

Big 12
No. 15 Oklahoma State at Baylor
No, you aren’t even getting team records this week. Why? I’m too lazy to look them up and type them in after copying and pasting. Suck it.

Anywho, I still think OK State is not that good. Yeah, they did beat Mizzou (bad call there on my part) but somehow they just don’t do it for me. That said, there’s no way Baylor even comes within 3 touchdowns.

Iowa State at Nebraska
You know ISU has actually been somewhat good in this decade? I didn’t either, until Wikipedia told me it was true. Also surprising is that the Cyclones have actually beaten Nebraska in this decade. Twice! Really. Not this year.

Colorado at Kansas State
Nice upset by the Buffs last week against Kansas. I’m thinking they can be 2-0 against the entire state this week. Which, admittedly, isn’t that hard to accomplish.

Oklahoma at No. 25 Kansas
I didn’t watch a minute of the OU-UT game, but I think Bradford got hurt again. Are they good enough without him to beat the Jayhawks? (No, honestly, I have no idea, I’ve only seen them play a single half against BYU with him. So I’ll go with KU just because I know what they can do.)

Texas A&M at Texas Tech
Something about Texas Tech makes me really happy inside. Everything about Texas A&M makes me mad that the state of Texas exists (I lived there for a year, those f#(!ers are insufferable). I think you can see where I’m going with this.

No. 3 Texas at Missouri
Homecoming for Mizzou will spell disaster if they don’t stop falling apart in the second half of all their conference games.

Big East
Rutgers already beat Army today (Friday nights? Again? Why?!), so that’s just one less pick I have to make.

South Florida at No. 20 Pittsburgh
USF got steamrolled by the Bearcats, but that’s their only blemish on a solid season that includes a win over the Seminoles. Pitt has done… absolutely nothing. Remind me why people think they’re good again?

Connecticut at No. 23 West Virginia
UConn wins for Jasper Howard. It’s the only pick I can make without sounding like a douche who hasn’t watched either team.

Louisville at No. 5 Cincinnati
Well, OK Cincy hasn’t really done sh!t either this season, but for some reason I guess I like the fact that they seem to be just coming out of nowhere. Also, I have to pick against any team that wears football jerseys that say “The ‘Ville” on them.

Akron at Syracuse
I searched for something insightful to say here, but instead I got this: Nothing. Absolutely nothing will happen in this game, and no one will even notice.

Big Ten
Iowa at MSU just might be the game of the week in the entire NCAA.

Minnesota at No. 19 Ohio State
OK, nation. As much as it pains me to admit as a Big Ten fan, Ohio State is just not that good. I mean, sure, they are KINDA good. That loss to USC didn’t prove much other than that USC is just really good, but the near-miss against Navy combined with the loss at a really, really, sh!tty Purdue team just tells us all we need to know. Seriously, Prudue really sucks. Honestly. Bad. BUT… they’ll still beat the Gophers at home. I think.

Indiana at Northwestern
Northwestern’s three losses have all been close. Then again, so have all three of their FBS wins. They’ll beat the Hoosiers, but it will be a lot closer than it should.

Illinois at Purdue
Basketball season is coming soon (I seem to say that a lot about the Illini these days, huh?). Until then, wake me up when Juice Williams actually lives up to his potential. I’ll go with Purdue just based on last week, despite their major suckiness.

No. 13 Penn State at Michigan
OK. I’ll level with you. I hate Michigan. So much. But they, unlike Ohio State, actually have the tools. They may not be a great team NOW, but just wait two years and they will be a legit top ten team when Tate Forcier gets more experience. On top of that, they have a great shot of pulling off this upset. I’ll go with them today for my upset special.

No. 6 Iowa at Michigan State
This really is the national game of the week, in my eyes. Sure, you could give me Texas-Mizzou, but Mizzou’s defense has not been very good against real Big 12 offenses. At least, not when it counts.

No, give me this game: that touted Iowa defense against Kirk Cousins and a Sparty team with a nicely balanced attack. (Unfortunately, it has been sentenced to the death that is the Big 10 Network).

Regardless, Iowa is just rolling right now, and MSU can’t seem to win any important games these days, besides Michigan. Hawkeyes go 8-0.

Finally, Notre Dame over Boston College and Hillsdale over Wayne State. Peace.

But before I start with the real teams, I’d like to give a shoutout to my alma mater. It’s not often that I get to brag to outsiders about a place mostly known for its disturbing conservatism and a murder-suicide scandal that was eventually made into a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode. (I went there because I thought it was less conservative, more libertarian, yadda, yadda…)

Anyhow, the news is this: Hillsdale College beat No. 1 Grand Valley State University for the first time in 15 years. GVSU hadn’t lost a GLIAC game since 2004. Basically, they were unstoppable. But we beat them. Because we are awesome. Props to you, Charger football team, props to you!

Alright, now, onto the real football picks.

Last week: 17-4 (also had a few non-picks, including Illinois-MSU)

Big East

They’re playing games this week on Thursday AND Friday. They REALLY need viewers, don’t they?

No. 8 Cincinnati (5-0) at No. 21 South Florida (5-0) (Thursday, 7:30/ 6:30c
OK, this looks like it will actually be a good game. The Bearcats intrigue me. I will choose them if only because on the highlights I see, they look like they’re on a roll.

Pittsburgh (5-1) at Rutgers (4-1), Friday 8/ 7c
This is why I hate the Big East for football. They’re seriously going to play this game on a Friday? Who plays on Friday if you aren’t in high school? Why will anyone watch this, and do they think people in their own viewing area will even care? Pitt, I guess.

Louisville (2-3) at Connecticut (3-2), 12/ 11c
In the Big East, nearly every game would be better indoors in the winter. This one is no exception. I’ll keep that in mind when making my picks from now on, and go with Louisville, just ’cause.

Marshall (4-2)at West Virginia (4-1), 3:30/ 2:30c
Does anyone else find it weird, looking back, that Randy Moss went to Marshall? He seems more like a Miami or USC kinda guy. A bigtime guy. Just an observation. I’ll go with the Herd, just for the hell of it.

Big 12

No. 20 Oklahoma (3-2) vs. No. 3 Texas (5-0), noon/ 11c
My colleague says this: “Can we really live in a world in which an Oklahoma team with a Heisman-winning quarterback is unranked?” God, I hope so. I’ll go directly against him and say UT wins big.

Texas Tech (4-2) at No. 15 Nebraska (4-1), 3:30/ 2:30 c
If the Huskers can best Tech, I think we can call them back for good. Can we? Let’s hope. No more Texas dominance. Go Blackshirts.

No. 17 Kansas (5-0) at Colorado (1-4), 7/ 6 c
Remember when CU was a feared football school? Remember when KU was a laughingstock unless you were on the court? This is almost a joyless exercise. Rock Chalk, again.

Baylor (3-2) at Iowa State (3-3), 7/ 6c
Iowa State maybe isn’t as bad as I thought, they almost beat KU. Either that or the Jayhawks just happen to be the best team in a weak division. OK, yeah, nevermind. Baylor.

Texas A&M (3-2) at Kansas State (3-2), 7/ 6c
I will keep picking against K-State until they stop wearing purple. Sorry, Gogol Bordello, but that color just makes K-State look even worse than they are.

Missouri (4-1) at No. 16 Oklahoma State (4-1), 9:15/ 8:15c
Man, does Mizzou get screwed when it comes to scheduling. They’ve played on a Thursday, on a Friday, and now this. 9:15 p.m. eastern? Just who do they think is going to watch this at 9:15 p.m. eastern? Many Mizzou or OK State fans on the east coast? Whatever. We know Mizzou isn’t nearly as good as maybe they should be— that Nebraska loss was embarrassing. But I’m still not convinced about the Cowboys, either. I’d say it’s a wash and pick OK State, barely.

Big 10
Iowa is awesome. I can forgive them their near eff-up against Northern Iowa after seeing that defense against legit teams. My preemptive Big 10 champions. Screw OSU.

No. 7 Ohio State (5-1) at Purdue (1-5), noon/ 11c
I did not realize how bad Purdue was.

No. 11 Iowa (6-0) at Wisconsin (5-1), noon/ 11c
Part 2 of Iowa’s four-part road test. They already won in State College, they have to prove themselves in Madison, East Lansing AND Columbus. I say they do it, I love that defense.

Northwestern (4-2) at Michigan State (3-3), noon/ 11c
Maybe Sparty is back at respectability. They should have been better this year. Guess not. I’ll go with them though.

Delaware State (1-3) at Michigan (4-2), noon/ 11c
You have GOT to be kidding me. Rich Rod cannot be serious here. Can we please get them to lose to a D-IAA school again? Probabaly won’t happen, but God I want it to.

Minnesota (4-2) at No. 14 Penn State (5-1), 3:30/ 2:30c
Penn State. I don’t care.

Illinois (1-4) at Indiana (3-3), 7/ 6c
Juice Williams was supposed to be the “it” QB of the Big 10, wasn’t he? What a tool. Hoosiers.

Independents
Army (3-3) at Temple, 1/ noon c
Big win for the cadets last week against Vandy. They can beat Temple.

No. 6 USC (4-1) at No. 25 Notre Dame (4-1), 3:30/ 2:30c
There are two and only two possible scenarios for this game: 1) USC scores four touchdowns in the first quarter and it is a boring blowout; 2) Notre Dame stays tough the whole time and takes it to overtime for a controversial win. There is no third option. That said, I hope it is choice No. 2 because if not my dd is going to be miserable, and I don’t want to have to deal with that.

Navy (4-2) at Southern Methodist (3-2), 8/ 7c
Don’t these teams play every year? I don’t even know. I’ll pick Navy.

MAC
Eh, not today.

In short, here are some observations. Big 10: mediocre, but not as horrible as others would have you believe. Big 12: Not sure, since no one played anyone. MAC: Still the MAC.

I’d also like to announce that, despite my previous disparaging remarks on the conference, I’m taking on all the Big East games, because the other guy who will be joining me in talking about college football doesn’t want them. Would you? But they have Cincinnati, which is technically in the Midwest. So that’s fun.

I’m also taking the liberty of talking about Notre Dame (they might as well be a Big Ten football team anyway) and Army and Navy. Gold-helmeted independents of the football world unite!

OK, enough bull. I haven’t even looked at which games are being played this week, so this should be fun (and way too long). I am copying and pasting them to this window right….NOW!

Big 12
Starting with them because the Mizzou/ Nebraska game is tonight.

No. 21 Nebraska (3-1) at No. 24 Missouri (4-0), Thursday 9/ 8c
Blaine Gabbert vs. the Zombie Blackshirts. Nebraska has the fewest points allowed in the NCAA, but that’s because they’ve only played the entire Sun Belt Conference (plus VT, a sh*tty loss). Mizzou has decent wins over Illinois and Nevada. Tigers keep rolling.

No. 15 Oklahoma State (3-1) at Texas A&M (3-1), 12:30/ 11:30c
That Aggie loss to Arkansas was embarrassing, but no more so than OK State’s win over Grambling. Pokes still win.

Iowa State (3-2) at No. 16 Kansas (3-2), 12:30/ 11:30 c
The good team from Kansas vs. the crappy team from Iowa. I know, it’s hard to keep these flyover schools straight, isn’t it? Rock Chalk.

Baylor (3-1) at No. 19 Oklahoma (2-2), 3:30/ 2:30c
Will he or won’t he? Hint: OU could put Wayne Coyne at quarterback and still beat Baylor.

Kansas State (3-2) at Texas Tech (3-2) 7/ 6c
Purple and red is an ugly color combination. Luckily, Tech won’t make me watch it for too long.

Colorado (1-3) at No. 2 Texas (4-0), 7:15/ 6:15c
Hey, Michigan isn’t the only BCS school who’s lost to Toledo in the past 12 months! Welcome to the club, Buffs!

Big 10
The title of this post says it all. The Big Ten: Where mediocrity happens.

Eastern Illinois (4-1) at No. 14 Penn State (4-1), noon/ 11c
This game is on ESPN Classic. Who is honestly going to go out of their way to tune into this game?

Miami (OH) (0-5) at Northwestern (3-2), noon/ 11c
The sh*tty Miami team takes on the only somewhat good Northwestern team. The other Northwestern team already lost to Houston and gets a tussle with Central Arkansas, a region of that state that, apparently, exists.

Purdue (1-4) at Minnesota (3-2), noon/ 11c
I have nothing to say to the state of Minnesota at this point. You are dead to me, and you can take your crappy dome with you. Boiler up, baby.

Michigan State (2-3) at Illinois (1-3), noon/ 11 c
The two biggest disappointments of the Big Ten this season. Whaddaya say we just skip this one and re-gather in Champaign come March?

Wisconsin (5-0) at No. 9 Ohio State (4-1), 3:30/ 2:30c
Your eyes are deceiving you. The Badgers are not REALLY undefeated. It’s all part of the media conspiracy. Or something. Bucks.

Indiana (3-2) at Virginia (1-3), 3:30/ 2:30c
Come on, people, give me something to work with here! I guess IU hasn’t lost to an FCS opponent, so I’ll give them the dubious nod.

Michigan at No. 12 Iowa, 8:05/ 7:05c
This might as well be the only game in the Big Ten this week. Both teams have humorously-named quarterbacks. Tate Forcier is just a sex pun waiting to happen (“It’s INSANE this guy’s Tait!“). And Ricky Stanzi kind of sounds like “stasi“, those wacky German police and their crazy antics. I actively root against Michigan, and I will continue to do so here. Hawks.

Big East
As per my agreement with Knoxy, I’m forced into this. The Bearcats don’t play this week, which makes it even more difficult to stomach.

West Virginia (3-1) at Syracuse (2-3), noon/ 11c
I had to come back to this one. I forgot anything I ever knew about these teams, which is basically nothing. Mountaineers get it by record default. Side note: Why do Syracuse have a dome in their logo? That’s gotta be the least intimidating thing ever. I miss the giant anthropomorphic Orange.

Texas Southern (1-3) at Rutgers (3-1), 3:30/ 2:30c
How can I say anything about this game? Seriously. This is why the Big East is even shittier than the Big Ten. Rutgers wins.

Connecticut (3-1) at Pittsburgh (4-1), 3:30/ 2:30c
This would make an awesome basketball game. Think Pit can get Levance Fields to play wideout? I mean, just for the hell of it? It would only make them even more awesome.

Southern Miss (3-2) at Louisville (1-3), 7:30/ 6:30c
Favre College nearly beat Kansas, so that’s something. Maybe they can beat Louisville too and get an at-large bid in the… whoops, sorry, wrong sport again. My bad.

Independents
If I didn’t preview Notre Dame, my dad would be mad at me. Luckily, they don’t play this week. But I promised you Army and Navy, so Navy and Army you shall receive.

Vanderbilt (2-3) at Army (2-3), noon/ 11c
Too many damn gold helmets here. Just get it over with, already, Vandy.

Navy (3-2) at Rice (0-5), 3:30/ 2:30c
One of the favorite cheers we’d do in high school against our rivals at Brother Rice was this: “What comes out of a Chinamans’ a$$? RICE! RICE! RICE! RICE!” Not much more to this one than that.

MAC
I don’t know why I thought I wanted the MAC in the first place, but I do. I’ll cover all the ones that aren’t already playing a Big Ten team.

Eastern Michigan (0-4) at Central Michigan (4-1), noon/ 11c
Dan LeFevo(u?)r is kind of awesome. For a Central Michigan Chippewa, anyway. Best thing to come out of Mt. Pleasant since Chris Kaman.

Ball State (0-5) at Temple (2-2), 1/ 2c
You know they named a building after Letterman in Muncie? It’s true. It in no way trumps Cosby, however.

Gardner-Webb (4-1) at Buffalo (1-4), 3:30/ 2:30c
I honestly thought G-W was Division II team. Buffalo could be.

Bowling Green (1-4) at Kent State (2-3), 3:30/ 2:30c
Since we’re on the celebrity alma maters thing, might as well do the same here: Drew Carey always beats… hey, wait… Ric Ocasek? Seriously? OK, nevermind. Go Falcons.

Ohio (3-2) at Akron (1-3), 6/ 5c
Who starts games at 6 p.m.? I guess if you’re in Akron, you’ve got nothing better to do if the Black Keys aren’t in town.

Western Michigan (2-3) at Toledo (3-2), 7/ 6c
I’m drained on this. I have nothing left in the snark tank. Toledo.

Finally, Grand Valley State University (6-0) at (Hillsdale College (4-2). It’s the faceless directional state party school (seriously, most generic campus ever) vs. the kinda lame uptight liberal arts college (many of our football cheers, no joke, were based either on Latin wordplay or works of literature…. eff me). Who will win?

Well, the Chargers have lost their last ten games against the Lakers and are a Division II athletics machine. (GVSU has a student population of 24,000. Hillsdale has a population of 1,400. Gee, I wonder why they often get their asses kicked…)

It does not bode well for the Chargers, but it is homecoming and they are better than they have been in ages, so who knows?