The 2008 college football season features some great non-conference games that you won't want to miss. Looks like all the talk a few years ago about needing to schedule tougher non- conference games resonated with many teams because we have a lot of interesting and intriguing match-ups this year. Here are 20 must-see non-conference games that should be good ones.
20. Boise State at Oregon
Boise State isn't the defending WAC Champions this year, but Ian Johnson and the Broncos travel to Eugene in what should be a high scoring fun game to watch.
19. Miami at Texas A&M
The Hurricanes embarrassed the Aggies in Miami last year so A&M should be looking for some payback this time around.
18. Notre Dame at USC
USC owns this series right now winning six straight games, and it doesn't look like it will change this time around. Charlie Weis maybe looking to 2009 to break the streak.
17. Cincinnati at Oklahoma
This is an intriguing match-up. Cincinnati is a quality team and should give Oklahoma a game, but the Sooners should take care of business here.
16. Utah at Michigan
Utah almost beat Michigan few years ago the first time they met in Ann Arbor. With Michigan in transition right now, don't be surprised if Utah goes in and starts Michigan's season off with a loss once again.
15. South Carolina at Clemson
The annual Palmetto State clash is always a fun one. Clemson will be in the running for an ACC championship, but South Carolina will be looking to get a big rivalry win.
14. Michigan at Notre Dame
This game will have some added intrigue with Charlie Weis' latest comments in which he said, "We'll let Michigan make the excuses...to hell with Michigan." This could be a fun one.
13. Virginia Tech at Nebraska
This is another great match-up that you don't see often. The Hokies will make a rare trip to Lincoln in what should be a really good game.
12. UCLA at BYU
Rick Neuheisel brings his Bruin team into BYU looking for an early signature win. This could be a big game for BYU to get a big win and stay alive for a BCS at large berth if they can go undefeated.
11. Arkansas at Texas
Bobby Petrino brings his Hogs team into Austin for a border war. Last time Arkansas visited Texas, Matt Jones and Cedric Cobbs ran wild on the Longhorns. I wouldn't expect the same this time around.
10. Kansas at South Florida
A few years ago, nobody would have cared about seeing Kansas and South Florida, but this should be a good game. South Florida getting a rare visit from another BCS conference team, both will be looking to solidify their programs even further with a win over the other.
9. Florida at Florida State
Always one of my favorite games every year, the Sunshine state rivalry should be another great one this year. Tebow and the Gators could be playing for a BCS title game berth, but they will have to go through Tallahassee to do it. The Gators and Seminoles could also be looking for the state championship, since both play Miami as well.
8. Georgia Tech at Georgia
Paul Johnson gets his first taste of this rivalry this year in Athens. The Bulldogs could also be playing for a BCS title game berth, and the Yellow Jackets new offense under Johnson should provide a good test.
7. Tennessee at UCLA
Tennessee has a habit of playing the west coast teams, playing Cal the last two years, and now matching up with UCLA. The Bruins will be under new coach Rick Neuheisel and will have their hands full with the Vols.
6. Miami at Florida
These two teams renew a great rivalry in Gainesville. This game might be a great one next year, but Miami just doesn't have enough firepower to hang with the Gators this time around.
5. Alabama vs. Clemson (played in Georgia Dome in Atlanta)
Nick Saban and the Tide look to make 2008 their year of resurgence, but an opening day game against the Tigers will be a tough test. Clemson will be looking to start the season off with a big win to catapult themselves into what they think could be a big year.
4. Illinois vs. Missouri (played in St. Louis)
This rivalry game turned into something bigger last year with the success of both Missouri and Illinois. Now with both teams looking for more success, this should be a really fun game to watch with Chase Daniel and Juice Williams going head to head.
3. Georgia at Arizona State
The Bulldogs travel to Tempe to face the Sun Devils in what should be a great one. Georgia will be looking to start their BCS championship run off with a big non-conference win, while the Sun Devils will be looking to prove that last year was no fluke and upset the Dawgs.
2. Auburn at West Virginia
This will be a battle of the spread offenses. The Mountaineers run the spread to perfection with Pat White leading the way, while Auburn is implementing a more pass happy version of the spread as their new offense. New West Virginia coach Bill Stewart has a chance to make a statement with another big win, but the Tigers want to make a BCS run and a big non-conference win on a Thursday night would help them do that.
1. Ohio State at USC
This was an easy choice. This is the best non-conference match-up in the regular season in a long time. Both teams will no doubt be in national title contention all season and this could end up being a tie breaker of sorts. The winner of this game will have taken a huge step towards getting to Miami for the BCS title game.
My take on where the University of Iowa went wrong in its rape investigation and what should have happened as well as why athletes when caught need to be held responsibile. (Read More)
comments (13) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Obviously The OSU USC game. I think that Auburn WVU is a good game but it will not be close. I think with Slaton gone and that crazy FB they had last year WVU will have a tough time with AU's defense.
from 2 months ago
Lots of people are counting WVU out, but Devine has already shown he will step in for Slaton without missing a beat. Slaton was out for most of the Fiesta Bowl, and Devine ran up and down the field all night on Oklahoma's defense.
We will miss the fullback Owen Schmitt clearing holes for our speedy backfield, but you're going to see the pass open up a lot more for Pat White which should pull some pressure off of our run game. Stew has promised us more of what we saw in the Fiesta Bowl. If you don't think the kid can pass, check out the '06 Pitt game. Watching that will make you wonder what went so terribly wrong this December when we played them again.
I think Auburn and WVU at #2 is a good call and WVU will surprise a lot of people this year. It's going to be a good game. I can't wait.
2 months ago
Hope you are right. There a lot of really good games, that's for sure.
2 months ago
Well Pat White better be able to throw it because if they can't get a running game going it will get ugly quick. I wonder if anyone remembers a game where Ohio State showed up with a pretty good QB and some talent but faced a fast and aggressive defense. Oh yeah it was the National Title game where Florida woodshed OSU and Troy Smith. I really like Pat White I played against him in High School but to ask him to beat Auburn will be tough. He needs some physical running which Devine nor white bring to the table. By the way all of Devine's runs were holes opened by Schmidt against OK. He was a beast. Hope It Is A Good Game.
2 months ago
I appreciate UO-BSU being included here. The Ducks want to show they can compete with the best in the nation year in and year out, not just once in a while. Boise State may not be a marquee team but a win over the Broncos definitely gets noticed. On the flip side I'm sure the Smurf Turf Brigade would love nothing better than to try for another BCS run with a win against a good Pac-10 team on the resume. Not to mention that the Broncos do try to recruit out of the state of Oregon (former Fiesta Bowl MVP Jared Zabransky is a native Oregonian), a win against a regional big-shot could help out their future talent base.
2 months ago
Another interesting development to the Mizzou/Illinois game is the fact that Illinois received a BCS bid and MU didn't despite losing to them and having a worse record and worse losses.
And at the MU/Illinois basketball game in StL in December the Illinois fans had the nerve to chant "BCS BCS" after their team won.
And yeah that OSU/USC game might be OK.
2 months ago
Like that you included the BYU/UCLA game and Utah/Michigan. BYU game should be interesting with Norm Chow at UCLA as the O-Coordinator who was at BYU forever before Chow was at NC State, USC, and the Titans. As for the Utah/Michigan game this should be a good chance for the Utes to get some national pub, the Utes return nearly everyone and their young defense stepped it up last year should be one of the best in the MWC and at least top third nationally. We all know about the coaching situation in Michigan
2 months ago
Good games. I like what you've done here.
2 months ago
Don't overlook the Wisconsin V. Fresno St. game. Fresno St. is a very good team who shoud be ranked when the season starts.
2 months ago
"1. Ohio State at USC
This was an easy choice. This is the best non-conference match-up in the regular season in a long time."
Not to get too nit-picky, but OSU-Texas happened in 2005 and 2006 and was just as good a matchup as OSU-USC. Oh, and here are some future "best non-conference games" of the year candidates:
2009: USC at Ohio State
2010: Miami FL at Ohio State
2011: Ohio State at Miami FL
2012: Cal at Ohio State
2013: Ohio State at Cal
2014: Va. Tech at Ohio State
2015: Ohio State at Va. Tech
2016: Ohio State at Oklahoma
2017: Oklahoma at Ohio State
2018: Ohio State at Tennessee
2019: Tennessee at Ohio State
That's right - OSU has the biggest balls of any program in the country.
from 2 months ago
How many of these do you think Ohio State will win? I do appreciate Ohio State going outside of the conference to add some real games to their schedule unlike Michigan adding Vanderbilt. The lowest team in the SEC on most years.
from 2 months ago
Well, it's impossible to tell, really, how good each team will be between now and 2019. But I would assume that one way or another, OSU will probably split the games. Miami FL has fallen on hard times, but could be completely rebounded by the time we play them based on the recruits they're landing.
Cal and Va. Tech can be swept, but winning in Blacksburg is a pretty tall order. The rest of the teams I'm guessing will take at least one game from OSU - hopefully only one.
As much as I dislike Michigan, little did they know that Notre Dame would become a laughing stock.
2 months ago
This was a terrific choice for article, and it was clear you did research....I enjoyed it
write a new comment