The Baker's Dozen: 13 College Football Games To Watch in Week 12

Time to change things up a bit. I’ll still have my top 10 games of the week, but with a few bonus games to keep an eye on.

Before we get to that, how about the Thursday night game in the Big XII? No. 12 Oklahoma State pulled out a win against a three-win Colorado team at home.

In Oklahoma State’s defense, it was playing without starting quarterback Zac Robinson, and has been without Dez Bryant at receiver. But thanks to third-string quarterback Brandon Weeden, who threw three touchdown passes, the Cowboys pulled out the 31-28 win to move to 9-2 on the year.

If Texas slips against Kansas or Texas A&M, it could be the Cowboys playing in the Big XII title game on Dec. 5.

Saturday’s games really don’t have the punch you would expect in late November. No. 1 Florida continues its “stellar” non-conference schedule when it plays host to Sun Belt powerhouse Florida International.

After all, the Panthers have beaten Western Kentucky, Louisiana-Lafayette and North Texas, and those are their only three wins.

Florida’s non-conference slate is a joke, padded with FIU, Troy and FCS foe Charleston Southern. The only decent game the Gators play out of league is the annual in-state grudge match with Florida State, which is 5-5 and will struggle to make a bowl game this year.

Second-ranked Alabama isn’t much better. The Crimson Tide takes on Tennessee-Chattanooga from the FCS on Saturday. It should be noted that Alabama has already beaten FIU and North Texas in its non-conference schedule.

The Tide do get credit for beating a ranked Virginia Tech team to start the season, which is something Florida cannot boast. In fact, Florida has beaten just one ranked team all season - No. 8 LSU. Alabama has beaten four ranked teams.

But yet, Florida is No. 1 because its in the SEC, and its schedule is so much tougher and more rugged than say a Boise State team that has also beaten one ranked team - No. 11 Oregon. Both teams won those games on the road.

But the Broncos are penalized for being in the WAC, and playing a so-called weaker schedule. Never mind the fact that Boise has won its games by an average of 27 points, four points better than Florida’s average margin of victory. Boise also averages 10 points more per game than Florida.

I’m not saying Boise is better than Florida, but what I am saying is that maybe Florida and the SEC aren’t exactly head and shoulders better than everybody else in the country. For the record, Boise State travels to play Utah State this weekend before a WAC showdown next week with high-scoring Nevada, which is also unbeaten in conference play.

Now that we’ve looked at Florida, Alabama and Boise State, how about we do the top 10 games of the week?
As always, all times are Central and BCS rankings are used.

10) Virginia at No. 23 Clemson

Clemson can clinch a berth in the ACC title game with a win over floundering Virginia.

It’s no secret how the Tigers have gotten to 7-3 with a 5-2 mark in the ACC riding the legs of C.J. Spiller (pictured).

The Heisman candidate has accounted for 14 touchdowns this season, six on the ground, four receiving, three kick returns and he even threw a TD pass. He’s rushed for 836 yards, and could eclipse 1,000 on Saturday against a Virginia team that is struggling to stop anybody.

The Cavaliers have lost four straight, allowing 32 points per game.

9) No. 16 Wisconsin at Northwestern

The Badgers close their Big Ten schedule in Evanston, where they’ve struggled as of late.

Wisconsin has dropped its last two meetings at Northwestern, and the Wildcats come in with a 7-4 record and a pretty good defense.

The key for Northwestern to pull off the upset in its season finale is to slow the Badgers running game.

Wisconsin has the Big Ten’s leading rusher, and front-runner for conference player of the year honors, in sophomore John Clay (32).

The 6'2", 247-pound bruiser has over 1,124 yards with 12 touchdowns this season and is coming off a 151-yard performance in the 45-24 win over Michigan in which he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter.

Behind Clay are two good backups in Zach Brown and true freshman Montee Ball. Even if Northwestern can slow Wisconsin’s rush attack, Badgers quarterback Scott Tolzien is coming off a game where he threw for four touchdowns and ran another one in.

Northwestern will have to try to wear down a Badgers defense that is among the best in the league against the run.

Michigan managed just 71 rushing yards, most of those coming late, and was unable to keep its defense rested. Northwestern doesn’t run the ball extremely well, so much of the onus will fall upon quarterback Mike Kafka, who has thrown for nearly 2,600 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.

8) Duke at No. 20 Miami

The Hurricanes can ill afford to look past a Duke team fighting for bowl eligibility. The Blue Devils haven’t been to a bowl game since losing the Hall of Fame Bowl to Wisconsin following the 1994 season.

With only four wins over FBS opponents, Duke must win its final two games against Miami and Wake Forest to become bowl eligible.

To prevent the upset, Miami must take the passing lanes away from Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis (pictured).

The senior signal caller has 2,640 passing yards and 16 touchdown passes to six interceptions. If Lewis struggles, Duke loses because the Blue Devils can simply not run the ball.

Duke, as a team, has 639 rushing yards on the season with just five touchdowns.

Miami sits at 7-3 right now, and is out of the ACC race. But with Duke, South Florida and a bowl game remaining on the schedule, a 10-win season is in the reach of Miami, but it cannot afford to look past the Blue Devils.

7) Connecticut at Notre Dame

Charlie Weis’ job might be on the line, so the Irish need this one.

Notre Dame is 6-4, but has lost two straight to Navy and Pittsburgh. It hardly seems like that big of a deal when you compare those two defeats to what UConn has lost this year.

The Huskies are 4-5 and can still make a bowl by winning two of their last three. But their biggest loss came off the field when cornerback Jasper Howard was stabbed to death following an on-campus dance. Since his death, UConn has lost three straight by a combined 10 points.

This could be the week UConn finally wins one in Howard’s memory. The Huskies are facing a vulnerable, but desperate, Notre Dame team that is doubting its abilities, and maybe its coach. It’s unquestioned that Notre Dame has talent.

Jimmy Clausen (7, shown talking with Weis) is having a fine season, not Heisman-worthy, but still a good year. The junior is over 3,000 passing yards on the season and has 21 touchdowns.

He’s rushed for two more. The Irish boast one of the best receivers in the country in Golden Tate and have a solid defense.

Should UConn pull this one out in South Bend, Charlie Weis’ seat might as well be on the sun.

6) Oklahoma at Texas Tech

It’s not exactly been the caliber of season the 6-4 Sooners were expecting. Touted as a national championship contender, that all went down the drain in the Week 1 loss to BYU when Heisman-winning quarterback Sam Bradford went down with a shoulder injury.

Bradford came back a few weeks later, only to re-injure the shoulder and be put on the shelf for good with season-ending surgery.

Without Bradford, and starting tight end Jermaine Gresham, who is also out for the year, the Sooners have not been able to put teams away.

The Sooners have lost four games by a combined 15 points, scoring just 49 points in those four losses. Oklahoma’s defense has been solid all year, allowing just 12 points per contest with two shutouts.

It’s been the offense that has been inconsistent. Landry Jones is the biggest reason why. When he’s good, he’s damn good filling in for Bradford. Last week he threw for 392 yards and five touchdown passes in the 65-10 win over Texas A&M.

On the season, he’s got 22 TDs with 12 picks. In three years as a starter, Bradford had just 16 interceptions to 88 touchdown tosses.

The Red Raiders are 6-4 also, but sit just behind the Sooners with a 3-3 conference mark. If quarterback Taylor Potts (pictured) can get the Lubbock crowd buzzing, that could be enough to rattle Jones and allow Texas Tech the upset.

5) Kansas at No. 3 Texas

This is the week when the Jayhawks are either going to fold up the tents and rebel against their coach, or rally around the Jabba The Hut look-alike.

Mark Mangino (pictured) took over a fledgling Kansas football program eight years ago that would have been ecstatic to have a .500 record.

He led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record two years ago, and an Orange Bowl victory. Because of that, he’s landed some four and five-star recruits who were pampered in high school and now want to turn on the coach who recruited them because he yells at them and pokes them in the chest.

Big whoop. Go out there and win football games, and all is well.

Nobody complained about Mangino’s coaching style the first seven years, so why now? Sure, Kansas has lost five straight, but it has a 5-5 record, and still has a shot at a third straight bowl game—something the program hasn’t had in God knows how long.

It’s unfair that Mangino now has to deal with this while preparing to take his team into Austin to face an unbeaten Texas team with national championship aspirations.

This game can be close, and is winnable for Kansas. But Texas is on a roll, and there’s a very good chance the Kansas players might have already given up.

4) No. 11 Oregon at Arizona

Both teams are in control of their own Rose Bowl destinies. If Oregon beats the Wildcats and then Oregon State next week, it will take on Ohio State in Pasadena on Jan. 1.

Arizona can taste the pedals if it can get by the Ducks, then win at Arizona State next week, and topple No. 18 USC in the season finale in Los Angeles.

The Ducks clearly have the easier path, and are coming off a 44-21 trouncing of Arizona State while Arizona lost to Cal. It is Senior Night in Tucson and the Wildcats have the nation’s 20th-ranked rush defense to go against the Oregon three-headed rush attack of LaMichael James, LaGarrette Blount and Jeremiah Masoli.

James leads the team with 1,193 yards and 11 touchdowns while Blount is coming off a near-season-long suspenson after his famous punch in Week 1. Masoli (pictured) can beat you with his arm as well as his legs.

The Oregon quarterback has nine TDs on the ground, but has thrown for 11 more and just three interceptions. He nearly single-handedly ran roughshod over the Trojans of USC in Oregon’s 47-20 whitewashing.

3) No. 8 LSU at Mississippi

Ole Miss has been one of the most inconsistent and underachieving teams all year, but has still managed a 7-3 record, and a 3-3 mark in the SEC. LSU has had two tough-luck losses to the nation’s top ranked teams, Florida and Alabama.

Mississippi snapped a six-game losing streak to LSU last season in Baton Rouge, but has not won in Oxford against the Tigers since 1998. If the Rebels want to snap that streak, they need a good game from quarterback Jevan Snead, who has embodied inconsistency this season.

Snead (pictured) was touted as a Heisman candidate and was considered a top pro prospect when the season began. But he's completed just 53 percent of his passes, thrown for less than 2,000 yards in 10 games, and has 14 interceptions to go with his 17 touchdown passes.

Snead had his third-best completion percentage last week, completing 65 percent of his passes in the 42-17 win over Tennessee. But he also had his fewest pass attempts in the game, going 13 of 20 for 133 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.

That’s not going to get it done against a very good LSU defense that has allowed fewer than 14 points per game.

2) No. 10 Ohio State at Michigan

It’d be easy to say one of the oldest and best rivalries in college football is about young quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Tate Forcier.

Or the sweater-vested coach Jim Tressel against the beleaguered Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.

But this game is about bragging rights over one Justin Boren (pictured).

The Ohio State offensive lineman is an Ohio native who originally went to Michigan. He played for the Wolverines, but then decided to transfer to Ohio State, making him twice the traitor in many’s eyes.

The Buckeyes want to win to prove that Boren made the right choice by finally seeing the light and returning home. Michigan wants to win to get revenge on the guy who deserted them.

Oh yeah, and the Wolverines need the win to become bowl-eligible and possibly save their coach’s job. They might have a good chance to do it against an Ohio State team that is ripe for a letdown after already clinching the Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

But that’s all secondary to the Boren Ultimatum, right?

1) No. 25 California at No. 17 Stanford

The best game of the week takes place in Palo Alto with the Bay Area clash between the Berkeley Bears and the Cardinal of Stanford and its fighting tree.

Long known as “The Big Game,” Stanford-Cal hasn’t meant much since “The Play” ended the game with Cal’s Kevin Moen running through the Stanford band to the end zone for the game-winning score in the 25-20 win back in 1982.

Since then, neither team has really been good in the same year, and the game hasn’t lived up to such legendary hype. That is, until maybe now.

Stanford is on fire, winning three straight games over Arizona State, USC and Oregon, and scoring 139 points in the process. The Cardinal has been led by freshman quarterback Andrew Luck and senior tailback Toby Gerhart.

The 6-4 Luck has outplayed USC’s over-hyped freshman Matt Barkley, throwing for 2,220 yards and 13 scores while rushing for 288 yards and two more scores.

Gerhart (pictured) has simply been a terrible omission from the Heisman discussion. He has piled up nearly 1,400 rushing yards and has found the end zone 19 times.

Cal pulled off the upset of then-No. 17 Arizona last week without star running back Jahvid Best, who is still out with a concussion. Shane Vereen stepped in for best, and belted out 159 yards on 30 carries in the 24-16 win.

The Bears will again be without Best, which means it will be on Vereen and quarterback Kevin Riley to out-duel the Cardinal.