Gator Aider: Who To Root For, Week 1

Written by Gatorsfirst.com Co-Founder Chris Canada

As part of our commitment to Gator football, the Gatorsfirst.com team will provide a weekly update on which teams we should be rooting for each week, and how it affects the Gators.

At the start of the season it's pretty simple as we'll be rooting for teams that we play against. But as we approach the end of the season, we'll be rooting for teams in games that usually don't affect our ranking.

This week we don't play anyone in the SEC. Therefore we should be rooting for everyone on our schedule to win this week (sans Charleston Southern).

The reason for this is because it invariably affects our strength of schedule, which is calculated as part of the computer rankings. It also puts an inkling in voters' minds that the Gators may have a quality win over a team that beat so-and-so.

Teams On Our Schedule

South Carolina over NC State

Troy over Bowling Green

Kentucky over Miami (OH)

Tennessee over Western Kentucky

Georgia over Oklahoma State

LSU over Washington

Florida St. over Miami (FL)

Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas play FCS schools, so their records do not factor into BCS computer rankings. Obviously a loss by one of them would hurt greatly. FIU has a bye week.

If we're strictly talking about Gator football, we should be rooting for each of these teams on our schedule. Let me point out four games in particular.

South Carolina got a big win tonight over NC State on the road. This is good for conference ranking, and helps the Gators. We meet in November in Columbia.

The LSU game against Washington is not even going to be close, but any win over another BCS conference is good.

The Georgia game against Oklahoma State is one of the premier SEC v BCS Conference games this season. It's a big headliner of the opening week and another way to show SEC superiority. A win by Georgia affects the Gators greatly, as pollsters will look to this game early to judge the SEC v Big XII.

The last of this bunch is Florida St. over Miami (FL). Most Gator fans would like to see some natural disaster happen during this game. However for BCS standings sake, Florida fans should root for FSU, as hard as that may seem.

Now, I grew up in south Florida as a Canes fan, and then went to UF for seven years. You could imagine the hatred I have for FSU. I'll be rooting for Miami, as I'd rather see them go 0-12 than help the Gators. However, root for the Seminoles this ONE time...

Other SEC Games

Alabama over Virginia Tech

Mississippi over Memphis

We should root for both of them because we are probably gonna meet one of them in the SEC championship game as the SEC West representative.

We should specifically root for Alabama over Va. Tech because a win over another BCS conference team enhances the conference rankings int he computer polls. Plus it always looks good in front of the voters.

Other National Games of Interest

Oregon over Boise State

Oklahoma over BYU

I think you have to go with the both OUs here to prevent the BCS Busters from possibly taking BCS bowls away from SEC teams. Even though Oregon and Oklahoma have opportunities to win out, you've gotta think that they'll slip up against the USC's and Texas's of their respective conferences.

You can find the original article here.