College Football: Why This Will Be the Best Weekend of the Season
This coming week on the college football schedule will be better than any other week this year.
Yes, some of you reading that statement will write a comment on the bottom of the page telling me how dumb that sounds or how some weekend in October or November will be much better than this weekend.
I agree that there are some great games later this fall that I'll be sure to watch, but after checking the schedule, this weekend packs the most punch of any other weekend I've seen.
The following 10 games will be the talk of all the television pundits and sportswriters this coming Monday after the polls come out.
Miami Hurricanes at Ohio State Buckeyes
1 of 10
The highlight of the weekend will be the first meeting between the Hurricanes and Buckeyes since their classic National Championship Game in 2003.
Since that matchup in the Fiesta Bowl nearly a decade ago, Ohio State and Miami have traveled two separate paths on their way to this rematch.
The Buckeyes have been on a upward swing since winning the National Championship in 2003, but after several poor showings in big games, most notably against SEC teams, there have been doubters of their talent.
Miami, on the other hand, has fallen from its perch as a dominant college football program in past seasons. They dismissed coach Larry Coker and moved from the Big East to ACC, and since the hiring of coach Randy Shannon, the Hurricanes have nearly returned to the form of the late 90's and early 2000's.
The 2010 meeting of these programs should be as good as their last meeting, especially the star junior quarterbacks, Jacory Harris and Terrelle Pryor, under center in this game.
South Florida Bulls at Florida Gators
2 of 10
The South Florida Bulls hope to make their footprint much larger in the Sunshine State as they travel to Gainesville to face off with the Gators, who are arguably the top Florida school in FBS.
Over the years, the budding South Florida program has taken recruits from under their nose of Florida and the other notable Florida schools and jumped by leaps and bounds since its inception in the late 1990s.
If the Bulls pull off a win or at least put up a good fight against the Gators, Big East football will look a little better in the eyes of the college football world.
If Florida just runs past South Florida, the view of the Big East will drop further into the abyss of the BCS conferences and put the Gators back on track after a shaky performance against Miami of Ohio.
Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
3 of 10
This game could be very coach-heavy this Saturday.
The Rich Rodriguez era in Ann Arbor has started out very slowly, but this year, Rodriguez seems to have players that fit the style of offense he ran at West Virginia.
In South Bend, new coach Brian Kelly has given Notre Dame a spread offense and a chip on their shoulder after leaving Cincinnati to take over this past offseason.
The game could be the best matchup of these two schools in many years, as the schools seem to have gained enough talent to return to the prominence of past years.
If the Wolverines can get the win over the Irish, the Big Blue faithful might turn the heat down on Rodriguez's hot seat after victories over two quality opponents, the Irish and the Connecticut Huskies last week.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Oregon Ducks at Tennessee Volunteers
4 of 10
With the Ducks coming off a rout of New Mexico last week, Oregon will look to avoid a “trap game” as they travel to Knoxville Saturday.
Tennessee might have its hands full in this game, only their second under new coach Derek Dooley, as the program transitions from the removal of Phil Fulmer and the exit of Lane Kiffin.
Oregon could lift the Pac-10 up the rankings of BCS conferences with a win over a core SEC school, along with a push for another conference title and Rose Bowl berth this season.
Penn State Nittany Lions at Alabama Crimson Tide
5 of 10
The Crimson Tide face the first test of their title defense as a young Penn State team travels to Tuscaloosa Saturday night.
Alabama will not have the talents of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, who is out with a hampering knee injury that sidelined him for the opener against San Jose State and possibly much longer.
The Nittany Lions will be vastly inexperienced at many positions on offense, but the majority of Alabama's 2009 National Championship team returns this season.
Also, this year will mark the first meeting of these two storied programs since 1990, a scant, 9-0 Penn State victory in Tuscaloosa.
West Virginia Mountaineers at Marshall Thundering Herd
6 of 10
This game might come to mind when one thinks of big interstate rivalries, but in West Virginia the matchup grips the entire state.
Noel Devine and the Mountaineers will travel to hostile Huntington seeking another 2-0 start under coach Bill Stewart.
A new wrinkle to the rivalry is that former assistant coach Doc Holliday left Morgantown to become the head coach at Marshall, replacing the unimpressive Mark Snyder, who resigned last winter.
Georgia Bulldogs at South Carolina Gamecocks
7 of 10
This season, Steve Spurrier will have his best chance at a SEC East title since arriving in Columbia after his lackluster tenure in the NFL.
The first obstacle to that goal will be Mark Richt and his youthful Georgia Bulldogs, who have been mired in NCAA controversy over the sold jersey of star WR A.J. Green last season.
South Carolina must play like they did in their opener against Southern Mississippi to get the best of the Bulldogs on Saturday.
On the other side of the ball, Georgia aims to bounce back from its disappointing 8-5 season of 2009. After an opening win over Louisiana-Lafayette, a victory over a big-thinking Gamecocks squad would be a good start.
Virginia Cavaliers at USC Trojans
8 of 10
Am I predicting a win over the Trojans for the Cavaliers? Of course not!
The biggest story line in this game will be how the Trojan defense bounces back from their poor showing against Hawaii, giving up 36 points to the Warriors.
Could that poor showing be a case of opening-game jitters or could it be a much bigger problem within legendary defensive mind Monte Kiffin?
Lane Kiffin and the Trojans will need to figure out their defensive struggles soon. With Oregon on their heels this season, the Pac-10 title may not be the lock that it has been for USC over the past decade .
Boise State Broncos at Wyoming Cowboys
9 of 10
The dust has settled from the Labor Day extravaganza of Boise State and Virginia Tech, so now the attention of many sports pundits will focus on the Broncos' remaining 2010 schedule (or lack thereof, to some minds).
The Broncos will win in Wyoming this weekend, but they need a blowout of the Cowboys at home to hold on to their No. 3 ranking in the AP.
Florida State Seminoles at Oklahoma Sooners
10 of 10
The Jimbo Fisher era receives its first challenge, as the Seminoles travel to Norman to face off with the Sooners in a game that might steal the spotlight from all the other games this weekend.
Bob Stoops must tighten up Oklahoma's game plan for the Seminoles after an opening game against Utah State that was much closer than anyone in the country thought it would be.
Florida State will rely on the talents of Heisman-chasing senior quarterback Christian Ponder if they want to escape the sea of crimson and cream with a win for their new coach.
Oklahoma will lean heavily on quarterback Landry Jones and running back DeMarco Murray in order to hang with the talent that they’ll be facing on Saturday.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
