College Football Week 11: The Ultimate Television Viewing Guide
Welcome back one and all to College Football Week 11: The Ultimate Television Guide.
Before we go through another week of football games, let's answer one of the biggest questions that, if you listen close, you can hear coming from a whole slew of Division I fan bases. No, not what is going on with Cam Newton. No, not which coach will be fired. And no, not whether Tim Tebow will somehow use his Tebow powers for one more year at Florida?
Sorry Florida fans, he is not coming back. Get over it; John Brantley is awful.
The biggest question is, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON THIS YEAR?!?!?!"
Yes, what the hell is going on? Up is down, left is right, slantways is sideways, night is day, cats living with dogs, this 2010 college football year is insane. Just last week there were teams winning 76-35 (Navy vs. ECU). There were final scores of 67-65 (Michigan vs. Illinois).
Then there are teams that are complete surprises at the top of their conferences, such as Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, Michigan State and South Carolina.
What is funny with Pittsburgh is that before they began their conference play, their record was 2-3. Flash forward three Big East conference games later and they sit at 5-3 with a two-game lead with four games left to play. So Utah, have fun sitting at home watching a team you beat in overtime to open the season play in that BCS game you choked away last week to TCU.
Yes, indeed—what the hell is going on this year?
Now without further rambling let's move forward toward Week 11 of the College Football season!
Thursday, Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m. EDT: Pittsburgh at Connecticut, ESPN
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Speaking of the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Big East, your obligatory Big East conference game on ESPN has the Panthers on the road taking on the Connecticut Huskies.
The first-place Panthers seemed to have found a nice groove with a two-headed monster in the running game with Dion Lewis and Ray Graham. They still have one of the best wide receivers in college football in Jonathan Baldwin.
However, they still have The Situation at quarterback. No, wait, let's anoint Pitt's quarterback Tino Sunseri a new nickname. Let's call him The Interception.
Friday, Nov. 12, 9:00 p.m. EDT: No. 4 Boise State at Idaho, ESPN2
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Friday night Boise State stays in state to take on their rivals, the University of Idaho. Idaho on the season is 4-5 overall with a 1-3 record in the WAC.
Boise State we all know about. The team at the beginning of the year picked to bust the BCS by playing in the national title game. The team with the blue turf and the team that has one of the best offenses in the country.
Last week against Hawaii, Boise State's quarterback Kellen Moore threw for 501 yards. Let's see what he can do on Friday night.
Saturday, Nov. 13, Noon EDT: Indiana at No. 7 Wisconsin, ESPN2
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Saturday kicks off with a Wisconsin team looking to hold on to the top spot in the Big Ten. They get an Indiana team that is 4-5 on the season, with all of their losses coming in Big Ten play.
However, be careful Wisconsin Badger Nation; this Indiana team will not go down easily. If Wisconsin does not get their running game going it may be the end for any Rose Bowl chances. Indiana played Iowa tough last week, only losing because of a dropped pass in the end-zone, ending the game.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Saturday, Nov. 12, Noon EDT: No. 13 Iowa at Northwestern, ESPN
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The Big Ten dominates the noon games on ESPN this weekend. Iowa escaped Indiana last week and Northwestern just fell apart against Penn State.
Now a certain columnist who writes a certain weekly television viewing guide does not want to cry out conspiracy theory with last week's Penn State-Northwestern game, but how do you give up a 14-point lead in the second half? Penn State could only muster seven points in the first half and all of a sudden they find an offense that has been escaping them all season by scoring 21 points in one quarter?
As a result, JoePa got his 400th win. Congrats old man and also happy 400th birthday as well.
Saturday, Nov. 13, Noon EDT: Mississippi at Tennessee, CBS
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For Mississippi, the Jeremiah Masoli experiment was a complete failure, even though head coach Houston Nutt tried to pull his form of a Cam Newton with Masoli. But it was not all Masoli's fault, as this Ole Miss team ranks 100th in the nation in points against.
Tennessee's first year under head coach Derek Dooley has gone as well as expected. They were leading No. 1 Oregon at halftime when they played them in September. They should have beaten LSU at LSU. And they had leads against South Carolina and Florida when they played them as well.
They're playing hard, they just need to hang on to leads.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2:30 p.m. EDT: No. 14 Utah at Notre Dame, NBC
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Another week of college football, another Notre Dame game on NBC for you, the wonderful reader, to blast in the comment section.
This week, Notre Dame has a pissed-off Utah team coming into South Bend. If Utah wants to pull any doubt from the minds of their fan base about why the move to the Pac-10 is a bad idea, then this game against Notre Dame will do so.
Their loss to TCU killed any chances of a BCS game, making this Notre Dame game and the rest of their games irrelevant. However, if the same thing happens next year, if they blow out the Irish it puts them back in the hunt for a BCS game.
Oh and Notre Dame fans, you have three games left and currently sit at 4-5 with games against Utah, Army and USC. Good luck finishing above .500.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 3:30 p.m. EDT: Georgia at No. 2 Auburn, CBS
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Hey, did you know that Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is under investigation? Did you know that he may have taken money to play at Auburn?
Did you know that someone inside of Cam's camp may have told Mississippi State that he is too expensive to play there? Did you know that apparently the Heisman Trophy Trust cares about this?
Did you know that Cam Newton's father had one of his four churches go under until he apparently took money from Auburn?
Did you know that current Mississippi State head coach used to be Florida's offensive coordinator?
Did you know that this is all that ESPN cares about now? Did you know that?
Oh yeah, there is some game being played this week where Auburn can lock up the SEC West division with a win.
But did you know that ESPN tells you that you do not care about that?
Saturday, Nov. 13, 3:30 p.m. EDT: Penn State at No. 9 Ohio State, ABC
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Last week, Penn State seemed to have solved the offensive problems that have plagued them this year. They went from just seven points in the first half to 21 in one quarter.
How did that happen? Was it some great halftime moves? Was it the team rallying behind JoePa, wanting to get him his 400th win? Or, was it the Penn State team finally coming together after nine games?
Ohio State seems to be a team that will just not go away. Five weeks ago, they were the No. 1 team in the country. Then they got crushed by Wisconsin. After that loss it seemed as if they were done. It was as if they had no chance at another Rose Bowl.
But five weeks later they are one of four teams with one loss in the Big Ten, right there in the hunt for the conference title.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 3:30 p.m. EDT: Texas Tech at No. 16 Oklahoma, ABC
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Let's put it simply for this slide about the Oklahoma Sooners 2010 season.
Oklahoma at home—they're going to kill any team not named Utah State. Because we all know the power house that is Utah State.
Oklahoma on the road—they're going to fall apart. Two losses this year, both on the road, both against teams they should have had no trouble beating.
Too bad for Texas Tech they are playing Oklahoma this week at home after a road loss. Get your guns up Tech fans, because you are going to need them.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 3:30 p.m. EDT: No. 20 Virginia Tech at North Carolina, ABC
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Times have gotten so tough for Butch Davis and the UNC football program that they have resorted to dressing their mascot as a backup middle linebacker.
But just before he was about to take the field, NCAA officials discovered that the Tar Heel had taken $10,000 from an agent that he met at mascot school.
Hiiiiiii Yooooooo!
Saturday, Nov. 13, 7:15 p.m. EDT: No. 19 Miss State at No. 12 Alabama, ESPN 2
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Aw, cheer up, Alabama fan base. Here is a picture to open this slide with your cheerleading squad with American Idol winner Taylor Hicks.
Wait, that does not cheer you up? You actually are more angry than you were at the end of the LSU game?
Don't take your anger out here just because your head coach was outsmarted by Les freakin' Miles. Take your frustration out on Mississippi State this weekend.
Who knows, maybe with Cam Newton under investigation they'll slip up this week against Georgia. And with Les Miles coaching LSU, they are always on upset watch.
Come off the ledge 'Bama fan base, all will be well.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 7:15 p.m. EDT: No. 23 South Carolina at No. 22 Florida, ESPN
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In the SEC East division title game it is a South Carolina team that is up-and-down going against a Florida team that is also up-and-down. Amazing that South Carolina is as good as any of the top BCS teams.
They beat Alabama and played Auburn very tough, but then they got blown out at home against Arkansas. How does that happen? Was the team looking past Arkansas, paying too much attention to the Florida game?
Florida has struggled all year on offense. They cannot find a starting quarterback and a consistent offense. However, with three conference losses they somehow find themselves tied for the division lead.
This will be a great game on Saturday night. Will it be Florida going back to the SEC Championship Game? Or will South Carolina finally get over the hump after so many years of great recruiting classes?
Saturday, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. EDT: No. 1 Oregon at California, Versus
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There is no reason really why you should watch this game. But here are some just incase you needed a push.
1) The Cal cheerleaders are smokin' hot, as you can tell in this picture.
2) Oregon may score 70 points.
3) Oregon may score 80 points.
4) The Oregon Duck's arms may fall off from doing too many push-ups.
5) Giant poster boards with pictures on it which tells the Duck offense which play to call.
Sound good?
Saturday, Nov. 13, 8:00 p.m. EDT: No. 10 Oklahoma State at Texas, ABC
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Times have gotten so bad at Texas that people have resorted to giving their tickets away. Yes, this does not sound so horrible, since people give tickets away all the time.
But usually tickets to UT games go for around $100 for the bleacher seats. Now, if you want to go to a UT game, even one that is on prime time against a Big 12 South opponent, you could find tickets for free.
Times are tough for the fans of the Longhorns. This is the worst season of the new millennium and the worst under Mack Brown.
Hey, at least Derek Jeter is still a fan.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 8:00 p.m. EDT: USC at No. 18 Arizona, ABC
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Arizona had a chance to make a run at the Rose Bowl when they played Stanford last week. However, Stanford proved to be just too much and crushed the Wildcats, 42-17.
Now they come back home to face a USC team that is 6-3 on the season but just 3-3 in the Pac-10. A win for the Trojans does not help them win the Pac-10 (thank you, Reggie Bush), but will ruin the chances of Arizona getting to a New Year's Day bowl game.
EA Sports College Football 11 has simulated the game and has Arizona winning with a late field goal, 27-24.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 8:00 p.m. EDT: Clemson at Florida State, ABC
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What more can be said about this 2010 Florida State team? They got killed when they went to Oklahoma, 47-17. Then they responded by winning their next five games. This gave them a commanding lead in the ACC Atlantic division.
All they had to do was beat two unranked North Carolina teams in consecutive weeks. But apparently that was too much to ask for, as they lost both games by a combined six points (28-24 vs. NC State, 37-35 vs. UNC)
This week, if they lose to Clemson, not only is it their third loss in a row but it gives the ACC Atlantic division a four-way tie. Clemson, a team that is 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, still has a great shot at repeating Atlantic Division champion.
This is college football in 2010. What the hell is going on?
Thanks again for staying all the way through another week of College Football Week 11: The Ultimate Television Guide. Want more of my gas bagging? Please follow me on Twitter at www.twiter.com/tjmcaloon. See yeinz next week!
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
