Has there ever been a time in the past decade where the Florida Florida St. game was the 5th biggest game of the weekend? Well you certainly can argue this weekend whether the Seminoles even merit consideration for the Big 5 but because of the National Title implications which rest on the Gators shoulders it sneaks in to the last spot behind 4 big time BCS implication games.
5. Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee
Miami won last night versus a ranked team to secure a trip to a bowl game. Can Florida St. possibly follow up and do the same? Well Boston College is certainly no Florida Gators. SO the answer to that question is a big time no. While I don't expect Florida to run away with it, when have they lately run away with anything (WCU doesn't count), I expect them to win without much stress. The Pick: Gators by 10.
4. Boise St. Broncos vs. Nevada Wolf Pack in Reno
Call Reno 911, there's a big time sports event in the little big town. Boise St. wins and their going to in all likelihood the fiesta bowl. Lose and they'll probably end up playing on the lame Smurf Turf for about the 12th straight year. Nevada has won 5 games in a row and in impressive fashion as well and could be the Broncos biggest test of the season. Ian Johnson is still a questionmark for this game and it will be important that he plays else, they might wave goodbye to the BCS. The Pick: Nevada pulls a late field goal win and spoils the Broncos chances much to the delight of all the big conferences.
3. Texas A&M Aggies vs. Texas Longhorns in Austin
Sooner fans will be all eyes on ABC come noon and hoping that the Fat Back, Javorskie Lane, will run all over the Longhorns defense and pull an upset in Austin. The Longhorns need to be victorious in this game in order to move onto the Big 12 title and have any shot on the much coveted BCS. A loss and they'll most likely be picking Cotton. A&M currently is undefeated on the road this season, which is shocking for a team with 3 losses on the season but Austin is a different ball game. The Longhorns still have more skill players and more talent all around and come noon they will outplay the Aggies in another interesting Friday Showdown.The Pick: Longhorns by a bakers dozen.
2. Lousiana State Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville
Enough of all this talk about how good the Bayou Bengals are this season. I want to see a little proof in the pudding. They have won good win this season against Tennessee and that was when Tennessee was on its free falll without Erik Ainge. I don't see anything that they've done that warrants the #9 seed in the polls. Now with that being said this is a massively important game for both schools. If Arkansas wins they obviously have an outside shot at the title game if USC could lose a game. But more importantly a win over LSU could get them an at large BCS bid even if they fall to Florida in the SEC Title game. Same with LSU, if they beat Arkansas in Fayetteville they could become a very attractive at large teams for the BCS bowls to look at. Especially a bowl like the Orange in the Southeast, where the Bengal fans would travel well too. The Pick: LSU puts points on the board concentrates on stopping McFadden and gets that impressive win I've been wanting to see from them all season.
1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Southern Cal Trojans in LA
Here's the obvious, Southern Cal wins, and wins by any convincing margin and they shoot ahead of Michigan in the polls and the computers and they go into their rivalry game versus UCLA in the driver's seat with the car pointing the Glendale. Notre Dame on the other hand most likely does not have that opportunity to jump into the #2 spot but I believe that this game is just as important for ND for another reason. Pride and proof. Notre Dame should have won last years contest in South Bend, this is Brady Quinn's last regular season start his last big game against a rival he desperately wants to knock off USC once in his career. The Proof end is simple, beating USC in LA would be the biggest win of the Charlie Weis era and would prove that Notre Dame isn't just a team that beats everyone they should but struggles against those with more talent. Should be an interesting game and I'm looking forward to the outcome. The Pick: USC fights there way to one more win from Glendale.
5. Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee
Miami won last night versus a ranked team to secure a trip to a bowl game. Can Florida St. possibly follow up and do the same? Well Boston College is certainly no Florida Gators. SO the answer to that question is a big time no. While I don't expect Florida to run away with it, when have they lately run away with anything (WCU doesn't count), I expect them to win without much stress. The Pick: Gators by 10.
4. Boise St. Broncos vs. Nevada Wolf Pack in Reno
Call Reno 911, there's a big time sports event in the little big town. Boise St. wins and their going to in all likelihood the fiesta bowl. Lose and they'll probably end up playing on the lame Smurf Turf for about the 12th straight year. Nevada has won 5 games in a row and in impressive fashion as well and could be the Broncos biggest test of the season. Ian Johnson is still a questionmark for this game and it will be important that he plays else, they might wave goodbye to the BCS. The Pick: Nevada pulls a late field goal win and spoils the Broncos chances much to the delight of all the big conferences.
3. Texas A&M Aggies vs. Texas Longhorns in Austin
Sooner fans will be all eyes on ABC come noon and hoping that the Fat Back, Javorskie Lane, will run all over the Longhorns defense and pull an upset in Austin. The Longhorns need to be victorious in this game in order to move onto the Big 12 title and have any shot on the much coveted BCS. A loss and they'll most likely be picking Cotton. A&M currently is undefeated on the road this season, which is shocking for a team with 3 losses on the season but Austin is a different ball game. The Longhorns still have more skill players and more talent all around and come noon they will outplay the Aggies in another interesting Friday Showdown.The Pick: Longhorns by a bakers dozen.
2. Lousiana State Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville
Enough of all this talk about how good the Bayou Bengals are this season. I want to see a little proof in the pudding. They have won good win this season against Tennessee and that was when Tennessee was on its free falll without Erik Ainge. I don't see anything that they've done that warrants the #9 seed in the polls. Now with that being said this is a massively important game for both schools. If Arkansas wins they obviously have an outside shot at the title game if USC could lose a game. But more importantly a win over LSU could get them an at large BCS bid even if they fall to Florida in the SEC Title game. Same with LSU, if they beat Arkansas in Fayetteville they could become a very attractive at large teams for the BCS bowls to look at. Especially a bowl like the Orange in the Southeast, where the Bengal fans would travel well too. The Pick: LSU puts points on the board concentrates on stopping McFadden and gets that impressive win I've been wanting to see from them all season.
1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Southern Cal Trojans in LA
Here's the obvious, Southern Cal wins, and wins by any convincing margin and they shoot ahead of Michigan in the polls and the computers and they go into their rivalry game versus UCLA in the driver's seat with the car pointing the Glendale. Notre Dame on the other hand most likely does not have that opportunity to jump into the #2 spot but I believe that this game is just as important for ND for another reason. Pride and proof. Notre Dame should have won last years contest in South Bend, this is Brady Quinn's last regular season start his last big game against a rival he desperately wants to knock off USC once in his career. The Proof end is simple, beating USC in LA would be the biggest win of the Charlie Weis era and would prove that Notre Dame isn't just a team that beats everyone they should but struggles against those with more talent. Should be an interesting game and I'm looking forward to the outcome. The Pick: USC fights there way to one more win from Glendale.
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