It has become basically a five team race for the Fiesta Bowl in January. Ohio State and Miami are the front-runners, followed by Washington State, Oklahoma and Texas. Only three of those teams are in action this week, and one is included is this week’s prediction contest. The rest of the games this week, while devoid of Fiesta Bowl implications, still pack a rather large punch in terms of conference titles and bowl berths. The Alabama Crimson Tide own LSU in Baton Rouge, but after last week’s miracle in Lexington, the LSU Tigers are going for a win over a top 10 opponent in Alabama.
Both teams in our second game, Washington and Oregon, have pretty much fallen off the face of the earth since the beginning of the season. Washington and Oregon both were favorites to take home the Pac-10 title, but it’s USC and Washington State in the driver’s seat this year. This game is one of the most underrated rivalries in college football and should be a slobberknocker.
The longest running rivalry in the south takes place at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday between the Auburn Tigers and seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Not only are the Auburn fans hoping for a win, but Florida fans as well are hoping the Dawgs fall this weekend. Auburn won last season’s nail-biter in Athens.
The USC Trojans and Heisman candidate Carson Palmer are playing host to the surprising Arizona State Sun Devils this weekend in Los Angeles. Although ASU has dropped a couple of games since their suprising start, the Devils are still a very dangerous team to play in the Pac-10, and are looking to ruin the conference title hopes of the Trojans.
Nebraska hasn’t beaten Kansas State in Manhattan since 1996. Four years ago, KSU beat Nebraska 40-30 in Manhattan to gain the No. 1 spot in the polls, and two years ago, the ‘Cats took down in the Huksers in the snow to capture the Big 12 North Division title. This year, Nebraska is down and Kansas State needs a lot of help to win the North, but the game should be plenty exciting as always.
Our final game this week pits the high-flying offense of Mike Leach and Texas Tech against the fourth-ranked Texas Longhorns. The Red Raiders, much to everyone’s surprise still have a chance to win the Big 12 South title if they manage to upset Texas this weekend and do the same at Oklahoma in two weeks.