USC-Oregon Tops a Small Slate of Big Games But Be On the Lookout For Big Upsets
The biggest battle on the field may be between which school has the best-looking cheerleaders, Oregon or USC.
After a full season of “whoas,” “wows”, and “whews,” college football pretty much pauses for the weekend of Nov. 17-20. After all, the heartbeats of fans need to a week to settle down from the likes of Alabama-LSU, Oklahoma State-Kansas State, Oklahoma-Texas Tech, USC-Stanford and Boise State-TCU.
The biggest game on the schedule is USC at Oregon, and not so much for the Trojans. They are the only team that stands in the way of the Ducks playing – gasp, UCLA!? – in the first Pac-12 Conference championship game.
Then again, its college football, and pretty much anything can happen, so don’t be surprised to see an upset or two (such as North Carolina over Virgina Tech).
Nebraska at Michigan (Noon). Boy, you see these two teams playing and the first thought of traditionalists is “man, what a matchup!” Alas, Nebraska is hardly a power and Michigan can’t beat a quality team. Winner: Nebraska.
Penn State at Ohio State (3:30 p.m.). It’s good that the Lions get to get away from that mess at home. Who would have envisioned back in March that Penn State would actually be looking forward to playing in the Horseshoe!? Well that’s the reality today. And the Nittany Lions will use this chance to stand up on their hind legs and roar. To which Ohio State will say, “and you though we’ve had it bad; at least we’re not you!” Winner: Penn State.
Mississippi State at Arkansas (3:30 p.m.). The Prognosticator is so desperate for games to pick this week, he’s going with this one pig of a contest. The Hogs should run all over the Bulldogs, in no small part because MSU is still smarting from last week’s loss to Alabama. But before you think this is going to be a rout, the State Dogs played very physical against the Tide and this could, maybe, be one of those upset games. At the very least it’s not likely to be the blowout many expect; plus the Hogs are no doubt looking ahead a bit to LSU. This could get them BBQ’d like, well, a hog at a tailgate party. In a close one, Winner: Arkansas.
Oklahoma at Baylor (8 p.m.). The Bears could really confuse things by whipping up on the Sooners, who would sooner play Oklahoma State than try and stop Robert Griffin III. Remember him? He was all the talk of college football the first month of the season. Now? Well, kind of happens when you’re 6-3 and had to go to OT to win your last game. Against Kansas. Again, this could be closer than one might initially think. In another close one, Winner: Oklahoma.
USC at Oregon (8 p.m.). The Trojans have about as much of a chance of winning this game as someone thinking the Song Girls are unattractive (they are most certainly not, and not by a long shot). Beyond the obvious challenge of that D trying to stop that O, there is the matter of the conditions. It may be 20 degrees and snowing. Perfect weather for a hockey player. Or a Duck. Winner: Oregon.