Double dose of football this weekend to end the regular season.
Hello, and happy holidays. Like you, this is a very busy week for me and we have more football to cover off on than usual. So out of respect for both of our time, I’m going to go no-huddle on the rundown, one sentence per game only. Ready, break.
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Axe To Grind Shift
- Minnesota-Wisconsin: Wisconsin needs to win the Paul Bunyan’s Axe in order to reach bowl eligibility, but the Golden Gophers have been very game this year, if not good.
- Oregon State-Boise State: Ashton Jeanty probably can’t reach the Heisman, but the Broncos will certainly settle for the G5 at-large spot in the playoffs.
- Navy-ECU: As a sign of how far the season has unraveled for the Midshipmen, they are 2.5-point dogs to the zombie Pirates, who fired Mike Houston earlier this season.
- Miami (OH)-Bowling Green: Two teams enter, but only one ticket will be punched to the MAC Championship game next week.
Tryptophan Nap Shift
- Mississippi State-Ole Miss: It’s the Egg Bowl.
- Liberty-Sam Houston State: Did you know that the Bearkats are 8-3 this season and could finish with a better record than LSU with a win over the Libs?
- Stanford-San Jose State: The Spartans are favored by nearly a touchdown, it’s that bad up on the farm.
- Utah State-Colorado State: It’s football.
The Good Word (sic) Shift
- Georgia Tech-Georgia: Look, the Bulldogs should walk in this game, but the Yellow Jackets have not only been game in every game this season but gave them all they could handle in last year’s Clean, Old Fashioned Hate.
- Nebraska-Iowa: The Cornhuskers got to bowl eligibility last weekend, which is good because now they don’t have to worry about the nightmare that is the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
- Utah-UCF: It’s football.
Showdown Saturday Shift
- South Carolina-Clemson: Like COFH, Clemson should have the edge in this game BUT the Gamecocks have been a dangerous team all year, moreso than Georgia Tech.
- Michigan-Ohio State: Ryan Day has a lot of big feelings, and he is going to take them out on Michigan.
- Tennessee-Vanderbilt: I think the book is out on how to stop (contain?) Vandy, but the flip side of that coin is that the Volunteer offense has to get it gear eventually.
- Kansas-Baylor: Weirdly enough, two of the hottest teams in college football meet to end the season, with Baylor on a five-game heater and Kansas two points away from the same.
Ahrn Bawl Shift
- Auburn-Alabama: Ladies and gentlemen, I present unto you: an Iron Bowl that Auburn needs to win for bowl eligibility.
- Notre Dame-USC: Notre Dame gets a playoff mulligan for their NIU loss, but I doubt they get one for losing to a 6-5 USC team.
- Pitt-Boston College: Pretty meaningless game in terms of November/December context, but Pitt is looking to snap a brutal four-game skid and Boston College is trying to return to the team they looked like in September and October.
- NC State-North Carolina: NC State needs to pick up against dead duck Mack Brown to sew up bowl eligibility.
Forced Rivalry Shift
- Oklahoma-LSU: Me speaking for me, I’m just glad Oklahoma won last week to sew up bowl eligibility.
- Texas-Texas A&M: Pretty cool note here: these two teams have somehow never played before Texas joined the same conference as A&M.
- Kansas State-Iowa State: This game determines who plays in the Big 12 championship, just don’t ask me how.
- Virginia-Virginia Tech: We have a Bowl Eligibility On A Pole match between two 5-6 teams who do not care much at all for each other.
Robert Kekaula Memorial Shift
- Air Force-San Diego State: Should be a really good game, actually.
- Houston-BYU: Should not be a really good game, actually.
- New Mexico-Hawaii: “Aloha” means both hello and goodbye.