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We’re flipping things around this week, since Conference USA has two games tomorrow night, we’ll get them tomorrow and give you the WAC preview in this space, since all their games are conveniently set for Saturday.
12:00 PM, CBS College- Hawaii at Army: Hawaii’s offense showed a lot against USC- they can rack up the yards and score points. But their defense looked pretty bad- was that a good offense, or are they in trouble? Army won a tough game over an Eastern Michigan team they probably should have handled with a bit less difficulty. Line: Army by 3. Hawaii is taking the longest trip of any team this season, for a game that kicks off at 6 AM Honolulu time. I’m sure they’re taking steps to alter their schedule ahead of time, but that still makes things difficult. I think Army’s defense is good enough to slow down the Warriors, but it will be close. Army 32-28.
12:00 PM, ESPN- San Jose State at #11 Wisconsin: San Jose comes off a tough game against the #1 team in the country and gets rewarded with a trip to see the #11 team. The goal at this point is to improve if you can, and keep guys healthy before WAC play starts in October.
12:30 PM, Idaho at #7 Nebraska: Read Post
We still have 27 teams that haven’t lost a game, so they’re still contenders to bust the BCS. I was getting pretty sure that Boise State was coming off the list until Virginia Tech gifted them more than enough time to take the win, and I’m glad they did. But instead of trying to profile all 27, we’re just going to check in on the guys from last week’s list and add a few to fill it back in to 10. We bid a fond farewell to Middle Tennessee State and Northern Illinois, and also to Navy who wasn’t on the list but should have been. They may still have great seasons, but they won’t be in the BCS picture.
Since we’re calling it a watch, we’ll name it for the week coming up. The top 25 (later) is named for the week gone by. It makes no sense, I know.
Like last week, we’re skipping Boise State, TCU, and Utah and sticking with 10 teams that could make a run, or at least win enough games to get noticed before the schedule tears them down. For now, these are presented in no particular order.
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The WAC had an outstanding weekend, which is good considering they’ve had a few rough weeks leading up to kickoff. Capped off by Boise State’s win last night, all but one team was competitive against good competition, and nobody was threatened by a FCS team. To recap the Saturday games:
Oklahoma 31, Utah State 24- Utah State rallied back from a 21-0 second quarter deficit to keep the Sooners on their toes. They arrived at the final score with 2:31 to go, but weren’t able to add on from there. Still, the Utah State passing attack looks like the real deal (Prediction: Oklahoma by a ton. 0-1). Next Week: Idaho State at Utah State
Alabama 48, San Jose State 3- This was never going to be anything else. We knew SJSU was in a tough spot, new coach and all, so this is nothing to be surprised or concerned with (Prediction: Alabama would cover 38. 1-1). Next Week: San Jose State at Wisconsin
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It was not a pretty night for non-BCS teams across the country last night, particularly those going up against BCS conference schools. It could have been worse- nobody lost to a FCS school, although some tried. A quick rundown of last night’s action follows.
Lots of good stuff lined up for today- Friday night football preview and weekend previews for four conferences, at the very least. Happy College Colors Day. Flags up!
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We’re halfway through looking at just one night worth of football, and we have 14 weeks of this goodness. Ahh, feels nice, right? Ok, back to your previews. Once again, all times eastern, lines from Vegas.com, and rankings are from the coaches poll.
8:00 PM- Florida Atlantic at UAB: This is the only game of the night featuring two non-BCS opponents going at it. Both teams have question marks, with UAB trying to replace QB Joe Webb, and FAU replacing just about everything but the quarterback. UAB should have a substantial edge here, but these types of games are hard to read in week 1. Line: UAB by 14. That seems generous- for FAU. UAB won the same game last year by 27, and I think they might do it again.
8:00 PM, Regional TV- Northern Illinois at Iowa State: NIU is hoping that this game is the coming out party for a big 2010 season. They’re stacked and the favorite to win the MAC, but ISU won’t be a pushover game just because they aren’t a national power. That said, if the Cyclones are looking ahead to Iowa, they could find themselves in trouble. Line: Iowa State by 4.5. I like NIU’s chances of winning this game a lot. I like their chances of keeping within four even more, I’d take NIU plus the points.
8:00 PM- Southeastern Louisiana (FCS) at Tulane: The SE Louisiana Lions went 6-5 in 2009. Tulane better win this one, because they’re not going to get much of a chance against Ole Miss, Houston, or Rutgers. Or many other teams after that. No line.
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Today is the day. All the talk of recruiting, GPA, realignment, coaching changes, Senate hearings, lawsuits, transfers, arrests and everything else goes out the window. At least until Tuesday because there’s no games Tuesday. Football is finally ready to kick off.
Here on the Fringe, we attempt to preview any given weeknight game as best we can, and we will have our Weeknight Football preview a little later today. But for now, the first of our weekly features including the BCS Buster Watch and my non-BCS Top 25. So here we go.
BCS Buster Watch
Currently on the watch: Everybody. All 54 teams are presently undefeated. So instead, here are 10 teams besides Boise State, TCU, and Utah that could make a run at the dream season, or at least stay undefeated long enough to garner a little attention. These teams are picked because they could (not will) make it to about 4-0 and do it with a worthwhile resume. In no particular order, except for alphabetical by the order their conference pages are sitting on my desk:
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For all we know, this could be the last Western Athletic Conference preview ever. Probably not, but they’re on very shaky ground right now. As it stands, they plan to keep Fresno State and Nevada around through the 2011 season, meaning that next year they should operate as an 8 team conference with Boise’s departure to the Mountain West happening next summer.
Once Fresno & Nevada are gone, the WAC is down to six. Louisiana Tech is supposedly investigating/evaluating/begging a spot in C-USA or the Sun Belt, which would put them a lot closer to their competition, Utah State apparently wants into the MWC, and Hawaii has rumbled about going independent. The transition time from FCS up to FBS is at least two years, so even if they protect the six they have and add two or three from below, 2012 could be a limbo year. The NCAA may grant a waiver and allow them to compete with just six during this process, but there’s a lot still up in the air.
BYU’s decision on their independence is due tomorrow, which could have a lot to do with the WAC’s future stability.
But enough about all that, we have 2010 to think about. Obviously storyline 1A is Boise State. #5 in the Coaches Poll (the one that matters for the BCS), one of the dominant national preseason stories has been whether they can, or should, get a spot in the title game if they run the table. While the question of ‘should’ can be endlessly debated, our coverage at the site will mostly focus on the ‘can,’ assuming they beat Virginia Tech. But not now, this is a conference preview.
If we acknowledge that Boise State should be favored to win the WAC comfortably, the real race is for second in the league. Nevada lines up as the favorite for that role, as well as the WAC team with the best chance to disrupt Boise’s unbeaten streak. Fresno State and Idaho should figure into the race for second as well.
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Nevada had the #2 offense in the country last year, and rode an 8 game win streak through the middle of the season to finish second in the WAC and earn a trip to the Hawaii Bowl. SMU shut them down in Honolulu, but the Wolf Pack scored over 50 points in five different games, four of which were over 60.
Nine players from that starting offense are back this year, including prolific quarterback Colin Kaeperkick and RB Vai Taua, who starts his senior year having rushed for 1300+ yards in each of the last two seasons. The defense will need to rebuild a little more after losing five starters. Read Post
The WAC’s big showdown came on Friday night, but Saturday wasn’t without it’s surprises too. The league now just needs one more upset to get another team into the bowl picture, while the middle three or four teams in the league are proving to be more even than once thought.
In case you were being dragged around the malls into the afternoon, we had two more titles handed out over the last 24 hours or so, and the BCS picture isn’t getting any better for Boise State. Here’s what we know, and what we think:
- Ohio 35, Temple 17- Ohio is you MAC East Champion and will go on to play Central Michigan on Friday night. Both teams end their seasons at 9-3, as Temple’s 9 game streak comes to an end.
- Boise State 44, Nevada 33- The Wolf Pack gave the Broncos all they could, but BSU got out to a big lead early and Nevada couldn’t get caught up. Boise State repeats as WAC champion, and will look to go 8-0 in the league for 2 years running next week.
- Texas survived a good game from Texas A&M to stay in the driver seat for a BCS slot.
- Alabama did the same against Auburn, to keep the SEC Championship locked in as a play-in game, unless UF loses to FSU today.
- Pitt lost to West Virginia last night, which essentially eliminates them from BCS consideration unless they beat Cincinnati next week, and could mean that Cincy will not be rewarded with a BCS bowl if they lose to Pitt next week.
All this means is that as long as Cincinnati beats Pitt next week, it’s still a three way dance between Boise State, Oklahoma State (if they win today, and that’s a pretty big if), and Penn State/Iowa for two remaining places. If Oklahoma wins today, then a pretty clear path opens for BSU’s inclusion, especially if Cincinnati does beat Pitt next week. Read Post
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