Three Games I Like Today

Iowa at Ohio State: Coming off their first loss and without their starting QB, Iowa travels to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes. With a win, Ohio State puts themselves right back in control of a trip to the Rose Bowl. I am not sure either of these teams are all that great, but someone has to win the Big Ten. Look for Ohio State to beat an Iowa team led by a freshman QB and set their schedule for a trip to Pasadena.

Stanford at USC: Stanford comes into the game feeling great after their big win over Oregon, while USC returns to the Coliseum off of another uninspiring victory at Arizona State. The matchup of the game is clearly Toby Gerhart and the Cardinal rushing attack against the USC defensive line. USC has a tendency to struggle against small, quick running backs, but Gerhart is the complete opposite. Gerhart looks to run through you just as much as much as he looks to run around you. The game should feature some big collisions between Gerhart and USC safety Taylor Mays. Look for the USC defense to hold its own, as I think they matchup well against the Stanford offense. On the other side of the ball, USC gets back two key weapons in TE Anthony McCoy and FB Stanley Havili. They will make things much easier for freshman QB Matt Barkley. While Barkley is clearly the second best QB in this game overall, he will be the best today. Look for USC's talent and atleticism on offense to be too much for Stanford to contain. USC wins it by three scores.

Utah at TCU: Number 16 Utah goes on the road to take the number 4 TCU Horned Frogs. Nothing intimidates like a Horned Frog. While this is a big game because it features two teams toward the top of the BCS standings, it should not be close. TCU is on a completely different level than Utah. Look for TCU to win this game going away and keep a zero in the loss column

Another game to keep an eye on tonight is Alabama at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs gave Florida a tough game down in Starksville and Alabama can't afford to look past them. MSU should be able to keep this game close and could easily have a chance to win at the end.

A Look Back at Saturday's Games

The Iowa Hawkeyes luck finally ran out, taking them out of BCS title contention. They have trailed at the half in every game this season, but had come back to win them all before yesterday. They now will have to win at Ohio State to give themselves a shot at the Rose Bowl. Hard to imagine anybody being surprised to see them lose.

Florida and Texas both kept their undefeated records intact by beating Vanderbilt and Central Florida respectively. We really do not learn anything from either game against obviously inferior opponents. Florida had no choice as it was a conference game, but Texas picked this game. That wraps up their grueling non-conference schedule featuring games against powerhouses like Louisiana Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP and now Central Florida. It would have been nice to see them schedule at least one legitimate non-conference game. When the BCS standings are released this afternoon, we will likely see the Longhorns back in the third spot behind Alabama.

Alabama kept a zero in the loss column with a win over LSU. The game was a bit sloppy and I am still not convinced that the Alabama offense will be able to do enough to win against a team with a top defense. They look very inconsistent and have to settle for field goals way too often. We again saw a terrible call by SEC replay officials play a significant role in the outcome of this game. Officials upheld an incomplete pass call on an LSU interception late in the game despite replays clearly showing Patrick Peterson getting his foot down inside the line. The call allowed Alabama to kick a field goal and go up by two scores with only 3 minutes left, rather than the Tigers having the ball with a chance to win. It has not been a good year for SEC officiating, to put it mildly. Alabama now clinches a spot in the SEC title game against Florida.

I would say that Oregon fell trap to the "letdown" game against Stanford, but that would be selling Stanford short. Stanford and running back Toby Gerhart ran all over the Oregon and dominated the Duck defense. Oregon's offense gave it their best shot, but Stanford was just too much to handle.

Quick Hits:
USC gets back in the win column, but looks very pedestrian in doing so.

Notre Dame loses to Navy again. Charlie Weiss has got to be getting nervous.

McCoy to Shipley is the best QB/WR combo and it is not even close.

Iowa and Penn State losing has got to help Boise State's chances of a BCS berth.

Down Goes Iowa

The Iowa Hawkeyes could not come from behind this week against the Northwestern Wildcats. Until today, Iowa had trailed in every game but was able to come back and win every time. The constant turnovers and playing from behind, however, finally caught up with them. They played the end of the first half and the entire second half without starting QB Ricky Stanzi and could never get the rally going. Northwestern played the majority of the game with their backup QB on the field as well. Iowa, while undefeated, has looked very beatable all season. They still control their own destiny in the race for a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl appearance, but their hopes of a BCS title are now gone.

Iowa Trailing at the Half

In typical Iowa fashion, the Hawkeyes trail Northwestern 14-10 at the half. Iowa already has 4 turnovers, one of which was a fumble recovered in the end zone by Northwestern for a touchdown. Iowa has come back to win every game this season, but this week will not be as easy. If they are going to come up with another second half rally, it may have to be without starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Stanzi injured his leg when he was tackled and fumbled the ball in the end zone in the second quarter. Stanzi went back to the locker room for further evaluation. Without Stanzi, Iowa will rely on backup James Vandenberg who has already thrown an interception that led to Northwestern's second score, and has looked shaky at best. We'll see if Iowa can pull another one out of the hat.

College Football Preview

This weekends slate of games does not feature many matchups of top teams, but there are a few games of note.

LSU at Alabama: The ninth ranked LSU Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to take on number three Alabama. Alabama is coming off of a bye week following a down to the wire game against Tennessee. Alabama will have to be better than they were against the Volunteers. While not looking as impressive as they did at the start of the season, the Crimson Tide has still managed to come out on top in every game they have played. They were fortunate against Tennessee to have Lane Kiffin's special teams be a complete mess. LSU will not afford them the same luxury. LSU is a good team with only one loss, but I do not think they get it done against an Alabama team that has had two weeks to prepare. Do not be surprised if we have a close contest, however, because LSU certainly has enough athletes to make some plays. An upset would not be shocking, but I see Alabama winning the game by two scores.

Ohio State at Penn State: The Buckeyes go into Happy Valley looking to put a solid win on their resume. To this point, they really have only played one top team, USC at home, and lost. Their next three games at Penn State, home against Iowa and at Michigan give them a chance to finish strong. It will be a tough task this weekend against a Penn State team that seems to have found its stride. They field a very solid defense that should be able to contain Terrelle Pryor on the ground and turn him into a passer, which greatly reduces his effectiveness. On the offensive side of the ball, QB Daryll Clark and RB Evan Royster lead an explosive attack that can put points up in a hurry. Look for Ohio State to leave town with a third loss on the board.

USC at Arizona State: Most years, we would simply be discussing how many points the Trojans will win by. This year is a bit of a different story. For the first time in recent history, USC will be coming off of a big loss in which they were completely dominated on both sides of the ball. How will they react? They clearly do not have the same amount of experience as last year's team, but some would argue they have as much, if not more, talent. We have not seen it yet this year, and I don't know that we will. Arizona State, however, is definitely in a down year. Look for the Trojans to come out playing angry, inspired football and get themselves back in the win column. I do not see this game being close.

A couple of other games to keep an eye on are Oregon at Stanford and Northwestern at Iowa. If Oregon comes out with any sort of let down after last weeks big win, Stanford has the talent to beat them. On the flip side, Iowa has to avoid looking ahead to its last big game next week at Ohio State. Northwestern hung tough with Penn State into the second half last week and will not be a walk over.

Quick Hits From Yesterday's College Football Action

For the first time in a few weeks Florida looked convincing in their win over Georgia. They could be hitting their stride at the right time. Georgia is not a great all around team, but neither are some of the teams they have struggled against. I would still like to see them against a top tier team that can play on both sides of the ball. Offenses in the SEC are way down this year which has let the top teams struggle and still come away with wins.

Colt McCoy and the Texas offense are finally coming together. They had struggled to find any consistency all season, but the last two weeks have been a different story. To perform the way they did on the road last night shows me they are hitting on all cylinders again. I would take them over either SEC team right now. Let's see if they jump ahead of Alabama for the number 2 spot in the BCS who was idle yesterday.

Oregon made a huge statement. While many experts said USC would have a down year this season by their standards, a win over the Trojans is still a big deal. They completely dominated USC on both sides of the ball. There is not a team in the country who wants to play them right now. It will be interesting to see how far they move up in the BCS standings.

If only the computers had eyes. The computers will likely still have Iowa at the top of their rankings. Does anyone really think they could beat the other top teams? I am not sure they would be favored to beat anyone else in the top 10. If they do run the table and get beat out for a spot in the title game by a one loss SEC team, they will not have much of an argument. They have struggled to get through a very weak conference.

BCS Review

The latest BCS standings were released Sunday afternoon, with the top 3 spots remaining unchanged. Florida, Alabama and Texas hold down the first three positions, while Iowa and USC round out the top five. Florida and Alabama will likely meet in the SEC championship game, meaning one of them will have at least one loss. Unbeaten Texas and Iowa control their own destiny for the second spot in the title game. Texas' only real test left is at Oklahoma State, while Iowa still has to travel to Columbus for a showdown with Ohio State. USC's toughest remaining game will come this weekend at Oregon. Two of these five teams will likely meet for the BCS title, but which two will it be? You could probably make a case for any of them. The top 4 are undefeated, but all have looked beatable at times. My guess is that we have either an undefeated Florida or Alabama taking on a one loss USC in the title game.