The Big 12's excellence has turned what would usually be the game of the century into the yawn of the week.
OK, not quite. But there have been five of these suckers -- games between two top 10 teams -- in the nation's best conference (for now). You might have heard the latest, No. 2 Texas Tech at No. 5 Oklahoma, is fairly large.
With a win, Texas Tech can clinch the Big 12 South and be two games away from a national championship berth. Oklahoma can spike the BCS punch with a victory. Don't get WWL started about the tiebreakers. Here's a cheat sheet.
With the help of CBSSports.com graphics czar Roland Liwag, WWL breaks it all down in five frames:
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Prediction: Oklahoma
Scouting the Nation
Welcome to Rivalry Week: Make that rivalry, weak.
Aside from BYU-Utah, there isn't much to do these traditional hatefests proud. Michigan-Ohio State? Cal-Stanford? North Carolina-N.C. State? Tennessee-Vanderbilt? Washington-Washington State? Illinois-Northwestern?
After Utah and BYU, only five of the 14 teams have winning records. Give me Iowa-Minnesota, where the trophy is a bronze pig named Floyd.
Biggest in Beaver: It has been around 48 years. It was made famous by a certain bespectacled head coach.
Almost a half-century after it was built, Penn State's Beaver Stadium is set to host the biggest game in its history.
It has never come down to this for Penn State: Last game of the season, at home, with a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. Beat Michigan State and the Nittany Lions clinch the Big Ten.
And then the rumors really start: Forget the one about 950 former players coming to State College to honor Joe and send him off properly.
Forget the one about Joe stepping down after the game. We know he's going to last until at least after his hip surgery.
You read that right: Vanderbilt, with no athletic department, is a three-point favorite over Tennessee.
One stresses academics. The other tries to squeeze classes in around football practice. There might be something to this parity thing.
The forbidden question: It sure caught Urban Meyer by surprise.
"Oh boy. I'd get completely blown out of the water if I answered that truthfully," Florida's coach said.
We're getting to that point where the question must be asked: Does Utah deserve a national championship shot if Alabama and/or Florida lose?
Meyer, Utah's former coach, knows the answer. It's a legit question going into the Holy War with BYU. The Mountain West is a BCS-level conference this season with a 9-5 record against BCS conferences. The Pac-10 has been embarrassed by the Mountain West.
Look at the schedule -- a win at Michigan (don't laugh) and two more against ranked teams (Oregon State, TCU).
We'll answer for Urban: An emphatic yes for Utah.
Church vs. State: Aka, the Holy War between Mormon-affiliated BYU and state school Utah. WWL won't be there in person but The List will never forget the best stadium sign ever four years ago.
Utah was mopping up BYU at Rice-Eccles to clinch a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. Up in the Mighty Utah Student Section (MUSS) appeared the definitely politically incorrect sign:
Where's Your God Now?
Apologies to Edward G. Robinson in The Ten Commandments.
Just call it what it is, sanctioned hazing: Someone please explain to WWL how The Citadel got on Florida's schedule.
This isn't a game, it's a Pat Conroy novel. Meyer is playing The Great Santini.
Enough Notre Dame to go around for everyone: A playoff wouldn't affect the Irish.
Let the top eight play it off. Bowls would still be falling all over themselves, trying to get a mediocre Notre Dame. It's happened again. The Gator, Cotton and Sun bowls are all interested in ND -- even at 7-5.
That's probably what the record will be after a win this week against Syracuse and a loss to USC.
(Road) Apple Cup: Remember those guys with the brooms and dust pans who follow the elephants at the circus? Look for them at the end of the Apple Cup.
Washington tries to keep its winless season alive. Washington State tries to stay alive.
Weird leanings: In order to make their way toward a conference title, the Longhorns will be forced into rooting for Oklahoma on Saturday.
It's a similar case for Michigan State, which needs Michigan to beat Ohio State to have a chance at the Rose Bowl.
"I don't even know if I can get that out of my mouth," said Michigan State's Javon Ringer, when asked by the Detroit Free Press if he could root for Michigan.
WWL can ... Go Blue! No, really, go. The worst season in Michigan history comes to a merciful end in Columbus.
That buzz you hear about the game ... well, you don't hear a buzz. This is one of the least-hyped Ohio State-Michigan games in years.
Thank goodness, the legendary "Dead Schembechlers" will be in town to debut their new CD, Rodriguez to Ruin featuring ...
• You Lost to Appalachian State
• I'm So Bored With The SEC
• USC Don't Mean Nuthin' To Me
• The Ann Arbor Chainsaw Massacre Christmas Song
Rock on.
No one's talking about it II: Boise State. Utah is expected to clinch its BCS berth. Meanwhile, the Broncos (at Nevada) are headed toward their second undefeated season in the last three.
Just a reminder, Mr. President-elect: Under your eight-team playoff plan the following teams would be excluded:
- Choosing the top eight in the BCS: Right now that would eliminate undefeated Boise State, which knocked off Oklahoma two years ago in the Fiesta Bowl because of the BCS.
- Choosing the six major-college champions plus two at-large: Let's give the SEC to Florida, Big 12 to Oklahoma, ACC to Maryland, Big East to Cincinnati, Pac-10 to Oregon State and Big Ten to Penn State. The leaves the highest-ranked at-large teams as Alabama and Texas Tech. That also means that Texas, USC, Utah and Boise State -- combined record 40-2 -- would be left out. Utah and Boise are undefeated.
Friday walk-through
• Cincinnati can just about wrap up the Big East by beating Pittsburgh. The Bearcats' last conference game is at home against Syracuse. That would give coach Brian Kelly three championships since 2003 (Division II national title, MAC and Big East).
• Florida's Brandon Spikes for national defensive player of the year? It could happen. Spikes, who tries to emulate Dick Butkus by wearing his No. 51, is one of the five finalists for the Nagurski Award. Maybe it's just WWL, but it would be weird seeing a Gators defender named the best in the country.
• Much is made of Florida's youth, but Meyer will say goodbye to 21 seniors in their last home game. Those seniors have compiled a 40-9 record.
• Tune to DirecTV Channel 616. That's the short answer for where to find BYU-Utah game outside the Mountain West seven-state "footprint." Yeah, WWL is shocked too. Do we need rabbit ears with that?
• Signs of life in the ACC: Thirty-two NFL scouts attended Thursday's Miami-Georgia Tech game. The league has players -- it leads everyone with 25 first-round picks the past three seasons -- they just don't show up enough in one program on game days. The ACC is the first league to have two players picked in the top four of the draft for three consecutive seasons.
• Tech's Paul Johnson is inching his way toward ACC coach of the year. The Jackets are 8-3 heading into next week's Georgia game. That's more victories than Chan Gailey had in all but one of his seasons. Georgia Tech has earned at least a tie for the Coastal Division title but needs a lot to go right to get the ACC Championship Game berth.
• Terrelle Pryor was the first player Rich Rodriguez called -- before his West Virginia players -- when he got the Michigan job. Looks like Pryor will be the last quarterback to beat Michigan this season. So at least there's that.
• Ohio State is favored by 20½ in what is believed to be the largest spread in the history of the rivalry.
• It might be time to renegotiate Mark Dantonio's deal at Michigan State. The Spartans coach is near the bottom of the conference, making $1.1 million per year. If it hasn't already, expect Dantonio's name to pop up in some of the high-profile searches. He'd be affordable.
• WWL wants to see Harvard-Yale someday, but when the most celebrated game in the series is a 29-29 tie that occurred 40 years ago, then we're not exactly talking Alabama-Auburn here.
• For those of you looking forward to the Texas A&M-Texas game on Thanksgiving, we pass along a menu note as a public service. From an A&M news release: A change of menu for Monday's press conference: There will be no Buppy's lunch spread. Peproni Rolls from Double Daves, which are viewed by many as the world's most perfect food, will be served in the press box after the press conference.
