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Coaches like to say things like "we just want to be in position to be in position." Well, there's little time left for positioning. Now, it's about eliminating. This week, Top 25 games will clear up the following:
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Games of Nov. 22-24 Best game No. 2 Nebraska at No. 14 Colorado Best matchup Jim Tressel vs. The Rivalry Itself Heisman climber Bryant McKinnie, OT, Miami This week's schedule Bowl projections |
Saturday's games
| No. 12 WASHINGTON (8-2) at No. 1 MIAMI (9-0) 8 p.m. ET, Orange Bowl, Miami, ABC | ||
| The Hurricanes passed their biggest test of the season last week (we've since seen what FSU was about, so that Oct. 13 win ain't the deal), and it doesn't get any easier this week against the Huskies. And next week, at Virginia Tech, will be tougher yet. Still, on the strength of its 59-0 rout of Syracuse, Miami is listed as a 26-point favorite against the last team to defeat the Hurricanes (34-29 last year in Seattle). Due to the maturation of sophomore QB Cody Pickett, Washington is much better prepared for this game than if it had been played as scheduled on Sept. 15. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| LT Bryant McKinnie is the man. OK? That's that. He ought to get a trip to New York for the Heisman party, but his best chance of going would be as Ken Dorsey's bodyguard ... a role he fills incredibly well. | Last week, WSU players enjoyed incorporating victory dances into their Friday walk-through ... which only served to annoy the Huskies. This week, being almost a four-touchdown underdog will do the same. | One of Miami's strengths is the way the Hurricanes take the ball (33 takeaways) and don't give it back (16 turnovers). That plus-1.9 margin per game is the best in the country, and the 2-to-1 ratio would make any coach happy. |
| Bottom line: Miami should do to UW at least what Dennis Erickson's Beavers did. 'Canes, 35-14. | ||
| OKLAHOMA STATE (3-7, 1-6 Big 12) at No. 4 OKLAHOMA (10-1, 6-1) 3:30 p.m. ET, Memorial Stadium, Norman, FOXSN | ||
| The Pokes nearly derailed the Sooners last season, coming up short when OU cornerback Derrick Strait broke up a pass in the end zone on the Cowboys' final drive. Now, the Cowboys don't have the home-field advantage anymore, nor have they made tangible progress in Les Miles' first season as coach. But it is the Bedlam Series and not everything always goes according to OU's script, which reads: Beat Oklahoma State, see Nebraska in Big 12 title game. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| Oklahoma QB Nate Hybl continues to improve his efficiency, and last week showed the necessary toughness by shaking off two late hits from Texas Tech. | Tuck this away in your memory bank for the Big 12 title game: OU kicker Tim Duncan has recovered nicely from a midseason swoon, making 10 consecutive field goals. | OSU true freshman Darrent Williams returned two interceptions for touchdowns last week, earning Big 12 defensive player of the week honors. |
| Bottom line: Nothing in this game screams upset. Oklahoma, 31-7. | ||
| VANDERBILT (2-7, 0-6 SEC) at No. 7 TENNESSEE (8-1, 5-1) 3:30 p.m. ET, Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, CBS | ||
| Vandy hopes to pick up where Kentucky left off. And Tennessee hopes to start from scratch heading into next week's showdown with Florida. OK, so Kentucky didn't beat the Vols last week, but the Wildcats certainly took the full measure of UT, which a week earlier had to scramble to get past Memphis. Now, Vandy is looking for a way to send deposed coach Woody Widenhofer (15-38) with a highlight near the end of his five years in Nashville. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| When the UT defense couldn't stop Kentucky, it was up to QB Casey Clausen to win it by leading the Vols to 31 second-half points (including 3 TDs to Donte Stallworth). He and they won't need as many this week. | Although Widenhofer says a win, "would be more gratifying than the four Super Bowls that I was involved in," it could cost the program a half-million dollars because the SEC wouldn't get a second BCS bowl team. | Tennessee has won 18 in a row in the series -- the fourth-longest streak in the country behind only Notre Dame over Navy (38), Nebraska over Kansas (33) and Nebraska over Missouri (23). |
| Bottom line: Is it occurring to anybody that the Vols just aren't that good? UT, 30-20. | ||
| OHIO STATE (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) at No. 11 MICHIGAN (8-2, 6-1) 1 p.m. ET, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, ABC | ||
| Craig Krenzel is excited to get his first start for the Buckeyes. The Wolverines are probably pretty happy about it, too. So much so that Michigan coach Lloyd Carr says he doesn't really think that mobile three-year starter Steve Bellisari really will be on the bench for the whole game while Krenzel -- the third-stringer just a week ago -- and backup Scott McMullen handle Ohio State's fortunes in the Big House. OSU coach Jim Tressel will see about all that. With the Big Ten title there for the Wolverines to take, we won't see Carr holding back any of his players on the sideline. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| Although WR Marquise Walker caught just 4 passes for 14 yards last week, he still found a way to help beat Wisconsin. He became the fifth UM player to block a kick this season. One way or another, he'll do something special. | If Bellisari is back in good enough graces with Tressel to be on the sideline, wouldn't it make sense to let him step over the sideline and give the Buckeyes their best quarterback? Either he's on or he's not ... this in-between stuff is kinda strange. | Michigan needs to rediscover ways to move the ball. Through the first five games, the Wolverines averaged 412 yards a game ... but in the past five, they have managed just 317 and have been out-gained by three of their past four opponents. |
| Bottom line: Bellisari or no Bellisari, UM knows how to win this game. Wolverines, 23-13. | ||
| NOTRE DAME (4-5) at No. 13 STANFORD (7-2) 8 p.m. ET, Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, Calif., ABC | ||
| Time was when teams like Notre Dame could head into a game against Stanford, come up with a couple of extra well-disguised schemes in the secondary, and know it can pound away and hope to keep the ball away from the Cardinal's passing offense. But when the Irish step into Stanford Stadium, they'll be stepping in against a team that runs the ball better than they do, stops the run better than they do, and wins more than they do. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| Notre Dame needs QB Carlyle Holiday to get yards and not throw interceptions. The past two games, he's averaged 139 yards of total offense. For the year, he's thrown 7 picks and has passed for 2 TDs and run for 2 TDs. | Notre Dame can still get to a bowl game (Insight.com in Phoenix) by beating Stanford and Purdue in the next two weeks. Of course, the Irish would have to play their best two games of the season to pull that off. | Stanford's traditional passing offense has given way to a rushing attack that is averaging 199 yards a game -- second most in school history (to the 1957 team). |
| Bottom line: Hmmm ... Tyrone Willingham vs. Bob Davie? Stanford, 41-17. | ||
| No. 19 GEORGIA (6-3) at No. 21 GEORGIA TECH (7-3) 7:45 p.m. ET, Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, ESPN | ||
| Two old rivals get ready to knock shoulder pads, looking to elbow their way to better bowl positioning. Georgia Tech isn't that far, really, from an undefeated season -- a one-point loss and two others in OT -- and can still aspire to the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. Georgia is part of the thick middle of SEC bowl teams and looks like it might pack its bags for the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| Georgia wasn't supposed to be able to run the ball with Musa Smith out. So all Vernon Hayes did last week was rush for 192 yards against Ole Miss in his first start. Was it a fluke? | Georgia Tech's George Godsey is having another nice season, completing nearly 66 percent of his passes, but this king Bee hasn't been able to generate the buzz of last season. A win here and over Florida State might do it. | Since 1942, there have only been three occasions in which both teams were ranked entering the game -- and each of those meetings have come in the past three seasons. |
| Bottom line: Mark Richt's first season: Beat UT, lose to UF ... lose to the Jackets. Georgia Tech, 28-21. | ||
| YOUNGSTOWN STATE (8-2) at No. 20 MARSHALL (9-1) 7 p.m. ET, Marshall University Stadium, Huntington, W.Va. | ||
| Ah ... just like old times: Marshall and Youngstown State met for the Division I-AA national title from 1991-93, with Jim Tressel's Penguins winning twice. Since then, the Herd has left Youngstown State in its dust, moving up to the big time in 1997, becoming a postseason regular and turning out its third player worthy of Heisman consideration -- QB Byron Leftwich. | ||
| Players to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| If Florida's Rex Grossman-Jabar Gaffney is the No. 1 pass-catch combo in the nation, then Byron Leftwich-Darius Watts ranks a close second. | As the New York Yankees of the MAC, Marshall probably will have the whole league rooting against it winning a fifth consecutive title when the Herd plays at West champion Toledo on Nov. 30. | These old pals haven't met since the 1993 championship game, and are reunited here only because Marshall needed a new opponent after its Sept. 15 game against TCU was canceled. |
| Bottom line: Even at his old job, Tressel would have lost this week. Marshall, 45-10. | ||
| No. 25 BOSTON COLLEGE (7-3, 4-2 Big East) at No. 22 SYRACUSE (8-3, 5-1) 7 p.m. ET, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y., ESPN2 | ||
| OK, then. Thanks for playing, Syracuse. Uh, 59-0? Provided the Orangemen can scrape themselves off the bottom of Miami's cleats, this looks like a decent match of good Big East teams, with a potential Gator Bowl bid serving as smelling salts to Syracuse. If Boston College wins, it will share second-place in the Big East and can't be ruled out of the Gator, either. | ||
| Player to watch | Random thought | Fast fact |
| Syracuse defensive end Dwight Freeney would have gotten closer to Ken Dorsey last week if he had sent an e-mail. So, what is Freeney (16½ sacks) like when he's really mad? | Boston College star running back William Green says he won't turn pro after this season, but we know how much that statement is worth in November. Isn't that right, Michael Vick? | James Mungro needs 14 yards to give Syracuse its first back-to-back seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher since Joe Morris did it in 1978 and '79. Dee Brown had 1,031 last year. |
| Bottom line: You know what they say; it's how you deal with adversity that matters. Syracuse, 24-21. | ||
