Today's College Football Thread

[fishwax]

The #1 team already lost this weekend (Arkansas beat LSU yesterday), as did the #6 team (USC beat Arizona State on Thursday).At least one more top 5 team will fall, because #4 Missouri plays #2 Kansas in the most important Border War ever. The winner wins the Big 12 north and plays in the Big 12 Championship Game (almost certainly against Oklahoma) for an opportunity to play in the BCS Championship Game.

#3 West Virginia plays at #20 Connecticut for the Big East Championship. (West Virginia is also playing for a spot in the BCS Championship game, which is all but guaranteed as long as they don’t lose today or next week at Pittsburgh.)

Tennessee and Kentucky play today—if Tennessee wins, they get to play LSU in the SEC Championship Game; if Kentucky wins, then Georgia plays LSU in the CCG. Meanwhile, Georgia is ranked #7, and with two teams above them already losing, and at least one more guaranteed to lose, they could back their way into the national championship game if they beat Georgia Tech today and if a couple more top teams lose.

A few in-state rivalries today: Virginia and Virginia Tech play an early game. Both teams are ranked in the top 20, and the winner will win the ACC Coastal Division and play Boston College in the ACC Championship Game. Also, the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn is today, which is always a big deal to anyone with any connection to the state of Alabama. I’ll be watching Bedlam in Oklahoma, as my Sooners (ranked #10) play the Oklahoma State Cowboys. If OU wins, they clinch the Big 12 South and will play the Mizzou-Kansas winner in San Antonio next week for the Big 12 Championship. (If they lose, then it’s a three-way tie between OSU, OU, and Texas, and the ultimate tiebreaker will be the team ranked highest in the BCS, which is likely to be Oklahoma, unless the Cowboys beat them very badly.)

There are a lot of great games, and it is the last full weekend of action in the greatest season of college football I’ve ever seen. Next week we’ll have the Conference Championship Games, Army-Navy, the Pac 10 games, and a handful of other games scattered about, but this is the last weekend where almost everyone (other than the Big 10) is still on the field.

So what game are you looking forward to?