With Ohio State-Michigan just six days away, I figured I would try to pick the 10 games with the most impact this season thus far.
When I went through the first 11 weeks, I knew it would be extremely tough to pick just 10 games. So, I made sure the games I picked had a dramatic impact on the college football scene – so two top 15 teams playing each other didn’t automatically qualify.
I ended up with 16 games before I made the list. I decided that BCS implication is the most important determiner, but I didn’t rule out other factors.
Some of the games on my list of 16 included the Miami-Florida International affair highlighted by the fight and the Oklahoma-Oregon game with the botched replay. I think if we do this list again in January, they very well could make the list, but I want to focus more on the BCS right now.
The only other thing I’ll discuss before getting to the list is the SEC. There were about 632 games that I could have put on this list, but I left a lot off. I ended up with 5 of the 16 being in-conference SEC games, although I don’t know that I will include them all. I’m just going to decide if any of them were more special than the others.
10. No. 25 Boise State 41, Hawaii 34 (Week 4)
Hang with me for a minute. Do you realize is Boise loses this game, it’s out of the BCS mix? If the Broncos win out, they’ll likely face the Big 12 winner in the Fiesta Bowl. This was essentially the WAC championship game (Hawaii’s only conference loss was to Boise).
9. Arkansas 27, No. 2 Auburn 10 (Week 6)
After getting smoked in the opening game this season, the Razorbacks let the world know they’re for real (A win next week and Arkansas is in the SEC championship game). I know USC manhandled Arkansas in the first game, but a lot happens during the course of the season, and I’ve always been the one to say that first games are horrible indicators of how good or bad a team is considering there is months of prep time. The team that takes the field in Week 1 is far different than the team in Week 13.
8. No. 5 Louisville 44, No. 3 West Virginia 34 (Week 10)
Well, considering both of these teams now have a loss, it’s not as important. But you don’t have to think too far back to remember how big this game was. On September 15, I blogged the following:
Big East game people care about: West Virginia at Louisville
Big East game people might tune in to watch: Louisville at Rutgers, November 9
Big East game people might tune in to watch (assuming the Nov. 9 game goes well): Rutgers at West Virginia, December 2
Well, that’s changed a little. But the same concept applies. I had a feeling the Big East would be a player this year…and what do ya know?
7. No. 11 Auburn 27, No. 2 Florida 17 (Week 7)
Florida’s only loss. If the Gators win this game, the scene is that much different, but USC wouldn’t be the No. 3 team in the BCS this week and a Florida-Michigan/Ohio State winner as the national championship game matchup is a lock.
6. Georgia 37, No. 5 Auburn (Week 11)
Auburn’s second bad loss at home took them out of the BCS. And, do you remember when Georgia was a player in the BCS race about 7 or so weeks ago? The fans in Athens have to be among the most disappointed in the country (Hawkeye faithful aren’t too happy either).
5. No. 12 Notre Dame 40, Michigan State 37 (Week 4)
I’d argue this was the second-best game of the year so far (maybe after all of the championship games, I’ll go back and rank the 5-10 most exciting games). Brady Quinn kept his Heisman hopes alive and Notre Dame kept its BCS bid in hand. A second consecutive loss would have doomed the Irish (read about the first one below).
4. No. 1 Ohio State 24, No. 2 Texas 7 (Week 2)
This game would be more important if Texas didn’t lose against Kansas State. But it was No. 1 vs. No. 2…done deal.
3. No. 11 Michigan 47, No. 2 Notre Dame 21 (Week 3)
Okay, here’s what I don’t understand: THIS GAME WAS A COMPLETE BLOWOUT. It was just like last year’s Fiesta Bowl when Ohio State put up 617 total yards against the Irish. Notre Dame hasn’t shown it can be a high-powered team since it beat Michigan last year (Even at that, the Wolverines were No. 3 at the time, but finished the year 7-5). If Notre Dame beats USC, I’ll take the Irish for real. But this year’s game against Michigan was important because they’re both in the BCS’ Top 5.
2. Kansas State 45, No. 4 Texas 42 (Week 10)
If you would have asked me on Saturday morning which team someone like Rutgers had to most worry about, I would have argued Texas. The Longhorns’ road was the easiest of USC, Florida/Arkansas and USC. Buuuut, they blew the doors right off that.
1. No. 15 Rutgers 28, No. 3 Louisville 25 (Week 11)
Not only did Rutgers kicker Jeremy Ito make me look good, he helped spread the Scarlet fever across the northeast. You can’t really argue for any other games on this list. If Louisville wins this game, it’s likely in the national championship game. If Rutgers wins on December 2 against West Virginia, it’s going to be hard to deny. When it’s all said and done, this could be the second- or third-most important game of the season (There’s no more important game than Ohio State-Michigan, you can’t argue that).
Games that almost made it: Cal-Tennessee (Week 1), Florida-Tennessee (Week 3), Oregon-Oklahoma (Week 3), Florida-LSU (Week 6), Miami-FIU (Week 7) and Oregon State-USC (Week 9).
Otherwise, that about does it. I’m off to buy some DVDs; I’m thinking “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out.
Check back tomorrow afternoon, this week is going to be very blog-tastic.