Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE
It’s the Alabama Crimson Tide’s bye week this week, but it also happens to be the most intriguing slate of games so far this year. I’m actually glad Alabama has a bye this week so I don’t devote my full focus to their game and I can have the remote in hand to channel flip at will throughout the day.
Here’s a breakdown of the viewing guide for the day:
The First Wave
(all times Central)
11:00/FX: Kansas at #7 Kansas State
11:00/ESPN: #24 Northwestern at Penn State
11:00/ESPN 2: Arkansas at Auburn
11:21/SEC Newtork: #20 Mississippi State at Kentucky
What to Watch: The slate gets off to a slow start today (unless you gamble), but the game I’ll be watching the most like most of you will be the Arkansas/Auburn game on the Deuce. It’s the dumpster fire bowl between two teams that have a combined two wins coming into Week 6. Arkansas hasn’t even been able to make games respectable against SEC competition as they have been outscored 110-10 in two conference losses to Alabama and Texas A&M.
I’m sure some of you will also check on the SEC Network game between Mississippi State and Kentucky, but don’t sleep on the ESPN game between undefeated Northwestern and a Penn State team that has quietly won three games in a row after their 0-2 start. Arkansas/Auburn will get the majority of my attention, but I will be checking in on Northwestern/Penn State from time to time in what should be a really good game.
The Second Wave
2:00/Fox: Arizona at #18 Stanford
2:00/ESPN 3: Virginia at Duke
2:30/CBS: #4 LSU at #10 Florida
2:30/ESPN: Georgia Tech at #15 Clemson
2:30 ESPN 2/ABC: #17 Oklahoma at Texas Tech
2:30/ESPN 2/ABC: Illinois at Wisconsin
What to Watch: Obviously, the game to watch here will be LSU taking on Florida on CBS at the Swamp in a matchup of Top-10 and undefeated SEC teams. Are the Gators back? Is LSU a legitimate National Championship contender? We’ll find out today. This LSU/Florida game is the most intriguing game of the day to me with due respect to the other big SEC matchup today. Florida has looked good, but they haven’t faced a defense as ferocious as the Bayou Bengals. Of course, Zach Mettenberger has been pretty average and this will be his toughest test to date.
To bridge the 30-minute gap before the start of the LSU/Florida game (for those of you with access to ESPN 3), you can check out former Alabama quarterback Phillip Sims as he makes his first career start as his Virginia squad takes on Duke in Durham.
I’ll also be keeping an eye on the Oklahoma/Texas Tech game. The Red Raiders currently have the #1 ranked defense in the country, so I’m interested to see if they are legit or if that is just a product of playing inferior competition. We’ll find out today.
The Third Wave
6:00/ESPN: #5 Georgia at #6 South Carolina
6:00/Fox: #8 West Virginia at #11 Texas
6:00/ESPNU: Texas A&M at Ole Miss
6:30/NBC: Miami (FL) at #9 Notre Dame
7:00/ESPN2: #3 Florida State at North Carolina State
7:00/ABC: #21 Nebraska at #12 Ohio State
What to Watch: The big one to watch is once again in the SEC as Georgia invades Williams-Brice Stadium to take on South Carolina. This game has major implications in the SEC Eastern division race with the winner becoming the favorite to represent the East in Atlanta. Georgia has the two freshman running backs in Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley, but they are going up against a South Carolina defensive front that is by far the best the Bulldogs have faced this year. This game will probably come down to which QB is able to make the most plays.
West Virginia/Texas is another matchup of highly ranked teams on Fox. This is a game that will not be kind to your eyes if you like defense, regardless of how much the pundits have tried to build up the Longhorns defense. Miami and Notre Dame renew their “Catholics vs. Convicts rivalry in South Bend, and that game has quickly become interesting since the Hurricanes have actually been playing decent football of late.
ABC has a matchup of two dual-threat quarterbacks in Taylor Martinez and Braxton Miller. Nebraska seems to the be last hope in the Big Ten of not being flat out embarrassed in the Rose Bowl.
Also, if you are still awake/sober Oregon hosts Washington on ESPN at 9:30
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