Looking at this week’s college football schedule, there are, needless to say, some fairly huge games. There’s the small matter of the Brendan Loy Game of the Year between #6 USC and #25 Notre Dame, of course. But there’s a heckuva lot beyond that, too.
Things actually get started tonight with Boise State at Tulsa, and ramp up further tomorrow with a battle of the Big East’s remaining unbeatens, Cincinnati at South Florida. I’m not sure what’s the preferred outcome of that game for fans of other BCS contenders, like USC. #8 Cincy seems like more of a BCS threat because they’re ranked higher right now, but #21 South Florida would jump up the polls quickly with a win, and they’ve got a November 28 date with Miami that could help them do some last-minute “leapfrogging” of one-loss teams, if they stay unbeaten. So really, root for whomever, then root for the winner to lose in a subsequent game. As for Boise State, root against them, I guess, just to keep things from getting messy — though really, I don’t think they finish ahead of one-loss USC no matter what. (Whether that’s just or unjust is another post for another day.)
On Saturday, the BCS-dictated rooting interests for USC fans are more clear-cut. To wit:
Oklahoma vs. Texas, 10am MDT: This is the second-biggest game of the day for USC fans (the biggest being, obviously, the one in South Bend). With a win here, Texas looks to have relatively smooth sailing toward an undefeated season, particularly in light of the Dez Bryant situation at Okie State. Lose, on the other hand, and Texas no longer even controls its own destiny in the Big 12 South; the Longhorns would be forced to root for Oklahoma to lose at least once, maybe twice. USC fans would then become, for the rest of the season, the biggest OU fans this side of Norman, since the two-loss Sooners would have the power to prevent one-loss Texas from going to the Big 12 title game — again! — simply by winning out. I don’t see either a two-loss Oklahoma or a one-loss non-division-champion Texas from edging out one-loss Pac-10 champion USC in the BCS standings. But first, Oklahoma needs to win on Saturday. GO SOONERS.
Iowa at Wisconsin, 10am MDT: Third-biggest game of the day for Trojan fans. The Hawkeyes are undefeated and therefore need to lose, and this is one of just two remaining games on their schedule where a defeat looks like a reasonable bet. GO BADGERS.
USC at Notre Dame, 1:30pm MDT: Um, yeah, FIGHT ON TROJANS, BEAT THE IRISH. Duh.
