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Rivalry Weekend

Week 13

Rivalry Weekend

This week as we reflect upon our many blessings, gifts, and mercies that have been granted, our hearts should be filled with joy, wonder, and happiness. We ought to embrace our fellow man, with hugs of brotherly love, and leaving Holiday cheer in our wake. Then it’ll be time for college football to kick off and that’s when all the passion, hate, and anger for our rival will come bubbling to the surface, and IT’S ON! We’ll wish all opposing QB to suffer damage, along with every other member on that hated team. We want our rival to be crushed, humiliated, we want to fly the black flag of no quarter, no mercy, NO PRISIONERS!

Ole Miss vs Mississippi State – Thanksgiving Day kicks off with the State of Mississippi hating each other first in the Egg bowl. After the way the Ole Miss defense stepped up against A&M, and how they’ve played lately, it’s hard to imagine that the Rebels are underdogs, but they are. Do the odd makers, whoever they are, know something we don’t? Maybe, if this game was being played in Oxford, or in Jackson, MS (where it used to be played), the Miss State Bulldogs would be the underdogs. Ole Miss just doesn’t play well on the road, AND they seem to have a horrible time when the game is in Starkville, which is where they are meeting this season. Whether it’s bad decision making or just poor execution, the Rebels don’t perform well. State has had an up and down year. They’re either on fire or ice cold, and they’re coming into this game with a two game winning streak. Gotta go with the Rebels on this one, and it’s not because of my Brother, no, it’s because the Rebels figured out that Defense is important. Hotty Toddy! (There is some dissention in the editorial staff on this)

Texas A&M vs Texas – wait, what? They’re still not playing each other on Thanksgiving? What the Hell! If this Texas to the SEC thing happens, and they don’t resurrect this rivalry on THANKSGIVING DAY, then all involved should be dragged outside and publicly beaten.

Iowa vs Nebraska – This is a manufactured rivalry that has never taken root. Oh, sure, the fans in Iowa don’t like Nebraska’s corn husks, and Nebraskans can’t stand Hawkeyes (which they’ve never seen), but not sure they honestly hate each other as they should. Maybe if Nebraska started a rumor about how bad Hawkeye corn tastes than maybe we’re getting somewhere. HC Scott Frost has not been the envisioned savior as he was down at Central Florida, and, win or lose this game, it might be his last in the Big Red. Iowa had hopes of making the CFB playoffs, those hopes were crushed, but no need in letting that ruin the rest of the season. A win here, and the Hawkeyes, seen or unseen, will be playing on January 1st. Lose to the Huskers, and they might not make it to the Music City Bowl.

North Carolina vs NC State – is a contrast in teams. UNC was supposed to take the ACC this year and possibly make the playoffs, NC State was supposed to just survive. The Wolfpack turns out to be the one that is ranked and looking for that prime bowl invite while UNC is just hoping for an invite. Music City is not a bad place to play in a bowl. A betting person would take the Pack and not even think twice about it, but there’s something about this game that just isn’t sitting right. Can’t nail it down, maybe it’s because it’s a rivalry game;- after all, in the last 20 years the Pack has won 12 and lost 8, but it’s the last two years that bother me. UNC has simply blown the Wolfpack out of the water, winning 41-10 and 48-21. NC State has got to turn this around. It’s on the NC State turf in Raleigh, but does a fifty mile, or so, drive count as a road game? Still, there’s hope the Tar Heels won’t embarrass the Wolfpack.

Washington State vs Washington – The Apple Cup- The Cougars just became bowl eligible with their big win over Arizona. In an up and down season, the Cougs have been mostly competitive. They lost their head coach last month when he refused to take the jab, but they seem to have done well, only losing two games of their last seven. Washington also lost their coach, but it was due to performance, not unconstitutional mandates. The Huskies will not be going bowling this year, even if they win this one. At the moment they’re on a three game losing streak with no signs of that letting up. They Dogs yield plenty of yards per game but only give up 21 points per contest. This isn’t all that bad for the Pacific Northwest. Their offense hasn’t taken up the slack, hence the search for a new coach. Washington State should win, even though the odds makers, whoever they are, are giving the nod to UDub. If the Cougars win and Oregon State upsets the Ducks, WSU can win the PAC-12 North! That should motivate someone.  

Georgia vs Georgia Tech- Good Ole Fashion Hate- The only good thing Tech has going for them in this game is that it’s at their home field. Hopefully, the Dawgs don’t hate the Jackets as much as they have in the past, and will take it easy on them, and only win by 40. But, then again, they may want to crush Tech so that the Jackets never get any ideas of ever winning again. It’s all up to how the Dawgs feel that day, but it’s going to be all Bulldogs, no matter what.

Ohio State vs Michigan – The Game- Last week there was this belief that Michigan State would actually hang in with the Buckeyes for most of the game. Wrong. OSU had blown the Spartans out by halftime. Michigan is not as good as MSU, and, even though this is a rivalry game, it hasn’t been much of a contest for most of this century. The Wolverines have won only three times since 2000, and the last time was in 2011. Heck, the last time it was even competitive was 2013. Choke Master Harbaugh is still employed, although it’s a wonder why, which means the Buckeyes have nothing to fear as they’ll run away with this game even though it’s not being played in Columbus this time around.

Florida State vs Florida – At the start of this season no one thought these two would have identical 5-6 records. The winner of this game will be bowl eligible. The Gators, in a shocking but far from timely move, fired HC Mullins this week. This can’t be good for the team’s morale. Florida State has shown signs of improvement lately, and getting this win and going to a bowl would help them out for next year. Seminoles are motivated, Gators aren’t. But it’ll still be a close game.

Alabama vs Auburn – The Iron Bowl – Alabama needs to blow out Auburn. There have been so many questions about this team that have not been answered. The pollsters are questioning the Tide, the committee has doubts, and their fans are frustrated beyond belief, myself included. The Committee just leap-frogged the Buckeyes ahead of Bama, and that should insult Alabama players to try harder. OC Bill O’Brien and DC Pete Golding notwithstanding, Bama needs to do something drastic. IF they want to make a statement now’s the time. However, strange things happen to the Tide at Jordan-Hare and none of them are good, ever. Bama hasn’t won there since 2015. Auburn is not even close to being as good as their rival, but they’ll somehow awaken the ghosts of ages past and make a game out of this. Bama needs to make a huge statement, they’ll win the game, but whiff on the statement. Roll Tide!

Oregon State vs Oregon – Civil War- The Ducks blew it last week by losing to Utah, and it’s not just that they lost, no, they got manhandled. HC Cristobal said that they can still achieve all their goals this year as he tries to motivate the team. He’s going to have to do better than that, cause the Playoffs are out and the team knows it. Oregon State, for those who have not been staying up late for games out west, is sitting at 7-4, and playing far better than anyone expected. Last year the Beavers surprised the Ducks as their backup QB came in for one play, where he scored the go ahead TD with 33 seconds to play. This game might not be that close. The Beavers are going to win again, as the Ducks are going to let the Utes beat them twice.

Virginia Tech vs VirginiaThe Commonwealth Cup –  UVA does not have a good record playing the Hokies. Even when Tech is having a down year, the Wahoos can’t seem to pull off the victory. This year looks like the Cavaliers’ chance to grab that brass ring. VA Tech joined the coaching carousel and fired HC Fuente, so everything points toward a UVA victory. All they have to do is avoid tripping over their own two feet, which is what they will promptly do.

Arizona vs Arizona State – The Territorial Cup- The Wildcats have won one game this season, but, honestly, they’ve been competitive in most of their games. There is improvement in Tucson. Arizona State is not going to win the South, Utah has that wrapped up, but the Sun Devils darn sure don’t want to lose to their lowly rival. Besides, a win here will help them get to a better bowl. Although they’ve been a bit wishy-washy, ASU is a pretty good team, when they get it together. Probably better than Music City participant.

Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State – Bedlam- Oklahoma lost at the wrong time of the year, and it dropped them a good ways back from the top four. Oklahoma State lost a while ago, so it’s not fresh in the Committee’s mind. On top of that, the Sooners have only had two games where they weren’t playing from behind. They even had to mount a comeback against Kansas! Kan-Sas, for crying out loud! The Pokes have not had to play from behind and they’ve appeared pretty darn impressive most of the time. They’re a one loss team and just three slots, and an eon in time,  away from making the playoffs because notre dame is ahead of them. They still have to win against Oklahoma, and the bigger the spread, the better. OU would love to make it to the playoffs and there are a few possible scenarios where they could, but they can’t do their usual ‘play from behind’ here if they want in. The game is in Stillwater, where it is very tough to beat OSU. It’ll be close, and the Sooners will have to come from behind, only this time, they’ll come up short.

Short Smokes

Notre Dame vs Stanford- does this count as a rivalry? Cummings vs AB Hill, but that was grammar school in Memphis in 1951.

Pitt should be playing WVU but instead they’ll have to beat Syracuse

Texas A&M is going to run all over LSU….hopefully. Probably. Possibly. Hmmmm.

Wisconsin vs Minnesota – They’re playing for the Paul Bunyan statute, or axe, or the Big Blue Ox…whatever it is, it has something to do with Paul Bunyan

Michigan State needs to lick their wounds and beat Penn State, and they will. Penn State is paying million$ to avoid the coaching carousel. Waste of money.

UTSA will end the season undefeated by beating North Texas. Music City Bowl beyond their reach, but what about Aloha?Is there still an Aloha?

Wake Forest can’t afford to drop another game, and they might against Boston College, but probably not.

Utah has the PAC-12 South wrapped up, but they better be careful not to lose focus against Colorado

Missouri and Arkansas aren’t exactly rivals, but Hogs and Tigers don’t make good neighbors. Hogs win this one.

Cincinnati has to remain undefeated and they need to blow out East Carolina

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