This has been a really weird year for college football and, to be honest, we wouldn’t have it any other way. The reason we love and follow this sport every fall is because it is the weirdest, most passion-fueled sport in America. Every week there are so many story lines worth following from games that the average fan would not care about. The die-hard college football fan has been looking forward to week 9 for a while. Week 9 provides us plenty of pivot points for many programs around the nation.
College hockey is now into its fifth week and we’ve got some big games there. The East Coast is gonna be heating up with #CawlidgeHawkey starting to get serious.
Thursday
Nothing! Take the girlfriend out for dinner and a movie, go catch thirsty Thursday with the boys. There’s a professional football game on too! Like I said, take a flyer on Thursday; have fun with your friends, have some drinks, do whatever. Definitely don’t waste your time watching a Stanford-Oregon State game that kicks off at 9PM eastern time. No way that PAC-12 game late at night gets a little weird.
Friday
Florida State travels to a Boston College team that suddenly scores points. BC is coming off of consecutive wins against Louisville and UVA in which the Eagles scored 40+ in both games. FSU has looked pretty rough on offense, and a Friday night trip to BC is anything but a guaranteed win at this point. If BC can keep up the offensive momentum and corral a Seminole offense that is shooting blanks, this could be a big win for Steve Addazio and the Dudes from Chestnut Hill. Florida State could be wondering which boosters to hit up for Jimbo’s ol’ buy out if they drop another game to a lesser opponent.
Boston College is also playing Providence in a hockey game; puck drops at 7:15 EST. This is a huge game for two teams looking to make moves in a loaded Hockey East conference. BC needs to get some mojo back following a rough sweep at the hands of a very good St. Cloud State team. Providence lost their first meeting to BC in overtime, so they’ll definitely be looking for a little bit of revenge. I like Providence at home in a tight game. BC might be looking for some souls after this game.
Saturday
What are Saturdays for? Getting plastered, watching football and watching your fraternity brother jump through his fourth or fifth folding table of the year. Tradition is a beautiful thing. Noon has a ton of potential to be a good hangover cure after you gassed beers with your friends watching Providence beat BC. The afternoon shift features some of the best football of the season. The evening shift? Skip it. Go to the bar.
Day Drink of the Week
Bell’s Two Hearted Ale. Best IPA you can find anywhere. Start with a couple when you wake up and enjoy a six pack as you ride into a great 3:30 shift. All bets are off when the 3:30 games are over. IPA’s go great with jut about every tailgate food as well. If it’s a little bit out of the price range, definitely go for Founder’s All Day IPA; it’s great for the price and it will get you feeling decently great. If you’re a fan of a team whose season is over and you’ve lost all hope, just get a box of Franzia and slap that bag. Surely next year will be better.
Noon
You’re still waking up. You’re probably feeling a little hazy, maybe you’re at a tailgate wondering what you’re doing with your life. That 8 you went to bed with? Well now they’re a 4. These things happen. Life goes on. Football is back for the next twelve or thirteen hours.
Michigan hosts a Rutgers team who is on a winning streak (!!!). Michigan has forgotten how to block and throw the ball. Rutgers has a chance to knock off a Michigan team that is in the midst of some soul searching. This will be a stupid, ugly game that ends something like 13-9 and the only losers are those who tuned into this game. But if Rutgers wins, this suddenly becomes a fun game that we all loved.
Texas travels to good ol’ Waco, Texas. Baylor has yet to win a game, but dammit they are trying. Texas has played to the level of just about all of their competition and you’ve gotta thing Baylor is due for a win. This could actually be a really entertaining game for a number of reasons. I think we’ll see both offenses open up a little bit. 31-27 Texas, but Baylor is gonna give em a good fight.
The Afternoon
Penn State travels to Columbus to play who I think is the best, most talented team in the Big Ten. Ohio State has been quietly destroying weak opposition whilst waiting for their chance to make a huge statement. Penn State is coming off of an absolute demolition of Michigan. It seems that Urban Meyer has entrusted more of the offense to the brilliant mind of Kevin Wilson and a defense that started off rather shaky is flying around the field. Saquon Barkley is indeed the most talented player in college football and Trace McSorley is making all the plays at QB. I don’t think either defensive coordinator will be getting any sleep this week. I like Ohio State to come out and make a big statement to the rest of the nation at home. JT Barrett is going to direct an OSU attack that will look unstoppable. 56-31 Ohio State.
NC State is making their first ever trip to South Bend to take on Notre Dame, who is turning back the clock by being good at football. NC State has probably the scariest defensive lineman in the nation in Bradley Chubb. The offense has looked good and made the plays that they have needed to make. Notre Dame has sided with conventional wisdom and let a very athletic QB do very athletic things while playing good, not great, defense along the way. I’ve been on the NC State hype train since about June, but I’m gonna put it out there and say this is the week that Notre Dame hype turns into reality. The ND rushing attack versus the NC State front seven is gonna be a ton of fun to watch. I think ND ends up being too much for a good, perhaps overrated NC State team. Here’s to hoping the Pack goes out and proves me very wrong. 27-17 Irish.
Texas Christian is going to Ames, Iowa to take on a ranked (yes, ranked) Iowa State squad who has looked like a legit Big XII threat the last couple weeks. This is gut-check week for both teams. TCU should win this game and perhaps run away with it. Both teams have a lot to lose and this is probably the most important game for Iowa State in a very long time. A win here could be huge for Iowa State. In the end, Kenny Hill and a nasty TCU defense are gonna be too much for an upstart Iowa State team. 41-20 Frogs.
Night Shift
Butch Jones is making what could be his last stand as the head coach at Tennessee. A road game against Kentucky is an absolutely must-win for Butch if he wants to keep his job. Tennessee has a lot of injuries to deal with, but there is still no excuse for how Tennessee has performed. Kentucky is a surprising 5-,2 but 5-2 could easily turn into 6-6 or 5-7 given how the Cats have performed as of late. Even in their wins, Kentucky has not impressed. Their only two-score win came in a 27-16 win over FCS Eastern Kentucky. Tennessee has obviously been largely disappointing. This will be a turning point for both schools. A loss for Tennessee could see them get a head start in the coaching carousel. A loss for Tennessee will have a 5-3 team fighting for bowl eligibility, with a grueling finish to the season coming up for Kentucky. Throw out the records for this one, Tennessee comes up with a huge road win, 21-17.
Mississippi State and Texas A&M are playing a pivotal game in the SEC West. Nick Fitzgerald is Dan Mullen’s new golden boy and he has directed a solid MSSU offense. A&M has been quietly very good since a disastrous loss to UCLA to start the year. This game seems like a moot point as the SEC West looks to be winding down to the Alabama’s games against LSU and Auburn. However, Mississippi State is one win and an Auburn loss away from having a chance to dethrone Alabama in a few weeks. Watch this game with interest. aTm is the more talented team and they have played solid football for the most part this season. Toss up game, someone will win this something like 45-37.
Georgia Tech is taking a little business trip to Clemson at 8PM EST. Georgia Tech is always a weird team to predict, solely based on the fact that they run the triple option. If Clemson can’t stop Tech’s rushing attack, it could be a long night at Death Valley. If the Ramblin’ Wreck can control the clock and move the ball, they’ll be able to put themselves in position to be able to win the game late. However, if Clemson can put a lid on the bottle and play the game at the tempo they want to, Tech is done. Clemsoning never truly dies, it just waits for the perfect time to return. Now is not that time. 34-31 Clemson.
Providence is back! Saturday night is a yuuuuuuge night for college hockey. After hosting BC on Friday night, Providence will be hosting another ranked team in Boston University on Saturday night. Obviously this is a big weekend for Hockey East and college hockey in general. If Providence can win both of these games, they’ll be in prime position for a really special year. Also, be sure to root on American hero Troy Terry and THE Denver University Pioneers as they also take on both Boston schools. DU is an amazing hockey team and they’re already off to a solid start this year. Look for ’em in the Frozen Four this year.