Bye Week Matchups

Well, it's bye week. At first it seems like a bad thing; for nine weeks, you've been looking forward to watching Penn State go out and dominate. But hey, we all can use a break (especially our concussed, Davey O'Brien Award finalist quarterback). So while Penn State is resting up this week, we suggest you do so as well- on your couch. And here are some games going on this weekend (in chronological order) to entertain you while you're there.

Wisconsin @ Michigan State, 12:00, ESPN
We might as well put one Big11Ten game on this list, as we're sure you'll be longing to see some mediocre football. The Spartans have to be feeling good after knocking off Michigan in Ann Arbor for the first time since the grunge era, and Wisconsin is finally off the schneid after a (not so) big win over Illinois.

So who will emerge victorious in this one? We say Michigan State. We're pretty sure Javon Ringer is just going to keep killing opposing defenses until both his legs break off (which should be sometime around November 22nd), and we're way way way far from sold on Dustin Sherer. Go Sparty.

West Virginia @ Connecticut, 12:00 ESPN GamePlan/ESPN360.com
Alright, so this one's not really on TV, but it has Big East title implications, so it should be on your radar. Oh, what's that? Oh right! The Big East sucks and no one really respects it. Well, if you're not doing anything else, watch this one online so you can make fun of your crazy friend or co-worker that swears the Big East is an actual big-time college football conference.

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville, FL), 3:30 CBS
This one is pretty huge for both teams, as they're both 4-1 in the conference, and the winner of this game is most likely going to win the SEC East division and go to the conference title game. Considering that they might be playing that sneaky Alabama team in said title game, you may want to keep your eye on this one.

This is a neutral site game, held in Jacksonville (which isn't exactly neutral), and as well all know, it's dubbed "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." We find that a bit grandiose. In Happy Valley, we don't really need a nickname, because we know we have the best tailgate scene in the country, bar none. (Hey, we don't brag often around here, let us have this.)

Anyway, we like Florida in this one, because if they don't get revenge for that little celebration stunt the Bulldogs pulled last year, they shouldn't be allowed to field a team next year. In case you forgot about that incident, here you go:

Florida State @ Georgia Tech, 3:30, ABC
HA! Just kidding. You should never watch ACC football under any circumstances.

Texas @ Texas Tech, 8:00, ABC
This is the big matchup of the weekend, obviously, with Big XII, BCS and best-team-in-Texas implications. Texas Tech gets the shaft big time amongst voters and the media, but Graham Harrell, Michael Crabtree and company can really light it up. Ask Kansas, who had 63 points hung on them last weekend.

Of course Texas is the #1 team in the nation, lead by top Heisman hopeful Colt McCoy at quarterback. Usually we would make fun of a dude named Colt, but the guy is playing out of his mind right now, completing a whopping 81% of his passes so far for 21 touchdowns. That is INSANE. Also keep your eye on wideout Jordan Shipley, who leads the team with 58 receptions. He's been a beast this year as well.

Considering that these two teams are averaging over 90 points per game combined, we're pretty sure that this isn't going to be a defensive struggle a la PSU-OSU last weekend. But no matter how potent Tech's offense is, we like the Horns to prevail in this one. Why? Well, for starters, Tech's schedule makes Penn State's look like the NFC East. Just some of the teams they've beaten this year: Eastern Washington, SMU, UMass, K-State and Nebraska. Meanwhile, in the last three weeks, Texas has beaten Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State respectively. That's a litttttle tougher. So yeah, best of luck to Tech- and trust us, we're rooting for them- but we think ol' Colt and the Longhorns are going to rough them up.