Inside The Helmets Of Alabama-Florida, Iowa-Michigan State, Clemson-North Carolina & USC-Stanford
Here’s a fun thing to do if your team is not in a conference championship game or has no hope of making the College Football Playoff: Follow the coaching carnival that’s as lively this year as, well, the party called Carnival. Les Miles was headed out of LSU only to have the AD change his mind during a game last week,
Georgia shoves Mark Richt out the door after winning nine games (obviously, beating Auburn in the South’s oldest rivalry doesn’t carry much weight these days) and there’s spots open from Miami to Maryland and beyond.
Virginia Tech settled its vacancy in a hurry, hiring up-and-comer Justin Fuente from Memphis. And USC puzzled nearly everyone by announcing Clay Helton as the head coach of the Trojans. This was puzzling because it came before the Pac-12 Championship game and seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction to beating the Bruins.
Maybe that will turn out to be a brilliant hire or simply a steady one but you would think the Trojans would have made a run at FSU’s Jimbo Fisher or Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen. Perhaps even Miles.
Instead, there was the usual overture to Jack del Rio and some type of contact with Greg Schiano but Pat Haden was probably locked into Helton.
At the very least, the Trojans can avoid all the distractions and tracking of airplane tail numbers from coaches flying around the country to interview at schools and focus on getting prepared to play to more games and, most importantly, recruiting.
Now onto this week’s game. All times PT.
TEXAS at BAYLOR (9 a.m., ESPN)
Well, we need a warm-up game to all those conference championships, right? While this one carries no impact on what happens later in the day, it’s still is worth a peek. The Bears have had it rough this year, with two quarterbacks getting roughed up and then losing an OT game in a downpour last week to TCU. The Longhorns, well, they are a pathetic 4-7 and as you watch this, you’ll be scratching your head saying, “now how the heck did this team beat Oklahoma!?” Winner: Baylor
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP, ALABAMA vs. FLORIDA (1 p.m., CBS)
The Pachyderms and the Gators have met more than any other two other teams in this game, with Florida holding a 4-3 edge. Were UF to make it 5-3 it would be the biggest upset in the history of the game. The Tide is fresh from steamrolling Auburn – Derek Henry rushed for enough yards to cover the distance from Tuscaloosa to Toomer’s Corner but don’t worry Auburn fans, think of all that money you saved on toilet paper! – while the Gators couldn’t chomp their way to a single offensive point. Florida is strong on D but anemic on O and that’s not going to be nearly enough to stop this red Tide. Winner: Alabama
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP, USC vs. STANFORD (4:45 p.m, ,ESPN)
When these two teams first met the Prognosticator – still having the horrors of the Northwestern game in his head – predicted the Cardinal would be turned all red by the Cardinal and Gold. Then came the hand-to-the-forehead slap of “oh yeah, Stanford has had USC’s number since that Harbaugh-Pete upset.”
So what chance does Troy have in the rematch? What happens if USC gets blown out – will Pat Haden go inside the Trojan horse to hide from people coming after him for hiring Helton?
Last time, the Trojans couldn’t stop the Cardinal after the first quarter. Maybe the Trojans will rise up on D, defend it like the Roman Empire, and pull off an upset. Maybe for a half but the ghost of Jim Harbaugh still haunts the Trojans when these two teams play each other. Winner: Stanford
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP, IOWA vs. MICHIGAN STATE (5 p.m., FOX)
Okay Iowa, we saw you last week against Nebraska, scratched out heads and said “maybe there IS something to this team,” but are left still wondering if you are actually good enough to be one game away from making the College Football Playoffs. You didn’t exactly pass the (Hawk) eye test. Of course we could say the same thing about Sparty, a team that’s been skipping along the sidelines on one foot trying to stay in bounds all year. The Spartans do, however, seem to be peaking the past couple of weeks. Winner: Michigan State
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP, CLEMSON vs. NORTH CAROLINA (5 p.m., ABC)
Is the game that Clemson turns back into Clemson? The Tigers had their tails yanked last week by some surprisingly feisty Gamecocks this week and don’t want to leave Charlotte with tar on their heels. And mud on their faces. The big question about the Tar Heels – other than why they have a coach named Larry Fedora who doesn’t wear a fedora – is who IS this team? They’ve been more obscure than Iowa.
The DC is former Auburn head coach Gene Cheeze-It and it has a trio of guys who can shoot the three (oh wait, that’s basketball) but otherwise UNC is as unknown as a shy freshman at a fraternity party. It’s hard to have much faith in a team that lost to South Carolina to open the season but it’s possible the players may dig in their Heels for this one. Winner (in either a pathetic blowout or a hold-your-breath close one): Clemson
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