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By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Analyst
The Game. The Iron Bowl. The Civil War. The Apple Cup.
College football rivalries are the lifeblood of the game, conference realigments, the transfer portal and the NIL be damned. The passion of college football comes from the fans, not conference commissioners, hands-out school presidents and TV networks.
They produce wild and memorable moments, major how-in-the-world-did-they-do-that upsets and jokes that poke fun at the other side (example from Ohio State about Michgan: How do you keep your family safe from a Wolverine? By moving to any town hosting a championship game).
This year there’s more on the line than one liners. A College Football Playoff berth likelys awaits the winner of Ohio State-Michigan and could end the hopes of Texas, U-Dub, Oregon, Georgia, Alabama and Florida State with a loss.
Now onto the games. All times Pacific because The Prognosticator lives on the West Coast.
Friday, Nov. 24
Texas Tech at Texas (4:30 p.m., ABC)
The red-clad Texans hope to raid the playoff chances of the burnt orange ones, but they will need some fire in their eyes in order to achieve it. So far, their lone major achievement has been to lose to Oregon by only a touchdown. On the other side, the Sarks have been just hanging on of late (total point difference in the last three games: 16) and seem to be right to be roped. But the right opponent hasn’t quite found the loop yet and it won’t be the masked bandits. Winner: Texas
Oregon State at Oregon (5:30 p.m., FOX)
It’s the high-speed waterfoul vs. the burrowing Beavs, a “war” that has not always been civil. Among the more amusing moements in the rivalry occurred when Oregon students “kidnapped” the Oregon State homecoming queen (but only for half an hour) and sent a ransom note to the OSU student body president with terms for her release. This year, Dam Builders will be trying in vain to put up a wall to hold back the waterfall of points that will be coming thier way. The problem for upset hopers is that Oregon runs on high octaine gas while Oregon State is on flex fuel. By the fourth quarter, the visitors will have simply run out of gas. Winner: Oregon
Saturday, Nov. 25
Ohio State at Michigan (9 a.m., FOX)
Tradition continues to runs deep in the Big 10, for the Big 2 makes up this entire conference, as has been the case going back to Woody and Bo, with only occasional aberrations from Wisconsin and Penn State. It’s the “Big Game” as they call it in these parts and it’s in the Big House, which a big advantage for Big Blue. The Sign Stealers won’t have to send any staff to buy tickets; they can simply pick and choose thier optimal seats in their own stadium. Still untested 12 games into the season and without the Khaki Coach, the Weasels run up against a team with a solid D and questoinable O, outside of one spectacular receiver. This will keep the Bucky Eyes from looking like deer in the headlights. Winner: Ohio State
See Also: Ohio Brewer Creates ‘Sign Stealers’ Beer
Alabama at Auburn (12:30 p.m., CBS)
Down on the Plains, they are talking about the 10-year anniversary of the Kick Six – one of those strange plays that happens in rivalry games – but this year something else down there will be getting kicked, and that’s the pants of the felines by the Pachyderms. Any team that loses to New Mexico State is not going to top the Tide, no how many pins the Feline fans stick into their Bama voodoo dolls. Oh sure, there’s going to be some wild and weird happenings, phantom or ignored penalities and trickery devised by a coach who was Freeze-d out by all other institutions, all whipped up by a frenzied crowd – that’s just part of playing there– but eventually the overwhelming strength and power of the Red Sea will pour down onto the Plains. Winner: Alabama
Washington State at Washington (1 p.m., FOX)
Were this game in Three Forks, then The Prognosticator would be tempted to who-hoo for the Wazzus, but the upset apple does not fall far enough from the tree in Seattle for that to happen. The Huskie Houdinis have been pulling wins out of thier helmets since the end of September and if that keeps up they will be this year’s TCU. The magic won’t wear out this week. Winner: Washington
Florida State at Florida (4 p.m., ESPN)
The two non-beach schools in a state with nearly 1,400 miles of coastline play in a game without a sticky nickname (it’s the boring Florida Cup for those curious enough to know). Both teams are down their starting signal callers and that’s a decided disadvantage for the visitors from Tallahasee. Pretty much every other position is a day at the beach for the Spears, who will leave the Chompers chomping for thier coach’s head by the fourth quarter. Winner: Florida State
Georgia at Georgia Tech (4:30 p.m., ABC)
Anyone thinking – or hoping for – an upset here can go back to the leftover turkey, for this is going to be game in which the Dawgs are eating up all the scraps and leaving nothing on the bone. The Kirby Canines have feasted on a weak schedule to build up bulk for the meat that’s still on the grill. Winner: Georgia
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