Welcome to week 11. Notre Dame is rocketing down the home stretch sporting a 6-3 record with 3 games to go. This week Irish fans were informed that their off site "barnstorming game" is actually part of something called the "Shamrock Series" which comes with the added bonus of new helmets version 2.0, green jerseys, and a little corporate sponsorship to boot. That didn't rile anybody up....
In addition to the prime time game against Randy Edsall and the Fighting Turtles at FedEx field on Saturday night there are a few other games that I will be keeping an eye on come Saturday. There is actually a solid slate of games this weekend so don't make any plans that include being away from at least a pair of TV's at any time on Saturday.
I have been looking forward to this weekend for a couple of months now as I will be spending it at The Coach's house for a little something that we call "man weekend." A few of my other old sidekicks are also flying in minus wives and children so that we can all sit around and destroy a Texas style smoked brisket and many cases while attempting to watch every one of the games listed below.
For those interested in the full TV schedule utilize the link below or one of the others in our left sidebar.
Week 11 College Football Schedule
Rankings are per the BlogPoll.
*All times listed below are EST.
Games after the jump.
Tuesday 8 November
Northern Illinois at Bowling Green 8:00 ESPN2
Western Michigan at Toledo 8:00 ESPNU
There were dueling MAC games on last night and Toledo beat Western Michigan 66 to 63! This makes up for the fact that on the previous Tuesday Toledo lost to Northern Illinois 63 to 60. I'm not making this up. The Coach should apply for the DC position at Toledo immediately.
Wednesday 9 November
Miami (OH) at Temple 8:00 ESPN
The Owls are playing on back to back Wednesdays! Baller.
Thursday 10 November
#10 Virginia Tech at #20 Georgia Tech 8:00 ESPN
The Hokies can pretty much lock up the ACC Coastal and a rematch with Clemson in the ACC title game if they can win at GT. The rest of the country will be celebrating the Marine Corps 236th Birthday.
Friday 11 November
USF at Syracuse 8:00 ESPN2
These two teams are a combined 1-7 in Big East play. Boy that hurts.
Saturday 12 November
Florida at #16 South Carolina 12:00 CBS
Mark Richt is rooting like hell for the Gators to knock off the Ol' Ball Coach at Williams Brice on Saturday afternoon. Can Champ and Chuck pull it off? After the Gators lost all four of their games in October I'm thinking that an upset here is less than likely.
#2 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech 12:00 ABC/ESPN3
West Virginia at #21 Cincinnati 12:00 ABC/ESPN3
Can the Pink Faders unscrew themselves and knock off a second Oklahoma school? Naaah. But Cincy can get one step closer to winning the Big East if they knock off Holgo. I like the Bearcats chances at home.
#22 Texas at Missouri 12:00 FX
Where Texas says, "Well,.....bye."
#17 Nebraska at #12 Penn State 12:00 ESPN
I honestly don't even know what to say about this one. The black eye of all black eyes looms large over Happy Valley and the Huskers are coming to town for Senior Day. I will definitely be tuning in to see what happens.
#13 Michigan State at Iowa 12:00 ESPN2
Sparty gets one step closer to locking up the Legends Division. Does Kirk Ferentz still coach at Iowa? How many years of mediocrity does he get? Fascinating. Hawkeyes are the last patient fan base on the planet.
Miami at Florida State 3:30 ABC/ESPN
#24 Michigan at Illinois 3:30 ABC/ESPN
Texas A&M at #18 Kansas State 3:30 ABC/ESPN3.com
This is a big pile of mediocre. I foresee flipping around between these three games on TV #2 while watching.....
TCU at #5 Boise State 3:30 Versus
This contest which definitely has the potential to be a good football game. Boise needs to win convincingly to have any shot whatsoever at slipping into the BCS Championship. Wait, who am I kidding, that will never happen. Poor Boise State can't get to whatever the Big East is going to be fast enough.
Washington at #19 USC 3:45 FX
Do you think Sarkisian and Holt can remind Kiffin who was really running things back when Sneaky Pete was in charge? Naaaahhhh.
Maryland vs. Notre Dame (Landover MD)
Full previews are being cooked up by the boys as we speak. My two second version is as follows. There will still be more talk about the uniforms than the game itself come Sunday. Regardless, Irish pick up the W. See you in the open thread!
#4 Alabama at Mississippi State 7:45 ESPN
Will Little Nicky take out his wrath on Dan Mullen and company? I sure hope it doesn't come down to a field goal.
#6 Oregon at #3 Stanford 8:00 ABC
Now this has the potential to be a dandy. Lucky for us Brent Musburger will say dandy no less than 1,000 times before kickoff on Saturday night. Stanford lost a single game last year and it was at the Little Big House. Will Andrew Luck and the Trees get revenge on the Ducks? Will the Quack Attack play spoiler once again? They might. Stand by for a barn burner here. This game should be really good.
Hawai'i at Nevada 10:15 ESPNU
The weekly Jack in the Box game. It is quite awful in almost every respect yet it fills the void when you are a 12 pack deep and nothing else is open, or in this case on.
What other games should I be trying to keep an eye on?