Previewing the Top Games of 2012: Week Twelve

Less than 6 weeks until the college football season begins.

We're now coming out of the long summer drought and preparing for the torrential rainstorm that is college football.

Unfortunately, week 12 of 2012 is one horrible, horrible weekend for the sport. If you are planning on making a weekend trip sometime this fall, this is the time to do it.

The Irish are hosting Wake Forest, which hopefully is a snoozefest in a good way, and the rest of the games around the country are just awful.

I begrudgingly set forth the top games of this crappy week 12.

Thursday

North Carolina at Virginia

Here's a pretty decent Thursday night matchup, and for this week it's a freaking showcase.

This is a close series historically and both of the teams might surprise a few folks this season too. The Tar Heels have won the last two but will be on the road with a new coach. Mike London has to win these games if he wants to take UVA to the next level.

Saturday

Rutgers at Cincinnati

I'm sorry but this really is one of the top games for week 12. It might decide the Big East!

Rutgers won last year at home after Cincinnati took the previous 5 games.

Yale at Harvard

Yup, I'm including this game. It will be on NBC Sports at 11 AM Saturday morning. You might as well tune in if you want to see some decent football because half of D-1 is playing cupcakes anyway.

Iowa at Michigan

Iowa has beaten Michigan 13 times over the past 100+ years. However, they've won 5 of the last 8 meetings against the Wolverines.

I'm still behind Iowa as a surprise team in 2012, so I think this will be a good game. Even better if somehow Denard Robinson gets injured and can't play---which we know won't happen.

NC State at Clemson

This series hasn't been kind to the Wolfpack in modern times, it certainly was last year once NC State beat the Tigers 37-13. That's quite a win for Tom O'Brien!

Still, Clemson has won 7 of the past 8 games and 13 of the last 18 games. This could be an important game for the Tigers if they're trying to secure their division in the ACC.

Ohio State at Wisconsin

Wisconsin isn't winning this game. They didn't beat the Buckeyes last year and I don't see them defending Camp Randall against an improved Ohio State team.

The Buckeyes have won 4 of the last 5 and hold a huge edge overall in the all-time series. Wisconsin is also just 2-4 at home against Ohio State since 1995, so keep that in mind.

Oklahoma at West Virginia

Here's a high quality game for the masses. They've only met 4 times in history with an even 2-2 series split. The Sooners took the first two, but the Mountaineers took the last two, including the 2008 Fiesta Bowl when Rich Rod's team ran for over 300 yards in a 48-28 victory over Sam Bradford-led OU.

This will be Oklahoma's first visit to Morgantown.

Stanford at Oregon

This game has a lot of potential, unless Stanford takes a big step back from the last couple years.

What's more, the Cardinal have lost to Oregon the past two years by an average of 22 points, so maybe we should expect this game not to be close.

Will anyone be watching college football during week 12?