Notre Dame will be shaking off an ugly loss to Pittsburgh by taking this Saturday off. Any hopes of a BCS at-large berth are now officially off the table, and the ugly loss has left the fan base feeling very uneasy about the current state of affairs in the Gug.
We could all probably use the bye to shake it off before we jump back in for Senior Day against BYU next weekend. Let's take a look at the games that might help us pass the time during the bye week.
If any of you are looking for full TV schedules I suggest the link below.
For those of you in the Central Time Zone, here's another option. CSN, this is for you, buddy.
*All times listed are EST.
Rankings are per the BCS Standings
Wednesday November 13th
Another Wednesday night of MACtion. There was MACtion on last night too. Winning.
Ball State (9-1) at #15 Northern Illinois (9-0) 8:00 ESPN2
The MAC West championship and a potential BCS Berth for Northern Illinois are both on the line in this game. BCS bowl organizers will all be Ball State fans on Thursday night.
Miami OH (0-9) at Kent State (2-8) 8:00 ESPNU
Tune in for one of the worst college football games of the season! Seriously why is this on TV?
Thursday November 14th
Georgia Tech (6-3) at #8 Clemson (8-1) 7:30 ESPN
The Jackets are still alive in the wide open ACC Coastal but a loss to Clemson will likely close that door. On the other sideline Clemson is playing to keep their BCS hopes alive. If Florida State makes it into the BCS Championship Game the fighting Dabos could pick up an Orange Bowl berth.
Friday November 15th
Washington (6-3) at #13 UCLA (7-2) 9:00 ESPN2
This game is basically a must win for UCLA to stay alive in the Pac-12 South. This is also a big game for a Washington team that still recovering from a 3 game skid a few weeks back. If you don't have anything else going on Friday night this might be a fun game to watch.
Saturday November 16th
#3 Ohio State (9-0) at Illinois (3-6) 12:00 ESPN
Is it just me or are 90% of B1G games completely uninteresting? tOSU is just hanging around and praying that Bama or Florida State will lose. How frustrated will tOSU fans be if they run the table for the 2nd consecutive season and don't play for the title in either one? That would be rough.
Indiana (4-5) at #22 Wisconsin (7-2) 12:00 ESPN2
I'm trying to get interested in this 12:00 time slot but at the moment I'm leaning towards waiting until 3:30 to sit down and start watching games.
Iowa State (1-8) at #18 Oklahoma (7-2) 12:00 Fox Sports 1
This game isn't helping to change my mind.
Cincinnati (7-2) at Rutgers (5-3) 12:00 ESPN News
This should be a thrilling AAC matchup.
West Virginia (4-6) at Kansas (2-7) 12:00 Fox Sports 1
Why? Why do they keep televising Kansas games? I am officially conceding the 12:00 games. I'll get a few things done around the house and try again at 3:30.
#25 Georgia (6-3) at #7 Auburn (9-1) 3:30 CBS
Hey look two ranked teams! Does Georgia have enough healthy players to derail Gus Malzahn and his surging Auburn squad?
#12 Oklahoma State (8-1) at #24 Texas (7-2) 3:30 FOX
This is probably the most interesting game of the day. Mack Brown could still win the Big 12 title and represent the Big XII in the BCS. If he pulls that off could he possibly save his job? To do so the Horns will have to beat Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Baylor to finish the season. That's going to be a tall order for a banged up Texas team that wasn't that great to begin with. Hook em' Mack!
#16 Michigan State (8-1) at Nebraska (7-2) 3:30 ABC/ ESPN2
At a glance this game looks interesting which means that Sparty will end up winning by 3 touchdowns.
Syracuse (5-4) at #2 Florida State (9-0) 3:30 ABC/ ESPN2
Florida State looks like a well-oiled machine right now. Barring an unexpected collapse, or an injury to Jameis Winston, the Noles will end up playing for the title.
#23 Miami FL (7-2) at Duke (7-2) 3:30 ESPNU
The ACC Coastal is wide open. How fun would it be if Duke actually won it?
Michigan (6-3) at Northwestern (4-5) 3:30 Big Ten
I still can't believe that ND found a way to lose to Michigan. The Wolverines have looked average to bad ever since. I half expect Northwestern to win this game.
Utah (4-5) at #6 Oregon (8-1) 4:00 Fox Sports 1
After losing to Stanford the Ducks will now take out their frustrations by hanging 70 on Utah, Arizona and Oregon State.
#5 Baylor (8-0) at Texas Tech (7-3) Arlington, TX 7:00 FOX
Coach Kliff is all set up to lose his 4th straight game to the former Big XII doormat at Jerryworld. The Raiders might make it entertaining for a little while but after watching the Bears pull away from Oklahoma last week I doubt the Raider resistance will last more than a quarter.
Florida (4-5) at #10 South Carolina (7-2) 7:00 ESPN2
How about Will Muschamp? The Gators will have to win 2 of 3 games against South Carolina, Georgia Southern, and Florida State to avoid staying home during bowl season for the first time in 22 years. In short they have to win this game. Someone is going to pick up a great DC in Muschamp this off-season.
Houston (7-2) at #20 Louisville (8-1) 8:00 ESPNU
This AAC game likely won't mean much in the end but it could actually be a pretty entertaining football game.
#4 Stanford (8-1) at USC (7-3) 8:00 ABC
Stanford is going to man ball up and down the field against a very thin USC squad. Stanford controls their own destiny in the PAC-12. If the Cardinal can beat USC and Cal and they will represent the North in the Pac-12 title game.
Wyoming (6-2) at Boise State (6-2) 10:15 ESPN2
This nightcap has some basic entertainment potential as well.
What else should we be trying to keep an eye on? See you in the open threads on Saturday.