College Football Best of the Best: Week 3 Must See Matchups

These are the best week three games to watch, times and channel info included when available.


Friday 9/17
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Nevada (2-0) vs. California (2-0) - 10PM - ESPN2/ESPN3.com


Saturday 9/18
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No. 2 Ohio State (2-0) vs. Ohio U (1-1) - Noon - Big Ten Network


No. 4 TCU (2-0) vs. Baylor (2-0) - 4:30PM - Versus


No. 6 Texas (2-0) @ Texas Tech (2-0) - 8:00PM - ABC


No. 7 Oklahoma (2-0) vs. Air Force (2-0) - 3:30PM - N/A


No. 8 Nebraska (2-0) @ Washington (1-1) - 3:30PM - ABC/ESPN3.com


No. 9 Iowa (2-0) @ No. 24 Arizona (2-0) - 10:30Pm - ESPN/ESPN3.com


No. 10 Florida (2-0) @ Tennessee (1-1) - 3:30Pm - CBS


No. 11 Wisconsin (2-0) vs. Arizona State (2-0) - 3:30PM - ABC


No. 16 Auburn (2-0) vs. Clemson (2-0) - 7PM - ESPN/ESPN3.com


No. 19 Stanford (2-0) vs. Wake Forest (2-0) - 11:15PM - ESPN2/ESPN3.com


No. 21 West Virgina (2-0) vs. Maryland (2-0) - Noon - ESPNU


Michigan State (2-0) vs. Notre Dame (1-1) - 8PM - ABC


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An Oklahoma Fan on Debunking the Oklahoma-Ohio State "Double Standard"

By Allen Kenney -- www.BlatantHomerism.com

As an Oklahoma fan, it's tough to think of the Sooners as one of the national media's golden boys. For every article out there praising OU's recent dominance of the Big 12, you're just as likely to find another biting "Big Game Bob" story about the Sooners' struggles on the big stage.

In a way, you would think that would make Sooner Nation and Ohio State fans something of kindred spirits in the college football landscape.

If rabble rouser and Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com is to be believed, however, the media handles OU with kid gloves relative to Ohio State, creating an egregious double standard. "It's ridiculous. And it needs to stop," according to Rittenberg.

The latest outrage, which apparently pushed Rittenberg over the edge, occurred on Monday. After crushing Tulsa, Oklahoma moved up two spots to No. 10 in the latest AP Poll; meanwhile, the Buckeyes whipped Toledo and fell two slots to No. 13.

Rittenberg surmises that Buckeye beater USC's loss over the weekend precipitated OSU's drop in the poll. He notes, however, that Brigham Young was spanked by Florida State, but OU moved up.

Add this new slap in the face to the long string of pro-OU, anti-OSU actions by the national media that Rittenberg sees no need to detail. (By the way, agree with him or not, Rittenberg should be commended for bringing the injustice of a completely meaningless poll to light.)

But to put an end to this discrimination, don't we need to understand the "why" behind all the hate for the Buckeyes and not the Sooners? Rittenberg himself is silent on this matter.

EDSBS poses one theory: geography; to which the folks at Burnt Orange Nation offer a compelling rebuttal, but no alternative theory.

If we are to assume that this phenomenon does, in fact, exist, I'd say the reason lies in an extension of the ESDBS argument. It's not that OSU is located in closer proximity to more people and larger media markets. It's that more people care about Ohio State than OU.

OSU is one of the largest schools in the country. It draws more media coverage than OU, because there's a higher level of interest in the Buckeyes. With greater media coverage, the Buckeyes' struggles appear to be magnified relative to those of OU.

Allow me to offer a more straightforward explanation, though: this supposed double standard doesn't exist.

Regarding Rittenberg's AP Poll travesty, in his mind there appears to be no way to legitimate the voters' decisions. Yet, I could offer up a number of possible reasons why a voter would be inclined to rank OU ahead of OSU, as well as to move the Sooners up and the Buckeyes down this week.

Maybe some voters think OU is a better team than OSU.

Maybe some voters think OU is improving, while the Buckeyes have hit a ceiling.

Maybe some voters are penalizing OSU for losing in Columbus to a USC team they no longer consider to be the juggernaut it once was.

Maybe some voters are cutting OU some slack for losing on a neutral field after Sam Bradford went down in the Sooners' first game of the year.

Maybe some voters are projecting how they think the season will play out.

Take your pick of potential justifications, all of which seem reasonable, even if you don't agree with them.

(For the record, I wouldn't have Oklahoma or Ohio State anywhere near the top 25 at this point. Neither has compiled a good enough body of work to merit inclusion.)

From a more "meta" standpoint, I have no idea how to even begin addressing Rittenberg's issues with the alleged discrepancies in national perception.

Outside of this one supposed instance of bias in favor of OU, what are some other examples? So far as I can tell, this week's poll is it.

If that's it, let's save the outrage.

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For the record, I agree with Rittenberg, but in the interest of objectivity, I decided to post this article and see what my fellow Buckeye fans have to say, if anything--HD

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Is Ohio State Football Still Among the Elites?

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com



These days, when you think of elite programs in college football, several teams that immediately come to mind are the USC Trojans, Florida Gators, Oklahoma Sooners, LSU Tigers, Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Since 2001, only USC and Pete Carroll has more wins than Jim Tressel's Buckeyes and both equally have one BCS title. USC also haa an AP title from 2003 when LSU won the BCS title, but the AP still voted the Trojans #1 for some odd reason.

It's no secret that Ohio State's recent losses vs. the other elite teams previously mentioned have taken away some of the luster of the program and led many to believe Ohio State is not elite and in fact, overrated simply because of the history and tradition of the program.

Here are Ohio State's last eight losses, all since 2005. I'm not sure why this resume is the reason they have been dragged through the mud over the past several seasons, but nonetheless, it is.

2005 Regular Season vs. eventual BCS National Champions Texas

Team AP Rank on gameday:

Texas was ranked No. 2
Ohio State was ranked No. 4

Final Score:

Texas 25
Ohio State 22

Looking back:

Vince Young should have won the Heisman and he led Texas (13-0) over USC (12-1) 41-38 in one of the best BCS title games ever played.

Ohio State (10-2) should have won this game and literally, they were one dropped touchdown catch away from beating Texas, but fell short in the end.

2005 Final AP Poll Rank:

Texas No. 1
Ohio State No. 4


2005 Regular Season vs. eventual Big 10 & Orange Bowl Champions Penn State

Team rankings on gameday:

Penn State was ranked No. 16
Ohio State was ranked No. 6

Final Score:

Penn State 17
Ohio State 10

Looking back:

The 2005 Nittny Lions (11-1) were one of Joe Pa's best teams ever and if not for a fluke loss at Michigan (7-5), they may have won the BCS title against either Texas or USC.

So, while a loss is a loss, Ohio State (10-2) had chances to win this game, which by the way, was played in Happy Valley at night in the "whiteout" where very few opponents ever come away victorious.

2005 Final AP Poll Rank:

Penn State No. 3
Ohio State No. 4


2006 BCS National Championship Game vs. SEC and eventual BCS Champions Florida

Team rankings on gameday:

Ohio State was ranked No. 1
Florida was ranked No. 2

Final Score:

Florida 41
Ohio State 14

Looking back:

Sure the score was lop-sided and Ohio State (12-1) was favored but Ted Ginn going out after the opening kickoff was a major blow not to be overlooked, and let's not forget...

For 50+ days straight, all Ohio State heard was how great they were and how all they needed to do was show up and pick up the trophy and all Florida (13-0) heard was how much they didn't belong, and how Michigan deserved to be there more than them, and that they had no shot to beat the Buckeyes and they only got in because UF coach Urban Meyer, aka Urban Cryer, told his sob story about how the SEC is just so tough and there's no way an SEC team can go undefeated and that's why his team deserved to jump UM...which they did in the final poll.

It's no surprise why UF won. They had more motivation and more to prove and Buckeyes were told that they couldn't lose. No excuse though in this game in the end because the Bucks rolled over and got rolled by UF in embarrassing fashion as the heavy favorites so I get why OSU took a hit nationally after this game and deservedly so.

2006 Final AP Poll Rank:

Florida No. 1
Ohio State No. 2


2007 Regular Season vs. eventual Big Ten Runner-up and Rose Bowl representative Illinois

Team rankings on gameday:

Ohio State was ranked No. 1
Illinois was unranked

Final Score:

Illinois 28
Ohio Stare 21

Looking back:

I guess this was Ohio State's "hiccup" game, kind of like when Stanford beat USC in 2007 or when Ole Miss beat Florida in 2008.

I won't go overboard on excuses but there was a clear fumble by Illinois (9-4) out of the end-zone that the refs missed which would have given the Buckeyes (11-2) the ball. Instead Illinois scored a touchdown a play or two later.

I'm not saying the Buckeyes would have won, but we'll never know for sure now.

The bottom line is Ron Zook is a good coach and he has fared well vs. Ohio State since he's been in Champaign.

2007 was a very strange year in college football anyway because every week that a new team took over the No. 1 ranking, they seemed to lose their very next game.

The Buckeyes followed that trend, just like all the others.

2007 Final AP Poll Rank:

Ohio State No. 5
Illinois No. 20


2007 BCS National Championship Game vs. SEC and eventual BCS Champions LSU

Team rankings on gameday:

Ohio State was ranked No. 1
LSU was ranked No. 2

Final Score:

LSU 38
Ohio State 24

Looking back:

This game pushed the Buckeyes record all-time vs. teams from the SEC in bowl games to the now infamous and pathetic record of 0-9.

In fairness, Ohio State was never expected to even play for the title in 2007. Not by the fans, the media or even the players and coaches. It was widely viewed as a stepping stone season to a legit title run in 2008.

They overachieved all year and in the end, teams like Kansas, Missouri and West Virginia choked in the final week or two of the season, allowing both LSU and Ohio State to move up to the top two spots essentially by default.

The title game was played in New Orleans, a mere 80 miles or so from Baton Rouge. It's not quite like playing USC in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena 910 miles from USC's campus), but pretty damn close!

It was a "neutral field" home game for LSU and the inept and immobile Todd Boeckman, and Ohio State O-line, gave the ball and the game away by consistently killing OSU drives with costly unforced turnovers and by not throwing it away instead of allowing the LSU defense to sack him repeatedly 5 and 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

There were also at least two personal foul penalites called on OSU that kept stalled LSU drives alive and eventually led to more points for the Tigers.

By my count and if my memory serves me correctly (which it does), the penalties and turnovers resulted in a four touchdown swing in favor of LSU, meaning had Ohio State not killed themselves with these stupid mistakes, they would have won this game 42-10.

But, they did kill themselves and they didn't win. LSU had a good team and I'm suggesting that they didn't, but Ohio State was just as fast and just as talented.

Even at "home", the Tigers were very beatable and the game could have and should have went the other way.

2007 Final AP Poll Rank:

LSU No. 1
Ohio State No. 5


2008 Regular Season vs. eventual Pac-10 and Rose Bowl Champions USC

Team rankings on gameday:

USC was ranked No. 1
Ohio State was ranked No. 5

Final Score:

USC 35
Ohio State 3

Looking back:

Again, I'm not trying to make excuses here but when a team is without their best offensive player, the game outcome is going to be affected.

Stud running back Beanie Wells didn't play in this game and unfortunately, Todd Boeckman did.

True freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor saw very limited action in the first quarter only and he ran circles around USC's vaunted defense, but Tressel didn't want to throw him to the wolves in such a huge game so, once OSU was behind 10-3, Pryor didn't see the field again and Boeckman buckled under the pressure as usual and the game was swiftly out of reach.

Now, if there is a the silver lining, it's that USC is great, especially at home and they were the then No. 1 ranked team in the nation and as mentioned, Wells was out for OSU.

The bad news is, the media and college football fans didn't seem to think Wells would have made any difference. I disagree 1000%!

All I'm saying is, take away the best offensive threat from any team in the country and then have them go play USC in L.A. and let me know how that turns out...

2008 Final AP Poll Rank:

USC No. 3
Ohio State No. 9


2008 Regular Season vs. eventual Big 10 Co-Champions and Rose Bowl Representative Penn State

Team rankings on gameday:

Penn State was ranked No. 3
Ohio State was ranked No. 10

Final Score:

Penn State 13
Ohio State 6

Looking back:

This game came down to true freshman Terrelle Pryor trying to make a big play and instead he fumbled the ball late in the game on Ohio State's side of the field.

Ultimately, that led to the games only touchdown and Penn State's first win in Columbus in 30 years.

There's really not much else to tell. It was a close, defensive battle and unfortunately, Pryor made a freshman mistake and that was the difference.

The game really could have went either way. Had Pryor simply ran the play up the middle for a first down (it was 3rd and 1), the Buckeyes very well may have won.

2008 Final AP Poll Rank:

Penn State No. 8
Ohio State No. 9


2008 Fiesta Bowl vs. eventual Big 12 Co-Champions and Fiesta Bowl Champions Texas

Team rankings on gameday:

Texas was ranked No. 3
Ohio State was ranked No. 10

Final Score:

Texas 24
Ohio State 21

Looking back:

Texas (12-1) beat Oklahoma (12-1) 45-35 during the regular season, but because of an odd tie-breaker, Oklahoma played in the Big 12 Championship game and eventually against Florida in the BCS Championship game instead of the Longhorns.

Without doing a full game recap, Texas started out strong but the Buckeyes (10-3) came back to take a 21-17 game with close to two minutes left in the game.

Colt McCoy engineered the Longhorns to a game-winning touchdown with only a few seconds on the clock.

Ohio State was given no chance to win this game and even less of a chance to keep from being blown out.

Ironically, this actually was one of the best bowl games of the entire postseason and essentially, the Bucks lost the game by a couple inches when they almost forced a turnover on downs on Texas's game winning drive.

But in the end, this was just another game where the Buckeyes could/should have won, but came up just short, literally this time by inches.

2008 Final AP Poll Rank:

Texas No. 4
Ohio State No. 9


In hindsight, other than the Illinois loss, none of these other defeats were so-called "hiccups".

All eight teams that Ohio State lost to finished that season ranked in the top twenty.

Seven of the eight finished ranked in top ten.

Six of the eight finished ranked in the top five.

The final AP Poll is the most important because it is after the season, when all the games have been played, and when we truly know how good or how overrated teams were.

Can Ohio State win every big game vs. every elite team they ever play?

Of course not and it's extremely unlikely that any other team in the nation would have won all eight of these games.

Does that mean Ohio State is not elite?

If winning 10 games or more practically every year and being ranked in the top ten at years end almost every season means a team isn't elite, well, then yes but we all know better than that.

Does Ohio State have to start winning some of these games on the "national stage" to reaffirm and maintain their status as one of college football's elite?

Absolutely and unequivocally YES—Without question!

It all has to start this season when the Buckeyes host USC.

A win solidifies the program as elite, while a loss, particularly one comparable to last seasons in L.A. will further erode the fading memories of the Buckeyes previous greatness from yesteryear's of old.

It's unrealistic to expect any team to win every game, every year.

The Buckeyes can't and don't have to win do that, but they have to start winning some of these OOC games vs. the other elitesm—and fast.

For that reason, the USC game is more or less a must win game for the Buckeye program.

After all, there's no free pass when it comes to being in the discussion as one of the nation's elite programs.

Just ask any Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Miami, or Florida State fan.

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Best of the Best Non-Traditonal OOC Games for 2009: Week 1

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com



There are out of conference matchups that are an annual tradition and many of them are huge games and some even potentially have national title implications.

Games such as Michigan—Notre Dame, Notre Dame—USC, Georgia—Georgia Tech, and Florida—Florida State come to mind.

In this era of college football, it seems that these regular season meetings between many of the traditional powerhouse programs are few and far between.

That being said, all is not lost in 2009.

There are a handful of noteworthy inter-conference games this coming season and I'm going to highlight the best of them for you between now and the start of the season.

The opening week of the season offers, by my count, six OOC games very much worth watching!

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Virginia Tech Alabama

Both teams are projected to be in or near the top ten teams to start the year. This could and should be one of the best games of the week! Who moves up and who drops down after this one?

If Tyrod Taylor is legit like all the hype suggests, the Tide may get rolled much like they did by Utah in the Sugar Bowl last season but if not, VT might get "Hokied", whatever that means!


Oklahoma BYU

BYU is a very good mid-major program that should be ranked in the top 20 to open the year. They have a solid veteran QB in Max Hall but Oklahoma, who will very likely be ranked in the top three, has a guy named Sam Bradford you may have heard of.

This one could play out like an actual Big 12 conference game as we could see a lot of points scored in this one, but with the majority of them being scored by OU.


Oklahoma State Georgia

Oklahoma State was a surprise team a year ago and returns quarterback Zac Robinson, wideout Dez Bryant and tailback Kendall Hunter. Georgia, the preseason No. 1, was a flop.

OK State, who some view as this years Texas Tech, looks to make a statement for the Big 12 vs. the SEC's Bulldogs who lost QB Matthew Stafford and star running back Knosean Moreno. OK State will be favored but don't give them the "W" just yet!


Oregon Boise State

Boise State, led by Sophomore QB Kellen Moore, looks to pull the upset again this time on the blue turf over the Ducks. They'll have to do it without running back Ian Johnson who finally graduated after what seemed like forever.

Oregon however is thinking payback and they do have the skill players to possibly pull out a win in Boise in the form of quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and running back LeGarrette Blount, but will they?


Ohio State Navy

This game at first glance seems like it should be an easy win to open the season in Columbus. But upon further review, it will be tougher than expected for a couple of reasons.

First, Navy is a decent program and an excellent rushing team. Last years featured running back Shun White is gone but the Midshipmen have a star QB in the making in Ricky Dobbs, who can both run and throw very well.

Secondly, it's impossible for the OSU players to not be thinking about week 2 when USC comes to town. Terrelle Pryor and the Bucks have not forgotten the embarrassing loss in the L.A. Colisuem last September and that's another reason why the Navy game could end up a thriller, a-la Ohio vs. OSU 2008!


Illinois Missouri

No Chase Daniel and no Jeremy Maclin for Mizzou takes away some of the luster but Illinois and Missouri have both fielded quality teams over the past few seasons and have very entertainingly scored a lot of points in the process! Even if they aren't top 25 teams to open the year, Illinois could eventually get there and this game is still worth tuning in for!

Senior QB Juice Williams and Coach Ron Zook will try to lead the Illini to a bounce back season after a disappointing 2008 which followed 2007's Rose Bowl season, although Illinois was crushed by USC in that game. What's new right?

It all starts with the Missouri game but will the Illini have enough Juice to tame the Tigers?

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So there you have them. The best non-traditional OOC games week one has to offer.

But wait, there's more!

Over the next few weeks, this series will continue to will highlight more of the games you MUST see!

The 2009 college football season absolutely promises to be as exciting as ever and it's going to be a great ride, so stay tuned and remember, it will be September before you know it and I'll do my part to help you survive until then!

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