College Football’s Best Games - 2008

In all my excitement for the upcoming season (and the fact that NCAA Football 09 comes out today) and my being so sick and freaking tired of the Brett Favre saga (thank you Boyd for adding to that), I’ve been looking at schedules to see what the best games of the college football season should be. These are the games I am most looking forward to this year and that will likely play some kind of role in determining who will be in the BCS games at the end of the year. If you think I’ve left some out (yes, I left Ohio State-Michigan and Texas-Oklahoma out on purpose), let me know why.

Ohio State at USC (September 13)
This is the most intriguing matchup of the season. The winner of this game has a great chance to get to the title game because the Pac 10 and Big 10 are both a bit weak this year. The Ohio State and USC may have the two best defenses in the country. How will OSU’s line hold up against USC’s defensive pressure? Will either team be able to throw the ball? Is the best linebacker in the game Laurinaitis, Maualuga, or Cushing? Can Wells put up big yards against Pete Carroll’s vaunted defense? If OSU can pull this off, get used to the idea of seeing the Buckeyes getting a third opportunity to make a mockery of the BCS title game. Just because OSU was beaten soundly in the past two title games doesn’t mean they don’t have the talent to win in the Coliseum—they do and they will.

Georgia at Arizona State (Septemer 20)
UGA hasn’t traveled west of the Mississippi for a road game in about 20 years and Arizona State didn’t play anyone out of conference last year, so this one is a bit unexpected. Everyone is on Georgia’s, um, jockstrap this year. They are #1 in most of the polls I’ve seen, but they have what has to be the toughest schedule in the nation. Winning on the road at Arizona State could jumpstart them to an amazing run. Georgia’s defensive line should really disrupt the ASU offense because their O-line sucks. Georgia will probably win this game and it should be a fun one to watch.

Auburn at West Virginia (October 23)
This is a tough home game for West Virginia. The Mountaineers struggle against teams with great speed on defense (i.e., South Florida and Pittsburgh), so Auburn will be tough. This game will be dangerous for WV because Auburn will have had half the season to fine-tune their new spread offense. If Auburn has figured out how to run the offense effectively by this point West Virginia might go down. I can't stress this enough: watch West Virginia this year. Noel Devine is amazing.

Illinois vs. Missouri (August 30)
Last year’s game was super exciting (40-34 Mizzou) and no one expected these teams to end up with a combined 20-5 regular season record. This year everyone will be expecting big things from both teams. Missouri will be out to prove that they should have been in a BCS bowl last year by beating the team who got trounced in the Rose Bowl. Illinois has great speed on defense and may prove to be a difficult test for Chase Daniel and company. Two of the best sophomore receivers in the country will be on display in this game. A win here could propel both teams to big seasons.

Kansas at South Florida (September 12)
Two teams that practically came out of nowhere last year to impact the national scene play in this interesting non-conference game. But is it really interesting? Do people generally give a crap about either of these teams? Who would have thought this game would mean anything before last season? Kansas has always sucked and USF has never done much, but both teams were ranked #2 at one point last year. If nothing else, you’ve got to love Mangino. He seriously looks like a walrus minus the tusks, and you can find him cussing people out on youtube. College football at its best.

BYU at Utah (November 22)
These are the two best non-BCS teams in the country bar none, and I don’t want to hear that crap about Fresno State. Utah vs. BYU has been as exciting as any rivalry in recent years. The past three games have been classics, with Utah winning in OT, BYU winning on an amazing last play, and BYU converting a 4^th and 18 with about a minute left to win last year. BYU plays Washington and UCLA out of conference and Utah plays Michigan (Utah will pull off that upset!) and Oregon State. It is conceivable that one (or even both) of these teams could be undefeated going into this game, and there is nothing that these rivals would like more than to keep the other out of a BCS game.

LSU-Florida-Georgia
These teams could knock each other out of contention for the national championship. Of course, if you’re in the SEC you can apparently lose 2 games and still get into the BCS title game. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Florida lost to LSU and Georgia last year, while UGA-LSU didn’t happen. It’s a shame because they may have been the two best teams in the country (Ohio State certainly wasn’t one of them).

Georgia at LSU (October 25)
This game should have happened last year. When Georgia fully got it together toward the end of the season they seemed almost unbeatable. These teams finished 1-2 in the polls last year. Georgia appears to be the more complete team, but if LSU gets good quarterback play the talent level is crazy.

Georgia vs. Florida (November 1)
The world’s largest outdoor Cocktail Party. What a great name for the game. If I could go to any game I want to this season, this is the one. Urban Meyer will probably have his guys pissing on Georgia logos for weeks before the game after what happened after Georgia’s first score last year. Urban can motivate as well as any coach in college football, so the Dawgs better be ready.

LSU at Florida (October 11)
Another revenge game for the Gators. LSU didn’t lead in last year’s game until just over a minute left to play. Florida should have won and they know it. How will Urban fire his guys up this time? LSU toilet paper? Miles and Meyer are two of the most outspoken coaches in college football. Miles saying that USC has it tough because they have to play such juggernauts as Stanford is classic.