Mark Blaudschun
By Mark Blaudschun
FWAA.com
The college football season has established a trend in its first month: The SEC is flexing
its muscles and everyone else is watching. Let's see what happens now that the SEC
starts its self-destruct mode with head-to-head competition.
The games:
Penn State at Northwestern (Friday night): Still a second-tier game in terms of rankings, especially
following Penn State's upset loss to Wisconsin last week.
But Northwestern, under the guidance of David Braun, gave Indiana fits last week.
Now, the Wildcats are home in their new stadium and Penn State is in win-or-go-home mode. It's a great setup for the
weekend.
Alabama at Mississippi State: A watch-out game for the Tide, which has rolled to an
impressive 4-0 start and looks better each week.
The Tide has taken its time getting into the flow of the game in a few of its victories.
That could be dangerous against a Mississippi State team that outlasted Missouri last week
and is also 4-0. The game is in Starkville, so we’ll hear cowbells early and often. Nice
morning kickoff for SEC mania.
Florida at Missouri: Florida could be this year's Indiana. The Gators demolished Ole
Miss last week, after the Rebels had beaten LSU to climb to No. 4 in the rankings. Ah,
yes, life in the SEC.
Now the Gators hit the road to face a fuming Mizzou team, which should have beaten
Mississippi State last week but went flat in the final minutes.
Florida looks like the better team right now, but don’t dismiss Missouri. Playing at home
will help. So will the letdown factor for the Gators, but they should pull away in the
second half and coast into October as the surprise team of the SEC.
Notre Dame at North Carolina: Looks like a mismatch, right? Notre Dame is heading
to the playoffs, Carolina has become a hotbed for off-the-field turmoil, and the Tar Heels
aren't that good in Year 2 of Bill Belichick's college tour.
Notre Dame looks, well, like Notre Dame, which means it has maybe BYU as a
challenge before a potential showdown of unbeatens with Miami. But...this game
doesn't feel right in terms of a rout; it could be a fourth-quarter cliffhanger (Insert
laughter here for you Belichick haters).
Miami at Clemson: This one scares me as a Miami fan. The Hurricanes stumble
once a season when you least expect it. This could be the night: Saturday night in
Death Valley against a Clemson team which isn't very good.
Still, it is Clemson and it is Saturday night and it is MIAMI. The Canes are a 16.5-point
favorite and should cover, but it might not happen until the final minutes.
But they could also trip. Intriguing to say the least.
#30