I hate college football.  I must have said that phrase a hundred times in my life, and that includes a dozen or so uses this past weekend.  There are certain teams we love, be it your alma mater, the team you grew up with, one with your favorite colors, whatever.  And there are certain teams you will never root for, be it the rival of “your” team, one that you or your team had a terrible experience with, teams that you perceive as getting unnecessary attention (ahem Notre Dame), whatever.  I’ll freely admit, I care too much. If my teams win, all is right with the world.  If my teams lose, but those teams I dislike lose too, things are fine.  But on those weekend that my teams lose and they win, life takes a significant downturn.  Last weekend was one of those weekends for me.

If I were rational (and, please remember, I am not) I wouldn’t care so much.  Tying my mood to a bunch of 18-22 year olds playing a game, to coaches making millions of dollars, makes no sense.  I probably wouldn’t want to hang out with most of these kids if I knew them and they didn’t play on my team.  I probably wouldn’t respect the men that a lot of these coaches are off the field.  On the other hand, the people wearing the colors of the teams I hate, they are my neighbors, my friends, my customers.  They aren’t bad people, we just like different teams.

What last weekend did help me with, was gaining a little perspective.  Because my teams are doing poorly, it helps me take a step back and look at whats going on around the rest of the country.  There are some really good games and intriguing stories this week.  My game of the week, for example, pits LSU against Texas A&M.  A&M, an SEC newcomer, has gained a reputation among Florida and Ole Miss fans as being really friendly.  While that’s true, it also helps that A&M has no history with either of those teams.  LSU is a different matter.  And the last time they met, LSU seemingly scored every time they touched the ball.  When the Tigers roll in to College Station, they won’t be getting the red carpet treatment.  It also features one of college footballs biggest surprises (new coach, freshman qb, tougher conference, etc) against the mighty powerful perennial national championship contending Tigers.  It should be a lot of fun!

Other Games I’ll be Watching:

South Carolina at Florida:  Probably the best game on paper this weekend.

Kansas State at West Virginia:  If Kansas State wins this game, it almost ensures a Big XII title.

Florida State at Miami:  While today this isn’t the marquee game it once was, it brings back some great memories.  Wide Right anyone? Or perhaps Wide Right Two? (There was also a Wide Right Three and Four and a Wide Left)

Texas Tech at TCU: You never know which Tech team will show up.

Stanford at Cal:  If only for this.

* The opinions above are from Dustin. He cares too much.