I hope everyone is enjoying their Cyber Monday (shameless plug, any web order from GamedayCloth.com will include free shipping and a free White Elephant gift. Today only!) and that everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  The college football season is nearing it’s end and most of the postseason matchups are starting to come into focus.  Notre Dame, for example, has already cinched their spot in the National Championship Game in Miami.  Ohio State has already finished their season undefeated, untied and unable to play in a postseason game.  Several other teams (including the Mighty Mustangs of SMU) have become bowl eligible and are just waiting for the invitations to be sent out this weekend.

Alabama and Georgia face off in the SEC championship game in a matchup that will determine who faces Notre Dame in Miami.  (Jana just told me….well, kids might be reading this, so Jana says “Go Dawgs!”)  Since it’s the number two versus three teams, it’s by default the Game of the Week.  I was really pulling for a Kansas State versus Oregon national title game because I’m tired of SEC teams.  Is the SEC that great this year?  I guess we’ll have a chance to find out when those top SEC teams play top teams from other conferences.

I can’t wait until Bowl Season.  Maybe it’s ESPN’s marketing, maybe it’s because college football season is coming to an end, maybe I just need a life, but Bowl Season always gets me.  It’s the only time a year that I’ll care if the Mid American Conference Champion can beat someone from the Patriot League.  It’s the only time I’ll make a point of watching the fifth best Mountain West Team can hang with the eighth best PAC-12 team.  I love it.  I’ll try and put together a Cliff’s Notes version of a comprehensive bowl preview blog for the literally dozens of you who might stumble upon it.

Other Games I’ll be Watching:

Northern Illinois versus Kent State – Both teams are not only ranked, but are 11-1.  Who knew?

Texas at Kansas State – K State owns Texas and really needs this one for the Big XII title.  Texas, who knows what they are thinking?

UCLA versus Stanford – A rematch from last week.  Plus, I kind of like UCLA’s new uniforms.

Oklahoma at TCU – TCU loves to play spoiler and a win would really end their first season in the Big XII on a high.

Nebraska versus Wisconsin – The battle for the Big 10 title featuring the second and third best teams in the conference.

* These opinions are from Dustin and not necessarily Gameday Cloth.  Except the one opinion from Jana, that’s from Jana and not necessarily Dustin OR Gameday Cloth.

I worked in Iraq for just over two years as a contractor.  It wasn’t fun, but it was interesting, professionally rewarding and they paid me a lot of money.  We worked a lot (12+ hour days typically) and you had to pick something to focus on to get through until your next vacation.    When you were tired or frustrated or scared, you had to have that one thing to focus on or else you wouldn’t make it.  I always focused on my friends and family.  My vacations always involved seeing them when possible.  But, with such a large time difference (9 hours) it was really hard keeping in touch most of the time and I let several relationships suffer because of my decision to go overseas.  Even with all of that, I was only truly homesick once.  And by truly homesick, I mean I was in tears because I couldn’t be with my loved ones.

If you know me, or paid close attention to my past posts, you’ll know that I’m a diehard Texas fan.  If you know me, or paid close attention to my past posts, you’ll also know that I grew up in College Station.  My dad and sister work for Texas A&M.  My mom did.  My brother in law, three cousins, my mom and my sister all received one or more degrees from A&M and are all Aggie fans.  Another cousin and an uncle are Texas fans.  Every year, we would have Thanksgiving at my parents’ house.  If the Longhorns and Aggies were playing in College Station, most of us would head out to Kyle Field to the game.  If the game were in Austin, the Aggies would be in one room and the Longhorn fans would usually be in another one (to keep the peace).  Those games were integral to our Thanksgiving gatherings.  My first Thanksgiving in Iraq, all I could do was think of my family watching that game, and it crushed me (the fact that I missed one of the most boring games in the series didn’t matter).

As you may be aware, Texas A&M left the Big XII for the SEC this year (and if you aren’t aware, you don’t have any friends that are Aggies).  That means that the Aggies and Longhorns are in different conferences.  I’m not going to get into who is to blame for the game being cancelled, all that matters for the purposes of this post is that it’s cancelled.  And that’s unfortunate.  This Thursday, all of my family members will be in College Station. And some of us will watch the Texans and Cowboys play.  And some will even watch Texas versus TCU, but it won’t be the same.  And because of that, there is no Game of the Week this week.

Games I’ll be Watching:

TCU at Texas – Yeah, I’ll watch.  I’m still a fan.

Notre Dame at USC – Can the Trojans play spoiler?  If not, Notre Dame is the only guaranteed title game participant.

Florida at Florida State – Did you know this game is for the Florida Cup?  Neither did I.  I do know that the winner will only have one loss and could make a case for the title game.

Oregon at Oregon State – The Civil War…if the Ducks rebound from their loss to Stanford, they could still have an outside chance of playing for the national championship.

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma – Bedlam…always a tough emotional game.  The Sooners and Cowboys have something to play for here.

Michigan at Ohio State – If the Buckeyes win, they will be undefeated and ineligible for a bowl.  Could the voters give them a share of the national title?

* These opinions are from Dustin and not Gameday Cloth.  He hopes you aren’t offended and have/had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I have no reason to like Oregon.  I have no reason not to like Oregon.  I have no connection to Oregon whatsoever.  I didn’t attend school there.  I’ve never vacationed there.  I’ve don’t believe that I’ve ever been to Oregon and I don’t think I know anyone from Oregon.  None of my teams have had any sort of major win or loss to any Oregonian (Oregonist?) teams.  But I do, I like Oregon.

I guess the primary reason is Nike.  When my sister and I turned 16, my parents bought us 25 shares of stock each to teach us about the stock market, the US economy, etc.  My sister got Bath and Bodyworks and I got Nike.  Thanks to Michael Jordan, my Nike stock ended up quadrupling in value.  So, I’ve had an affinity to Nike since then.  I think that’s where it started.  Then came the uniforms.  The uniforms helped too.  They were so cool.  Even when they missed, they got people’s attention and got people talking.  You had to tune in and watch.  And when you watched, you got a show.  They were fast.  They were unique.  And they could score…a lot…and quickly.

I think the average college football fan thinks that Oregon is all style and no substance.  I think that they think that Oregon scored a ton of points with a tricked up offense but couldn’t stop a junior high team.  I think that they think Oregon is overrated and always loses to someone they shouldn’t lose to.  I think that if they think that, they are wrong.  This Oregon team is good.  They have a really solid defense and, yes, their offense can score on any play.  I also think that Oregon could (could, not will) win the national title.  But in order to get there, they have to get through teams currently ranked #14 (Stanford), #15 (Oregon State) and either #17 (UCLA) or #21 (USC).   Stanford at Oregon is my game of the week and it’s going to be a really good one.

Other Games I’ll be Watching:

Oklahoma at West Virginia – At the beginning of the season, this is the game I thought would determine the BIG XII title.  The Mountaineers have slipped a little, but it still should be a very exciting game.

USC at UCLA – The winner of this cross town rivalry will probably face Oregon in the PAC-12 championship game.

Texas Tech at Oklahoma State – Two ranked teams fighting for a Cotton Bowl game…and clearly more interesting than every SEC game this week.

Ohio State at Wisconsin – The Badgers are the next team to get a shot at knocking the Buckeyes from the ranks of the undefeated.

* These opinions are from Dustin and not necessarily Gameday Cloth.  He would like to personally apologize for all of the pain this blogpost has caused you.

I’ve always had a problem with the BCS.  Sure it’s worked out most of the time.  And, certainly I’ve never complained when my teams benefit.  But it’s always seemed to favor the big schools and traditional conferences at the expense of the little guy.  Boise State never got a shot at the national title besides having the winningest stretch of this millenium.  TCU had to wait until other schools moved out of BCS conferences before they had a chance to be in one.  Weren’t the days of independent Miami wining titles better?  Wasn’t it fun when BYU was in the title discussion?  I know I’m not breaking any new ground with these pronouncements, but I don’t think I’ve articulated them here.

My dream every year (besides SMU and UT facing off in the national championship game) is for fairness.  And if the system can’t be fair (and it hasn’t been to Boise, TCU, Hawaii, Utah, Houston and Auburn at times) then I want BCS chaos.  I want an undefeated BCS conference team to be left out.  I want multiple non-AQ teams (aka the little guys) to be undefeated.  I want senators to bring the BCS into question.  And, of course, at the end of the day I want my teams to benefit.

That’s why last weekend was so fascinating.  Both Notre Dame and Alabama were losing late in their respective games.  And Kansas State‘s Heisman candidate at quarterback got hurt in the third quarter.  And USC kept up with Oregon‘s potent offense until right there at the end.  We almost had the top four teams in the BCS lose all on the same weekend.  And that would leave only two division one teams undefeated.  These teams are Louisville who is ranked ninth in the BCS standings, clearly being undefeated doesn’t mean as much as it used to and Ohio State, who is ineligible for post season play because two years ago they were given permission to play players in the post season who were ineligible to play in the post season (yes, that really happened).

But the top four all won.  And they all have reasons to play in the title game if they stay undefeated.  Alabama is the defending national champion and is playing in the conference that has won the last 6 national titles.  Kansas State plays in the second hardest conference and will have beaten several ranked teams, some handily.  Notre Dame is playing what (at the beginning of the season) was called the hardest schedule in the NCAA.  And Oregon has been shafted before and has probably the most explosive offense in all of college football.  I have the teams I’m rooting for, sure.  But if that can’t happen I want them all to win out, or all to lose because that would create the chaos I want.

Before I forget….since they did win and since it might be a letdown game for the home team and since the road team has something to prove and since this is the last ranked team the home team will play in the regular season and since it does feature two top 15 teams, Texas A&M at Alabama is my Game of the Week.

Other Games I’ll be Watching:

Kansas State at TCU – If Collin Klein can’t play this game becomes very, very interesting.

Oregon State at Stanford – The other matchup between top 15 teams.

West Virginia at Oklahoma State – First team to hold the other to a field goal wins.

UMass at Akron – These teams are a combined 1-18, it could be the worst game of the season.

* This whole post was either thought up by Dustin or it’s a figment of your imagination. I guess we’ll never know.

I’ll cut to the chase, there’s only one obvious choice for Game of the Week this week.  Alabama at LSU is not only a matchup of two top five teams, but it’s a rematch of one of the most boring National Championship Games I can remember.  But I’m not going to talk about that one.  I’m sure there will be plenty of stories on your local newspaper websites as well as on all of the national ones.  College Gameday will be there and ESPN will be have about a million stories about the game, the players, the coaches, etc.  No, I’m going to talk about what will probably be the polar opposite of that game.  Instead of a 9-6 defensive struggle we might have a 50-48 game.

Oregon and USC are both polarizing programs.  USC is flashy and arrogant and has all of the advantages and their coaches are slimy.  Oregon has those weird uniforms and has no defense and is all about Nike and has no substance.  Those criticisms are, at best, vaguely rooted in an outdated truth and, at worst, west coast football stereotypes.

USC has a history that mirrors the Oklahomas and Texases of the world.  Lots of past success with national championships and Heisman trophy winners, a rough decade or two recently and, then, a coach that has brought them back into the college football elite.  Oregon was the little program that could.  With no real sustained success and then a wealthy alum (Nike’s Phil Knight) helps them start getting the exposure (and, by extension the television time which leads to recruits) and has been a constant in the top 10 the past decade.

While USC has last a couple of games so far, the game still has some national importance.  USC was ranked #1 early in the season and has more talent in their starting 22 than almost any other team in the country.  Oregon, as always, has one of, if not the, best and most exciting offenses in the country.  This year they’ve added a defense.  It’s going to be a great one and I’m excited to watch it!

Other Games I’ll be Watching:

Oklahoma State at Kansas State: The Cowboys are trying to turn things around.  Can they catch the WIldcats coming down off back to back emotional wins?

Texas A&M at Mississippi State: Two SEC surprises face off in Starkville.  Can Johnny Football lead the Aggies to another victory?

San Diego State at Boise State: Boise State seemed to lose a hundred starters from last years team.  However, they appear to be rebounding with the underclassmen very nicely.  They face a stern test from the Aztecs this weekend.

* These are opinions by Dustin and not by game day cloth.  This entire blog entry may or may not be the result of accusations of east coast bias.

I”l admit, I never really got it.  I’ve never really been a fan of Notre Dame.  I remember how interesting they were back in the Lou Holtz era.  I remember watching Tim Brown and Tony Rice and Rocket Ismail and they were all exciting in their own ways.  I was always intrigued that they played USC and Michigan and these huge national teams every single year and how that was pretty cool.  But I never understood why they got the credit that they did.  It’s great that they had good teams when my great grandparents were around, but why does that matter to me?  Why did they get included in the BCS along with six conferences?  Why did they get their own television contract?  Why does ESPN insist on cramming every coaching change and every victory and every conference rumor down our throats?  It’s almost like they are the organizational equivalent of Tim Tebow.  I just didn’t get it.

Now that I’m older, I’m starting to see it.  It’s hard to win a national championship, yet they claim eleven (tied for second most among major colleges).  It’s hard to for a program to have a Heisman trophy winner, yet they have seven (tied for the most with Ohio State).  It’s hard to survive as a college football independent and they’ve thrived.  I’m starting to see it, but I’m not sure I get it yet.  Even so, I do recognize their place as a historical program.  I do see why South Bend was chosen as the location for the College Football Hal of Fame.  And now that they are winning again, I do understand the attention they are getting.

But this weekend they play Oklahoma.  And OU has some national championships and Heisman winners of their own.  Oklahoma has historical achievements to rival or best any other university.  And this weekend Notre Dame plays in Norman, Oklahoma.  And OU is on a roll.  Notre Dame is #5 in the BCS standings, and yet OU is an 11 point favorite.  This is why this such an intriguing game and why this is the Game of the Week.

Other Games I’ll be Watching:

Texas Tech at Kansas State:  The Red Raiders are stronger at home, but they are still 6-1.  This is another test for the Wildcat‘s quest for an undefeated season.

Florida at Georgia: Any game known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” is only enhanced when both teams are ranked in the top 10.

Mississippi State at Alabama:  Did you know that Mississippi State in ranked #11?  Did you know that Alabama is still favored by 24?

Duke at Florida State:  Duke is 6-2 and bowl eligible for the first time in forever.  And yet because of Christian Laettner I hope they get crushed.

Michigan at Nebraska:  These two storied programs are both 5-2 and there are some serious Big 10 championship implications in this one.

* Once again these opinions are from Dustin, not Gameday Cloth.  He is afraid of spiders and mice.  Gameday Cloth doesn’t fear anything, not even fear itself.

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.

This one will be short, sweet and to the point…because in Dallas this week there is only one game.  Texas/OU or OU/Texas (depending on who you root for) is all anyone is talking about.  And since I’m so excited/nervous/anxious for the game, I’ll leave the analysis to others.  Whichever side of the the fence you fall, have fun this weekend, be safe and get your Texas or Oklahoma gear from us (shameless plug).

* All opinions are from Dustin and not by Gameday Cloth.  And since this week there aren’t really any opinions, just know that Dustin likes long walks on the beach, the History Channel and is, quite possibly the last Houston Astros fan on the planet.