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.