Fourth and inches … (game week of Nov 14, 2009)

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, November 14, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Coaching hot seats will only get hotter and the conference championship picture will begin to come into pretty clear focus this weekend … Dan Hawkins is most likely a goner if the Buffaloes can’t pull off a win at Iowa State this weekend. Charlie Weis needs a victory at Pitt to keep his job in play. He needs to get the Fighting Irish into a top paying tier 2 bowl game to stay safe. Rich Rodriguez probably has another year to salvage his sinking ship, but don’t underestimate the Michigan alumni. Another winter without a bowl trip would fuel some serious fires around Ann Arbor to oust RichRod now.

Overview of Division 1-A conference title races:

Big Ten
The winner of the Iowa – Ohio State game will lock up the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl Game berth on New Year’s Day.

Big East
If Pitt and Cincinnati continue winning, the title game will occur on December 5 in Pittsburgh between these two rivals.

SEC
Florida and Alabama are both locked in to the conference title game in Atlanta on Dec 5, regardless of what happens to either team in the next few weeks.

Pac-10
Both Oregon and Arizona control their own destinies. They meet in Tucson on Nov 21. Even if the Wildcats win, though, they’ll need to defeat Cal, archrival ASU and USC to punch their ticket to Pasadena. Oregon would need to beat Arizona, ASU, and Oregon State to win the conference. Stanford has a remote possibility of squeezing their way to the top, but they’ll need to win out and hope both Oregon and Arizona lose along the way.

Mountain West
If TCU knocks off Utah, the Horned Frogs would ostensibly lock up the Mountain West Conference title and be two easy conference games away from locking up the automatic BCS invitation to non-BCS qualifiers.

ACC
A Georgia Tech win secures the Yellow Jackets a slot in the ACC title game on December 5.

A Clemson win over North Carolina State will bring them within one win (next week at home vs Virginia) of the ACC title game.

Big 12
Texas can lock up a Big 12 title game berth with a win over Baylor and an Oklahoma State loss to Texas Tech.

If Nebraska and Kansas State win this weekend, they will decide the Big 12’s North Division title game representative when they meet on Nov 21 in Lincoln.

MAC
Both division berths in the conference title game will be decided on the Nov 27 when Temple and Ohio play each other in the East Division and Central Michigan and Northern Illinois meet for the West Division berth.

C-USA
Houston and SMU are the only two teams remaining in the running from the West Division.

East Carolina, Southern Miss, UAB, and UCF all have a shot at the East Division title and it will take a couple more weeks to sort this mess out.

WAC
Nevada needs to win two more games to have a shot at the conference title when they play at Boise State on Nov. 27.

Sun Belt
Troy is the class of the conference and controls their own destiny. They hold the tie-breaker with Middle Tennessee and play on the road at Louisiana–Lafayette.

Heisman Trophy Top 5: Can’t deny the kid anymore... Toby Gerhart, Stanford, is tops on my list with three weeks to go. Tim Tebow, Florida; Colt McCoy, Texas; Mark Ingram, Alabama; and, Jerry Hughes, TCU.

Conference Power Meter: 1. SEC. 2. Pac-10. 3. Big XII. 4. Big Ten 5. ACC 6. MWC. 7. Big East. 8. C-USA. 9. WAC. 10. Sun Belt.

College football time capsule … November 22, 1969- No. 12 Michigan upset No. 1 Ohio State 24-12 in Ann Arbor on the final day of the regular season. Michigan defensive back Barry Pierson returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and intercepted three Buckeye passes for the Wolverines. The loss cost Ohio State a shot at a national title, as well as a Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl bid. The upset marked the beginning of the famed "Ten-Year War" between College Football Hall of Fame coaches Bo Schembechler of Michigan and Ohio State's Woody Hayes. (Courtesy of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame).

This week’s crazy 8 picks…

No. 12 Miami at North Carolina. One of the better games on the schedule this week. The Tar Heels will make it close, but the Hurricanes are the better team in the end
No. 15 Iowa at No. 10 Ohio State. I just can’t see Iowa pulling this one off in The Horseshoe without starting QB Ricky Stanzi. The Buckeyes will be headed to the Rose Bowl Game for the first time in 13 years.
Michigan at No. 21 Wisconsin. The Wolverines are fighting just to become bowl eligible. The Badgers are fighting for an invite to a better bowl. Camp Randall Stadium is a tough place to play when you’re a struggling team like Michigan. Wisconsin rolls.
No. 1 Florida at South Carolina. Always intriguing when you have Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks facing his alma mater and former head coaching post. Home field advantage won’t help against the Gators this year.
Idaho at No. 6 Boise State. Okay, I’ll admit. This is a boring game and it’s the surest bet in college football. Nobody in the WAC can hang with the Broncos.
No. 25 Stanford at No. 11 USC. If the Cardinal could knock off USC in the LA Coliseum two years ago when the Trojans were truly BCS-worthy, then they sure as heck can get the job done this year with Troy starting to show cracks around the fortress.
No. 16 Utah at No. 4 Texas Christian. TCU is capable of beating any team in the nation this year. This is the year of the Horned Frogs and Utah will find that out in Fort Worth on Saturday night.
Notre Dame at No. 8 Pittsburgh. Nobody needs this win more than Charlie Weis. Pitt won’t let it happen.

Last week: 4-4 Season: 39-31
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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
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