TV: Your College Football Saturday Week #11

By: Ben Malley

Michigan (-2.5) v Wisconsin 9.00am ESPN

Michigan won't be faulted for looking ahead to next weekend going into the game at Camp Randall. A loss won't hurt their Rose Bowl hopes at all, they simply need to beat Ohio State. This game will be all about getting Mike Hart back into game shape for OSU. Hart only carried the ball 15 times at East Lansing, but still managed to rush for 110 yards. He hasn't rushed for less than 100 yards all season, unless you count the two times he didn't play.

Illinois v Ohio St (-15) 12.30 ESPN

Larry Salomon is taking Ohio St. the -15 here. And one thing I've learned at San Francisco State University is you don't bet against Larry Salomon. Other than the 17 unanswered points against Michigan State Ohio State was only briefly challenged by a horrible Washington team, where they trailed 7-3 at the half.

As much as we all want Ohio State to slip up, they won't. The Big 10 championship game is next weekend.

Arizona St (-7) v UCLA 12.30 ABC

Expect UCLA to win this game. Seriously, you know what I'm talking about. If they beat you, then that means you don't suck. (I guess that doesn't work for the Stanford game though) They only lose to crap teams. Wazzu, Arizona, Utah and in what may be the answer to a trivia question one day... In their 1-11 season, which team did Notre Dame beat? On the road no less! (At least we have Kevin Love, see below.)

Osaar Rasshan. He used to be a quarterback, then they turned him into a receiver. Now he is a quarterback again. I will henceforth refer to him as Athlete #156. He's starting this weekend because everyone else is terrible or hurt or in Ben Olsen's case, both.

Why is this game even on TV again? So I can get pissed off a lot and throw shit. That's why.

Auburn v Georgia (-1) 12.30 CBS

If Georgia and Tennessee win out, the Vols get to lose in the SEC Championship game. But Georgia would be ranked in the top 10 with 2 losses, and probably get a BCS at-large bid. If Tennessee does slip up and hands Georgia the SEC East, when they lose to LSU do they lose that BCS at-large bid along with it?

S. Carolina v Florida (-6.5) 4.45 ESPN

Spurrier vs. his old school. Who cares. I know, a lot of rednecks.

I kid. I'll be watching when Cal is on commercials. Florida is still in the hunt for that SEC East. Georgia could very easily slip up to Kentucky and Auburn, while one Tennessee loss between Arkansas and Kentucky is not out of the realm of possibility. Queue Tebow v. LSU: The White Knight's Quest for Revenge.

USC (-4) v Cal 5.00 ABC

One minute and twenty four seconds into the second half against Tennessee, Nate Longshore caught the Vols defense napping and snapped off a quick two yard throw to Lavelle Hawkins to extend the lead to 17 points. "There may be a better offense out there," said Brent Musburger, "but they're gonna have to show me."

"Can you imagine," Herbstreit chimes in. "When USC comes in here in a couple of months, this offense against that team. I'll make you a bet. Both of those teams come in here undefeated, with all the chips on the table, national title hopes at stake."

Congratulations Brent, you win the bet.

To give you an idea of how far this game has fallen in esteem: Tickets have dropped in value by about 66 percent. Only the western half of the country will see the game. Musburger and Herbstreit aren't even going to be at the game. They'll be in Stillwater, hanging out with the Cowboys' 40-year-old coach and one of my favorite professors from my days at Ottawa's Carleton University, Mark Wolfogram.

On that fateful day at the beginning of September, Forsett looked good. Nobody was prepared for Jahvid Best who ran up 66 yards on his first three carries. The receiving corps was all over the field, and of course DeSean Jackson ensured nobody would ever punt to him again. Longshore managed the offense well enough and didn't make any huge screw-ups, except that drive where he fumbled the snap, twice. I even got to give future NFL center Alex Mack a big pat on the back as we walked off the field.

Okay, that's enough of that. What have you done for me lately? If your name is Nate Longshore, the answer is nothing.

Meanwhile USC seemed to get back on their horse with Booty in the QB spot. Sure, they weren't playing so well when he was the starter, but it seems to have gotten kind of lost in the shuffle that Booty was hurt for both of USC's losses.

Longshore has probably one more chance to prove himself in a big game. His performance in this game should go a long way in determining whether or not he gets the starting job next year. We know he couldn't throw the deep ball with any accuracy last week. If he still can't, long night.