Tough Tests Again This Week For Tide, 'Cats
Alabama and Georgia look to clinch SEC Championship game slots
A 57-game schedule for Week 11 promises no rest for the top two teams in the BCS Standings as Alabama has to entertain explosive SEC newcomer Texas A&M and Kansas State visits dangerous TCU. The 3rd- and 4th-place teams, Oregon and Notre Dame, draw seemingly safe games at California and Boston College, respectively.
Alabama clinches the SEC West with a win and the Congrove Computer Rankings give the Tide an 8.74-point edge. Kansas State is expected to moves closer to claiming the Big 12 with an 8.41-point win.
The action heats up early this week with a game involving MAC divisional title contenders on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Toledo is essentially tied for the MAC West lead and hosts 3rd-place Ball State on Tuesday. Bowling Green visits Ohio on Wednesday in a battle of MAC East teams that are each a game behind Kent State.
Thursday, two of the three teams tied for the Sun Belt lead face-off when Louisiana-Monroe visits Arkansas State.
Oh yeah, Thursday is also the night Florida State visits Virginia Tech in an ACC battle on ESPN in a game that is missing all the drama and intrigue that this game is generally worthy of delivering. The Hokies have gone from a 4.74-point home favorite in the preseason Congrove Computer Rankings to a current 9.71-point underdog.
On Friday, Pittsburgh visits UConn in a Big East tilt that matches two of the bottom three teams in the league.
Saturday features Oregon State as a whopping 13.95-point computer underdog at Stanford, one week before the Cardinal visits the Ducks and two weeks before the Ducks visit the Beavers.
The SEC East will be decided when Georgia visits Auburn. The Bulldogs clinch with an anticipated 9.14-point win while an upset loss hands the division to Florida.
Louisville looks to stay undefeated overall when the Cardinals visit Syracuse as a 7.09-point favorite. Top contender Rutgers goes out-of-conference to host Army. The two schools are ontrack to meet in a de facto conference championship game on December 1 in Piscataway.
Other games worth watching include Northwestern-Michigan and Penn State-Nebraska in the Big Ten. Also, Wisconsin faces a potential trip-up game at Indiana with both schools in contention for the Leaders division title due to Penn State and Ohio State's probation.
FBS vs. FCS:
FBS teams are 89-10 (.899) on the year vs. FCS teams and are 727-65 (.918) in such games since 2003.
One such matchup takes place this week when McNeese State visits UTSA.. McNeese beat Middle Tennessee on opening weekend.
This year, 101 FBS teams play a total of 108 games against FCS foes. UTSA is in its first year of transitioning from the FCS and plays 4 such schools. Cincinnati, Florida State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M each play two such games.
Here are the results of the FBS losses to FCS schools this season:
9/29: Stony Brook 23, Army 3
9/15: Cal Poly 24, Wyoming 22
9/8: Sacramento State 30, Colorado 28
9/8: North Dakota State 22, Colorado State 7
9/8: Illinois State 31, Eastern Michigan 17
9/8: Northern Arizona 17, UNLV 14
9/1: Youngstown State 31, Pittsburgh 17
9/1: Tennessee-Martin 20, Memphis 17
8/30: McNeese State 27, Middle Tennessee 21
8/30: Eastern Washington 20, Idaho 3
STREAKS:
Alabama - Won 13 straight overall. Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday.
Oregon - Won 12 straight overall and 14 straight road games. Visits California on Saturday.
Northern Illinois - Won 14 straight conference games (MAC), 20 straight home games and 9 straight overall. Next game is Wednesday, November 14 vs. Toledo.
LSU - Won 41 straight nonconference games. Hosts Mississippi State on Saturday.
Michigan - won 12 straight home games (2nd-longest in nation). Hosts Northwestern on Saturday.
Southern Miss - Lost 9 straight overall. Visits SMU on Saturday.
Akron - Lost 25 straight road games, 20 straight FBS games and 14 straight conference games (MAC). Hosts UMass on Saturday.
Kansas - Lost 18 straight FBS games, 18 straight conference games and 17 straight road games. Visits Texas Tech on Saturday.
UNLV - Lost 20 straight road games. Visits Colorado State on Saturday.
NEW COACHES:
28 teams have a new college football coach in the FBS ranks this season. See how they are faring versus their predecessor.
Here are this week's games for each new head coach:
| Akron |
Terry Bowden (1-9) |
Saturday vs. UMass |
| Arizona |
Rich Rodriguez (5-4) |
Saturday vs. Colorado |
| Arizona State |
Todd Graham (5-4) |
Saturday at USC |
| Arkansas |
John L. Smith (4-5) |
Saturday at South Carolina |
| Arkansas State |
Gus Malzahn (6-3) |
Thursday vs. Louisiana-Monroe |
| Colorado State |
Jim McElwain (2-7) |
Saturday vs. UNLV |
| FAU |
Carl Pellini (2-7) |
Saturday at Western Kentucky |
| Fresno State |
Tim DeRuyter (7-3) |
Saturday at Nevada |
| Hawaii |
Norm Chow (1-7) |
Saturday vs. Boise State |
| Houston |
Tony Levine (4-5) |
Saturday vs. Tulsa |
| Illinois |
Tim Beckman (2-7) |
Saturday vs. Minnesota |
| Kansas |
Charlie Weis (1-8) |
Saturday at Texas Tech |
| Massachusetts |
Charley Molnar (0-9) |
Saturday at Akron |
| Memphis |
Justin Fuente (1-8) |
Saturday vs. Tulane |
| Mississippi |
Hugh Freeze (5-4) |
Saturday vs. Vanderbilt |
| New Mexico |
Bob Davie (4-6) |
Saturday vs. Wyoming |
| North Carolina |
Larry Fedora (6-3) |
Saturday vs. Georgia Tech |
| Ohio State |
Urban Meyer (10-0) |
Idle. Next game 11/17 at Wisconsin |
| Penn State |
Bill O'Brien (6-3) |
Saturday at Nebraska |
| Pittsburgh |
Paul Chryst (4-5) |
Friday at UConn |
| Rutgers |
Kyle Flood (7-1) |
Saturday vs. Army |
| Southern Miss |
Ellis Johnson (0-9) |
Saturday at SMU |
| Texas A&M |
Kevin Sumlin (7-2) |
Saturday at Alabama |
| Toledo |
Matt Campbell (8-1) |
Tuesday vs. Ball State |
| Tulane |
Curtis Johnson (2-7) |
Saturday at Memphis |
| UAB |
Garrick McGee (2-7) |
Saturday vs. Marshall |
| UCLA |
Jim Mora (7-2) |
Saturday at Washington State |
| Washington State |
Mike Leach (2-7) |
Saturday vs. UCLA |
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