Best and Worst Games in Week 4

ACC

Best: No question the Clemson @ Florida State is the best game in the conference and may be the best in the country. Clemson rolls in to Tallahassee with a 3-0 record and a signiture win over Auburn; while the Seminoles lost their scheduled game with West Virginia and had to play two FCS teams to start the season. This game will be highly entertaining as both teams have speed on either side of the ball. In each the last five meetings the home team has won this game!

Worst: The Citadel @ NC State – the Bulldogs are 6-64-2 against current ACC teams… 0-4 vs The Wolfpack and last year went 4-7 against FCS and SoCon competition ….. while playing one FBS team, South Carolina, and losing… 41-20 to the Gamecocks.

Big 12

Best:   Kansas State @ Oklahoma brings together two undefeated teams … the Wildcats are 3-0 while the Sooneres are 2-0. K-State has a signiture win vs Miami of Florida 52-12 while OU’s best opponent thus far is UTEP, an underwhelming performance by Oklahoma …. winning 24-7. Oklahoma has won the last three meetings … including last year’s tilt in Manhattan, 58-12!

Worst: A strong non conference line-up negates a worst game… one issue though…. is too many byes… Texas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, & Oklahoma State are all Idle this week!

Big East: 

Best: Rutgers @ Arkansas is a game much like the Pitt vs Virginia Tech a week ago… a chance for the Big East to stand up and shout about their being relevant… about being in the mix when AQ conferences are discussed ….in accomplishment … not just in name. Arkansas is struggling… making a positive outcome all the more important for the Big East … and unlike the Pitt / Va Tech game… this is a road game in Fayetteville for the Scarlet Knights.

Worst:   Gardner-Webb @ Pitt… the Runnin Bulldogs went 4-7 a year ago… losing to two FBS teams, Ohio 30-3 and Wake Forest 48-5. Meanwhile… the Panthers are 11-0 vs FCS teams…. winning by an average score of 41-14…. Turn out the lights…

Big Ten

Best: Not sure where Game Day is headed (Probably Tallahassee … Clemson @ Florida State)…. but the best game in the Big Ten is in South Bend and …at least arguably … the second best in the country – finds… #18 Michigan traveling to Indiana to take on #14 ND (at least according the Sully’s CFP Top 25 Rankings). These games have been extremely close the past three years with the losing team having the lead inside the last minute of the game in two of the last three contests!

Worst: Idaho State @ Nebraska… the Bengals have had 8 straight losing season as a FCS and Big Sky member and last year they lost to Washington State, 64-21 and BYU, 56-3. That said, Nebraska has held its last four FCS opponents to 7 points or less… beating Chattanooga last year 40-7!

Pac 12: 

Best: Arizona @ Oregon… This game should be a track meet…. with both teams scoring at a rate to overheat the scoreboard and challenge the stat-takers ability to calculate data points! Both teams like to outscore you and my thought…. this game will be the most entertaining game of the day. Arizona has scored 115 points in the past two weeks … while the ducks have been ‘held’ to mere 105. Should be fun!

Worst:  None… Conference match-ups … With Washington & Stanford having bye weeks!

SEC:

Best: Two weeks ago I would not have hesitated… LSU@ Auburn… would have been the easy call. That said, the Tigers (Auburn version not the LSU’s) have not played well! So I am going with the third Tiger mascot … Missouri’s …. at South Carolina. This is the first road trip for the former Big 12 team… and I am very interested to see how they respond to an SEC crowd and environment!  

Worst: South Alabama @ Mississippi State puts a team that has been playing Football since 2009 …. on any level… just playing football ….. let me say that again… since 2009! The Jaguars are currently playing in the Sun Belt Conference… but are not eligible to win the conference or play in a bowl until 2013! Meanwhile the Bulldogs are 3-0… beating the likes of Auburn and Sun Belt Power … Troy last week! Wake me when it’s over!