Don't Forget Us: College Football Non-Title Game Preview

Aside from the various conference title games, there’s plenty of other good action to keep you on your seat in college football this weekend. Such as:
1) #2 Oregon at Oregon State— The annual “Civil War” battle between the Beavers and Ducks has lost a lot of its luster since Oregon State’s season descended to mediocrity (in a decidedly mediocre conference.) Whatever glimmer of hope we got for a decent game after Oregon State beat USC was tempered by a 38-0 whitewash from Stanford. Before you tell me “It’s a rivalry game! Anything can happen!” remember that Oregon has been held under 42 points once all season and Oregon State lost by 17 to Washington State. Unfortunately for TCU, the Ducks win in a laugher.

2) Connecticut at South Florida/Pittsburgh at Cincinnati/Rutgers at West Virginia: Is it lazy to lump all three Big East games together? Probably, but the less said about this conference the better. Someone’s going to emerge from this mess with a BCS bid, and someone in the Big 10, Idaho and the SEC will–deservedly–be crying about it. The Big East’s best team is probably West Virginia, so if you’re a Big East fan, you may want to root for the Mountaineers. It may be the difference between losing by 30 or losing by 50 in the BCS.
3) Utah State at #11 Boise State: While this game is largely meaningless, here’s hoping Kyle Brotzman has a better week. He deserves it.