Collision Course Set for Next Saturday

By Brett Samuels

Every weekend of college football packs its fair share of excitement. However there are a couple Saturdays each season that are just special. This coming Saturday, November 3, is one of those days.

(AP IMAGES/Butch Dill)

We have been searching for clarity in the national title picture since the first kickoff of the season. Now all signs are pointing to this weekend providing many answers as far as who will play for the BCS championship in January.

A similar thing happened last year. Many will recall the ads on CBS billing the game between N0. 1 Alabama and N0. 2 LSU as the “Game of the Century.” Depending on who you talked to the game lived up to its hype. But it was the “game of the century”, so certainly there’s no way there could be another one just a year later, right?

Well brace yourself because in six days Alabama, the current No. 1 team in the land and a perennial favorite out of the SEC, will travel to Baton Rouge to take on No. 6 LSU in what might very well be labeled the “game of the century round two.”

Just like last year there’s no shortage on hype for this matchup. ESPN’s College Gameday has already announced it will be broadcasting from LSU’s campus for the big game.

Of course it must be mentioned this heavyweight battle isn’t all talk, it actually means something.

As ESPN.com’s David Helman put it, “The winner will grab the inside track to the SEC West championship.”

Not only that, but with the reputation of the SEC there’s a very good chance that the winner of this game will land in the national championship game as well.

Believe it or not, after the Tigers and the Tide settle things down south, there will still be football played outside of Baton Rouge next weekend.

Another game worthy of national attention and excessive TV advertising will be played across the country in Los Angeles when No. 9 USC, after being upset by Arizona, will host No. 4 Oregon. 

ESPN BCS expert Brad Edwards said on SportsCenter he thought the Oregon-USC battle lost some of its luster with USC’s record failing to meet expectations.

“I think the matchup loses some of its high profile billing with USC having two losses,” Edwards said. “I think that makes Oregon kind of the biggest loser in [the BCS standings].”

Despite what the experts say, there is nothing uninteresting or unimportant about the Ducks traveling to USC to face a team that is flat out loaded with talent. The Trojans have had issues at times with depth, as well as playing down to the talent level of their opposition, but they are still as dangerous as any team in the country.

On top of that, Oregon’s national title hopes were dashed by USC at the end of the 2011 season when Matt Barkley and company knocked off the then undefeated Ducks in Eugene. The moral of the story is the Ducks will have plenty of motivation and revenge on their minds.

Something else to keep an eye on in Los Angeles: Oregon and USC could very easily meet again for the Pac-12 championship later in the season with a bid for the Rose Bowl, and, the Ducks hope, a national title berth on the line.

If for some reason you aren’t satisfied with two of the most important games of the season being played on the same day, you can also look to undefeated Kansas State trying to maintain their position near the top of the polls against a respectable Oklahoma State squad.

With Saturday being arguably the most highly anticipated day of the season, teams will have to rise to the challenge to keep pace in a currently crowded national title race. Then, by Sunday evening, we should have a much better idea of who will be favored to square off for the crystal football in January.