Saturday College Football Open Thread
[guest post by JVW]
I don’t think we’ve done one of these yet this year, so let’s have one of our traditional Saturday college football threads. Here are some of the major games for today (the lines are from Thursday, when this post was drafted).
USC (+10.5) at Notre Dame
A renewal of one of college football’s most storied rivalries, certainly among the top five non-conference rivalries (along with Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, and Army-Navy). Notre Dame, with its earlier loss to Georgia, almost certainly needs to win the rest of its games to have a shot at the BCS Playoff.
Oklahoma (-11) vs. Texas at the Cotton Bowl
Another great rivalry game, played in the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium during Texas State Fair weekend instead of at the Jerry Jones Stadium in Arlington. The over/under on this game is a whopping 76 points, so look for a shootout.
Nebraska (+7.5) at Minnesota
A new-fangled conference rivalry based upon realignment. Both teams are fighting to keep pace with Wisconsin and Iowa for the Big 10 West championship, for the honor of getting stomped by Ohio State in the Big 10 title game.
Florida (+13) at LSU
Battle of two undefeated teams as the number 7 Gators are somehow a nearly two-touchdown underdog to the number 5 Tigers.
Alabama (-16.5) at Texas A&M
Since Johnny Manziel’s amazing performance for the Aggies against the Tide 83 months ago, Alabama has lost only four conference games: twice to Auburn and twice to Ole Miss.
Florida State (+27) at Clemson
Did anyone ever think they would see FSU be a four-touchdown underdog to a conference foe? My, how the mighty have fallen.
Slippery Rock at Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Because it’s a tradition.
Feel free to talk about other games here.
– JVW
Michigan will hopefully beat conference punching bag Illinois.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 8:57 amI’m not a big college football fan, but as an Ohio native feel duty bound to support The and hate Meeeechigan. Being a patriotic American of good moral standing, my second favorite college football team is of course whoever’s playing against Florida State.
Jerryskids (702a61) — 10/12/2019 @ 9:11 am76 points, how is that possible.
narciso (d1f714) — 10/12/2019 @ 9:14 amI wonder where USC would be today if they’d signed Gravel Voice Ed.
harkin (6776a3) — 10/12/2019 @ 9:37 amEnjoy this parody of The’s fight song (written by the legendary Dick Purtan), which harkens back to a now-forgotten era when Michigan actually won The Game half the time.
(The awkward verse “turn the Buckeyes blue” was a much more euphonic “humble Woody Hayes” in the original version).
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 9:41 amWhen it’s not lanky young men in satin shorts, it’s muscular young men in tight spandex. What’s going on with you guys?
nk (dbc370) — 10/12/2019 @ 9:46 amOklahoma already ahead by 7.
narciso (d1f714) — 10/12/2019 @ 9:59 amJust wait until Hungarian League Water Polo season, nk. You’ll love my posts on that.
JVW (b46605) — 10/12/2019 @ 10:05 amThe people who have the under on UT/OU must be feeling pretty confident right now.
JVW (b46605) — 10/12/2019 @ 10:06 amDon’t judge our lifestyle choices.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 10:27 amLincoln Riley is such a Techie.
DRJ (15874d) — 10/12/2019 @ 10:37 amI used to root for Notre Dame but given their current status as Open borders/Left-wing U, and home of Pete Buttgig, I’ve switched over to USC. They’re now known as the University of a Billion Chinese, but you can’t have everything.
I always find Midwestern Big 12 football the best, followed by the Pac 12 and the Mountain west. Southern and Texas football brings up the rear for some reason. And i used to be a big BYU fan, but every time I see BYU I think Jeff Flake, Harry Reid, and Mittens. So, I take a pass.
rcocean (1a839e) — 10/12/2019 @ 11:21 amCollege football is so much more interesting then the pros. We get less soap opera stories about the players, less commercialism, and there’s more diversity. Different styles of play, different offenses, etc.
rcocean (1a839e) — 10/12/2019 @ 11:23 amHungarian womens water polo team could drown every last one of us in the first quarter.
Notre Dame will beat the spread
U. Minnesota nickname is so bad I refuse to watch. So we have the Mighty Bugeaters* vs. the Golden Gophers
*One of Nebraskas old nicknames
steveg (354706) — 10/12/2019 @ 11:31 amI’d rather be a gopher than a duck……yes I would…..if I could….I surely would…..mmmm hmmm
harkin (6776a3) — 10/12/2019 @ 12:14 pmSouth Carolina took out Georgia in an upset,hopefully that frees a spot for a non SEC team in the Bowl Championship Series.
urbanleftbehind (3481ed) — 10/12/2019 @ 12:55 pmWhat sad Dave, is a 77 year old Dick Butkus, who had a statue near Memorial Stadium dedicated to him this weekend, would probably be a starter on this Illini squad. One could also say that the Atlanta Braves should look at Fighting Illini athletics and the lack of interest thereof as cautionary in re dropping the Chop.
urbanleftbehind (3481ed) — 10/12/2019 @ 12:58 pmOU beat Texas. I’d rather Texas win twice each year but that won’t happen for awhile since OU is better (for now), so we’ll split this year. That’s better anyway.
DRJ (15874d) — 10/12/2019 @ 1:01 pmMichigan jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first half, before surrendering 25 unanswered points as the Illini mounted a gutsy comeback under a second string QB to make the game 28-25. The Maize & Blue closed out with two 4th quarter touchdowns, but consistency continues to elude them.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 1:43 pmAggies staying within striking distance of Alabama…win one for the Beldar!
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 1:47 pmBeldar is a Longhorn, Dave, but gig’em Aggies.
DRJ (15874d) — 10/12/2019 @ 1:49 pmD’oh! I’ve committed a mortal sin…
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 2:04 pmI am a Golden Gopher alum. Dumbest nickname of all time. My dad and uncle used to pay us to trap the gophers on the golf course. A nickel/gopher.
mg (8cbc69) — 10/12/2019 @ 2:32 pmHeh, you wish!
When I first moved to Laguna Beach, their high school teams’ nickname was “The Artists”. Talk about inspiring fear in the opponents! (They have since changed it to “The Breakers”).
And UC Irvine teams are “The Anteaters”. ZOT!
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 2:47 pmAnteaters is highbrow compared to the Banana Slugs
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/12/2019 @ 2:54 pm24… back in the day when I played b-ball in high school Laguna Beach was in our league. They were just terrible, we’d beat ‘em with scores like 84 to 26… I think they were more into getting high and surfing back then, I’m sure they’ve improved.
We found a great place for tapas when we stay in our timeshare in LB… K’ya Bistro. Just outstanding!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/12/2019 @ 3:01 pmLaguna Beach has always had exceptional girls tennis, water polo and volleyball teams
steveg (354706) — 10/12/2019 @ 4:59 pmWhen they’d play at SBHS none of us cared what the school nickname was
My high school teams were the Indians and my college teams the Illini (that was an Indian confederation), so Happy Columbus Day, indigenes!
nk (dbc370) — 10/12/2019 @ 5:12 pm…the original ethnic pander holiday!! square heads and Klansman, disappointed that a southern European catholic would have his day, wanted FDR to reschedule and rename to Leif Ericsson Day.
urbanleftbehind (3481ed) — 10/12/2019 @ 5:19 pmThey still are the Indians and they still make/allow the headdress logo on varsity jackets.
urbanleftbehind (3481ed) — 10/12/2019 @ 5:21 pm27… seal beach HS?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/12/2019 @ 5:22 pmThat’s 3 blocks from where I lived, but I never heard of the place…
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 8:06 pmAll I know about LBHS is what I’ve gleaned from my friends’ two kids. From talking to, and occasionally tutoring them, it sounds like the academics are top-notch. I think LBHS might be a bit smaller than some of the nearby “unified school districts”, which could affect their athletic competitiveness.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/12/2019 @ 8:14 pmI’m a BYU grad. BYU used to be consistently good in football. No more. Our loss today makes us 2-4 on the year. It’s frustrating being a fan. Just recently I heard about a stupid rule BYU has: the head coach must be a Mormon. Therefore, the only hope is that after the current coach is fired, Kyle Whittingham will leave the University of Utah (BYU’s archrival) to coach at BYU, or that Andy Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, will leave a Super Bowl contending NFL team, to coach a college team. Chance of either happening? Nil. We’re so screwed.
norcal (eec1aa) — 10/12/2019 @ 11:30 pmI really don’t follow college football very much, except when a team from Texas is playing for a championship. Hey, go UT! Go TCU! A&M, forget about it.
OU and UT have a rivalry that goes way back. It was known as the Red River Battle. Every year the Raiders would come to Austin and beat the Longhorns. That was back when Barry Switzer was their head coach, and those were some intense games. (This is why when Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson and hired Barry Switzer, a lot of Cowboys fans considered it the ultimate betrayal, because Switzer was the most hated college coach in the state. He did win a Super Bowl though, and that did somewhat alleviate the grievance, but not much as Dallas hasn’t won since.)
So it’s good to see that rivalry is still strong. And it’s not surprising that the Raiders came across the Red River and beat the Longhorns, in the Cotton Bowl no less. That’s what they do. It just makes the next game that much more meaningful.
Still, the OU-UT rivalry is nothing compared to what the UT-A&M rivalry used to be. Back in the day, that was the game. The Longhorns and the Aggies played twice a year, and the hatred bewtween the two was unparalleled in the college ranks. I’m talking about visceral hatred here.
Few know that the reason why the Longhorns’ mascot is named BEVO is because on year A&M beat UT 13-0, and the Aggies kidnapped our bull and branded the score on its side. Not to be outdone, the Longhorns then rebranded 13-0 as BEVO.
That wasn’t the worst of it. The Aggies once kidnapped BEVO after a victory, slaughtered, barbequed, and ate him. I was an undergraduate when a couple of seniors extracted their revenge. Yeah, these guys snuck over to College Station and kidnapped Reveille, the A&M’s terrier mascot. The Aggies threw a fit, called the FBI, threatened the Longhorns with animal cruelty.
Animal cruelty? You slaughtered and ate our bull! Here’s your little rat-dog back, safe and sound. We could have barbequed him, but we don’t care much for dog meat. That was funny.
Still, nothing exemplifies the UT-A&M rivalry more than the Chicken Ranch. It was a brothel outside of La Grange halfway between Austin and College Station. ZZ Top wrote a song about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vppbdf-qtGU
For decades the deal was that when the Longhorns played the Aggies, the loser’s had to pay for the winner’s trip to La Grange. The thing was that the young girls who worked in this brothel were college students from UT and A&M. So the winning team got to have sex with the losing teams coeds, paid for by the losing team. It was commonly known and widely accepted, but then that’s college football, in Texas at the time anyway.
The Chicken Ranch was shut down in the early 80s. A&M switched to another conference years later, so there is no more rivalry. UT and A&M don’t play each other twice a year. They don’t play against each other at all now. Exactly what is the rivalry between the Aggies and the Crimson Time? It’s not much, nascent at best, but Alabama certainly took care of business. So did Oklahoma.
Oh, for the old days. When UT vs A&M meant something. OU vs UT still means something, but A&M vs. Alabama?
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 10/13/2019 @ 10:36 amThis is a California blog but there are a few Longhorns here — you, me, Beldar, maybe more. I think it is because Patterico is from Texas, attended UT Law, and he sometimes blogs about Texas topics. That is why I found this blog.
DRJ (15874d) — 10/13/2019 @ 10:58 am