Weekend Watchers

It’s that time again, time for another big football weekend. Last week we had some good NFL and College football games, and this week will be no different. Let’s take a look at some of this weeks key match-ups.

College
#8 Oregon @ Stanford: Oregon is coming off an impressive win over USC. The Ducks put up 613 total yards against the Trojan’s 16th ranked defense. 386 of those yards amazingly came from starting QB, Jeremiah Masoli. That win moved the Ducks to 8th in the BCS standings and into sole possession of the PAC-10. Could a let down really happen just one week later? The Stanford Cardinals are coming off a bye and have been much improved this year. They are looking to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2001. With that extra motivation, Harbaugh should have his team well prepared to face those Ducks. FSN 3:30pm

#16 Ohio State @ #11 Penn State: This game is huge. Both teams are 4-1 in the Big Ten and this game will determine who will be in second place. Second place, who wants second place? Well, look at it like this … For Ohio State, who plays Iowa next week, if they win Saturday and then beat Iowa, then they’re headed to the Rose Bowl. With Pryor struggling most of the year and a coach under scrutiny because of it, a Rose Bowl bid would silence the dogs. For Penn State, if they win Saturday and if Iowa wins out and gets into the National Championship Game, then they would be in line for a Rose Bowl bid with just Indiana and a struggling Michigan State left on their schedule. I think this is a much see. ABC 3:30pm

#9 LSU @ #3 Alabama: What’s new, another big-time SEC match-up! With Florida at 8-0 overall and atop the SEC East, Alabama is trying to keep pace with the Gators in order to face them in the SEC title game and earn a trip to the BCS title game. Before they can face the Gators, they have to tame the Tigers of LSU. LSU has played good this year but has one blemish on their record, a loss against Florida. With a win this week LSU could possibly look forward to a rematch against those same Gators in the SEC title game. If LSU wins out, including a win in the SEC title game, with a win against two top five teams, then they would surely be headed to the National Championship Game. CBS 3:30pm

*Note-As you can see, with these games in the same time slot, a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings might be necessary.

NFL
Ravens @ Bengals: Coming off the bye week, the first place Cincinnati Bengals are still feeling pretty good after their impressive 45-10 stomping of the Chicago Bears. More importantly, at 3-0 in the division, the Bengals look to remain undefeated in the division and stay atop the AFC North all by themselves. A win this week would also give the Bengals the tiebreaker over the Ravens, while a loss for the Ravens would put them two games out of first place. The Ravens need this game. After snapping their three game losing streak last week against the previously undefeated Broncos, the Ravens must continue to play better. After playing great the first few weeks of the season, they hadn’t played as good since. With a win this week and a Pittsburgh loss on MNF, the Ravens would be in a three-way tie for first place and back in the driver seat. CBS 1pm

Cowboys @ Eagles: Great Sunday Night Match-up. The 100th meeting (including playoffs) between these two teams, and oh yea by the way, this is a battle for first place. Both teams struggled early into the season. The Cowboys started 2-2, but after their bye week they’ve had two impressive wins, one against the Falcons (37-21) and the other against the Seahawks (38-17). The Eagles had to make it through the injury of Donovan McNabb and recover from an embarrassing loss to the Oakland Raiders. McNabb seems to be back on track after throwing for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week’s game against the Giants. Both teams are ready. This looks to be an exciting game. Sunday Night Football-NBC 8:20pm

Steelers @ Broncos: After last week’s great Monday Night match-up, it looks like we are in store for another one. The 5-2 Steelers go to Denver to face the 6-1 Broncos. After starting off slow, the Steelers are trying to go for their fifth straight win and snap a three game slide against the Broncos. A win would keep them within striking distance of the Bengals, who are currently in first place. The Broncos have played great all season but didn’t look good last week, suffering their first loss of the season. A rushing defense that gives up just 86.1 yards a game, gave up 125 yards last week and now has to face Rashard Mendenhall, who is having a pretty good year rushing. This should be a real good game. Both coaches are familiar with each others philosophies. Plus Tomlin and the Steelers are coming off a bye, and had two weeks to look at tape and dissect the Broncos. Monday Night Football- ESPN 8:30pm


*Extra Note-I'm looking for a new, exciting, and unique title name for my weekend watchers post. Please leave some suggestions in your comments. Thanks!