Thanksgiving means football, and TV is giving us a lot of it. Plenty on the line for most teams, whether it's BCS hopes, conference championship berths, or just bragging rights. When your favorite team isn't on, be ready to flip between several channels. This is the biggest week of the season.
Thursday Night, Thanksgiving
8 PM:
Texas at Texas A&M, ESPN. The final edition of this century plus old rivalry for the time being. With A&M departing for the SEC next year, this matchup has to be put on hold (or so the athletic directors say, something about full non-conference schedules). Still, it's two Texas schools on Thanksgiving night.
Black Friday
2:30 PM:
Arkansas at LSU, CBS. This game could determine who plays in both the SEC title game and the National Championship. And it might not be as simple as who wins or who loses.
3:30 PM:
Boston College at Miami, ABC. A completely meaningless ACC matchup, as neither team is even going to a bowl. But, people are still talking about the Doug Flutie edition of this matchup from 1984. People do realize that the majority of college football players were still a few years away from being born when that game was played, right?
7 PM:
Pitt at West Virginia, ESPN. Could this be the last Backyard Brawl? Both teams want out of the Big East, and if WVU gets it way, at least one of them could be gone next year. Would they be able to keep it up in different conferences? Regardless, this year's game should stand on its own. It's always ugly, and both sides always play hard. Pitt could be knocked out of contention with a loss, or they could screw up WVU's chances if they win.
Saturday
Noon:
Iowa State at Oklahoma, FX. A week ago, I would have completely overlooked this game. But Iowa State is dangerous. And Oklahoma needs the win to stay alive in their conference. Otherwise, they give it to Oklahoma State.
Georgia at Georgia Tech, ESPN. The first of four ACC-SEC rivalry matches. Could the ACC make a strong showing and put up a winning record? Georgia is the strongest SEC team in these matchups, so it would give the ACC a little of the respect it's been looking for the past few years.
Ohio State at Michigan, ABC. It's been moved from it's traditional place from the pre-Thanksgiving weekend, but it doesn't have any bearing on the conference championship as it has in previous years. Still, always a hard fought game, even moreso now that Michigan has a good coach.
3:30 PM:
Alabama at Auburn, CBS. Always a tough in-state matchup. Auburn's got nothing to fight for other than pride and the ability to royally screw up Alabama's season. But, Alabama is still holding on to a chance for the SEC and BCS title games, but needs a win. Plus, they're probably pissed from how last year's game went.
Virginia Tech at Virginia, ABC/ESPN2. My personal game of the week. Everything is on the line here. The winner goes to the ACC title game. VT is #5, and in a completely surprising twist of events, could be an upset or two away from the BCS title game. VT has also won 7 straight against UVA, and has no intention of ending that streak now. But UVA is having their best season since 2007, when this matchup also was a virtual divisional championship. Tech won that game in Charlottesville.
Oregon State at Oregon, ABC/ESPN2. Oregon wants to bounce back from last week's loss, which kept them from locking up the Pac-12 North. A win here can clench it. But, lowly Oregon State can completely screw their rival's season, and give that berth to Stanford.
Penn State at Wisconsin, ESPN. Winner goes to the Big Ten championship. Can Penn State go for 2 without Paterno?
Duke at North Carolina, ESPN3. Oh wait, this is football, so this game has absolutely no meaning.
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, ESPNU. The second of the ACC-SEC matchups. Probably an evenly matched game between two teams near the bottom of their conference, but who started off strong. Although, Vandy is looking for bowl eligibility, while WF has it.
7 PM:
Florida State at Florida, ESPN2. Another ACC-SEC matchup. Could be a huge rebound for a FSU team devistated by last week's loss to UVA.
7:45 PM:
Clemson at South Carolina, ESPN. The final ACC-SEC matchup. Clemson needs to rebound from losing to NC State, and needs some momentum going into the ACC title game.
8 PM:
Notre Dame at Stanford, ABC. Both teams are looking for a signature win to improve their bowl chances.
10 PM:
UCLA at USC. This could have been winner take all for the Pac-12 South. Instead, it's just UCLA trying to stay alive and maybe win the division. I'm not sure where this game might be broadcast; ESPN didn't have it listed on their site.
That's a huge weekend. Have fun!
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