With this Saturday being the first one in November, it's hard to believe we're coming around the home stretch already! With half the Top 10 idle, waiting for big games in Week 11, several games could be considered "under the radar". Here are my five weekly picks...trying to avoid the obvious ones (Michigan-Mich St, Florida-Georgia, and the biggie Miami-FSU).
1. Northwestern at Nebraska. I remember watching ESPN Gameday at the beginning of October, excitement all around, and a good game against Ohio State that the Wildcats came so close to winning. Now, 4 losses later, it's possible the boys in purple don't even go to a bowl game. However, given Nebraska's loss to Minnesota this past weekend, I'm forced to reconsider that last statement. With the on-and-off comments about Bo Pelini swirling this season, could Northwestern salvage its season - and possibly keep the Cornhuskers going into a slide of its own?
2. Nevada at Fresno State. November is upon us, and a BCS-busting effort is on the line. As in years past, Nevada finds itself on the other side. In 2006, Boise was able to defeat the Wolfpack late in the season to clinch a BCS bowl spot...in 2010 the Broncos weren't so fortunate. At least this game's in Fresno and not Reno...but with a few close games already, the Bulldogs have little margin for error. As a little bonus to the "other" FSU...a Nevada upset over a strong Fresno team could give a small boost to the Seminoles' strength of schedule, with Florida State having demolished Nevada in Week 2.
3. Clemson at Virginia. Clemson's good, despite the FSU loss, and the term "Clemsoning" has been declared archaic by Rece Davis and the crew. Plus, UVA flat-out sucks this year. Why could this game possibly matter? Well, it's really more about UVA's ability to come out of nowhere around this time of year and stun a team on its way to something good (Miami last year, FSU in 2011, Miami again in 2010). As long as the Tigers continue to show that "Clemsoning" is indeed extinct, this game should be an easy Clemson blowout, and the FSU game could end up just being a statement of how great the Seminoles are.
4. Navy at Notre Dame. This Notre Dame team has a feel of the one from 2009, but with a clearly superior head coach who's quietly got the Irish working toward another BCS bowl. Four years ago, the Irish began Game #9 with 2 losses and a favorable season-ending stretch. The end result: four straight losses to end the season - and Charlie Weis's tenure - beginning with Navy. Perhaps Navy can pull off the upset again, sending Brian Kelly and company into another skid. But if the Irish prevail, and I predict they do, then they could end up in a season-ending battle at Stanford that could determine who finishes 10-2 and in line for an at-large BCS Bowl.
5. Colorado at UCLA. Similar to Clemson-UVA above, there's a sizeable disparity between these two teams. However, I look back to Washington a few weeks ago - after losses to Stanford and Oregon in consecutive weeks, the Huskies were simply too gassed and found themselves at the wrong end of a convincing loss to Arizona State. If UCLA wants to avoid a similar fate, and move toward a potential showdown of its own with the Sun Devils for the PAC-12 South crown, the Bruins had better regroup fast (and, on the bright side, I suspect the Bruins do).
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