"A slobber-knocker" of a weekend.

[DKW 86 7,425]

http://www.al.com/sports/mobileregister/th....xml&coll=3

Big games fill up schedule

Monday, September 11, 2006

If you aren't a college football fan but have considered joining the club, this is the week to pay your membership dues.

If you have a honey-do list of chores around the house, get those knocked out tonight through Friday.

If relatives have said they may drop in this weekend, encourage them to pick another time.

If you have friends getting married, deliver the gift personally this week and wish them all the happiness in the world, but inform them "something has come up" and you won't be able to make it to the nuptials.

If your spouse isn't a college football fan, give him or her the day off Saturday -- maybe even give them the credit card and tell them to have a nice day, but to enjoy themselves somewhere other than the den.

Turn off your cell phone and unplug the regular phone. Have the pizza delivery number nearby and make sure to stock up on your favorite beverages by Friday.

Asked what game he would be covering this week, Matt Hayes, the college football editor for The Sporting News who attended the Ohio State-Texas game over the weekend, said he would be found in his easy chair in his living room. "There are too many great games to see," he said. "I'm going to watch as much of every one of them as I can."

It's a good plan. Go ahead and print out a copy of this week's top 25 poll and hang it in your office or on the door to your closet. Then next week at this same time, take that copy of the top 25 and compare it to the poll after this weekend's games. You will notice a lot of changes.

There's no way around it. Start in the SEC, where No. 3 Auburn entertains No. 6 LSU in what many believe will be the West Division championship game. Then there's No. 9 Florida at No. 13 Tennessee, which is always entertaining.

While No. 1 Ohio State has the weekend off (it has a home game against Cincinnati), No. 2 Notre Dame plays host to No. 11 Michigan. You can bet there are suddenly a lot of Wolverine fans in Auburn, as well as LSU, Southern Cal, West Virginia and any other team with aspirations of moving into a position to earn a BCS national championship game berth.

Everyone knows if the Irish remain unbeaten, one of the spots is already gone. And if Ohio State remains unbeaten, it probably won't matter what anyone else does, which can't be good news in Auburn where that particular show didn't play well the first time in 2004.

Those are just the highlights. There are four more matchups involving top 25 teams this weekend -- No. 19 Nebraska heads to No. 4 Southern Cal, No. 17 Miami invades No. 12 Louisville, No. 15 Oklahoma travels to No. 18 Oregon (home of the worst uniforms in college football) and No. 24 Texas Tech visits No. 20 TCU. There's another almost top 25 matchup with No. 26 Clemson and head coach Tommy Bowden heading to No. 9 Florida State to face Tommy's dad's team.

Other interesting games involving top 25 teams finds Maryland at No. 5 West Virginia on Thursday, No. 16 Iowa entertaining in-state rival Iowa State and No. 23 Boston College at home against BYU.

Rounding out the schedule will be UAB at No. 10 Georgia, Duke at No. 14 Virginia Tech, Youngstown State at No. 25 Penn State, Portland State at No. 21 Cal and No. 8 Texas at Rice.

LSU's visit to Auburn may be the best game of the day. Both teams have played well thus far and both recognize the significance of the game. The winner of the game has represented the West in the SEC title game the past three years and in 2003 and 2004 the winner fashioned an undefeated season. Last year's game, a 20-17 overtime win by LSU, was one of the season's best games regardless of conference.

Just three weeks into the season it will feel as though it is the final week of the regular season. There is a lot to gain with a win for several teams this week -- and an awful lot to lose. This weekend's games are testament to the statement slogan "Every game matters."

Tighten up your chin strap, it's going to be, in the words of Tommy Tuberville, "a slobber-knocker" of a weekend.

[wesfau 0]

LSU's visit to Auburn may be the best game of the day. Both teams have played well thus far and both recognize the significance of the game. The winner of the game has represented the West in the SEC title game the past three years and in 2003 and 2004 the winner fashioned an undefeated season. Last year's game, a 20-17 overtime win by LSU, was one of the season's best games regardless of conference.

Didn't LSU lose to UF in '03?

[Draven 0]

LSU's visit to Auburn may be the best game of the day. Both teams have played well thus far and both recognize the significance of the game. The winner of the game has represented the West in the SEC title game the past three years and in 2003 and 2004 the winner fashioned an undefeated season. Last year's game, a 20-17 overtime win by LSU, was one of the season's best games regardless of conference.

Didn't LSU lose to UF in '03?

Yes 19-7 in Baton Rouge.

[AuNuma1 1]

Yes 19-7 in Baton Rouge.

See, don't let those cajuns come over here and start threads about how they don't get any respect.

Make it to the MNC game WITH a home loss and still want to b!tch about media respect...ha! I hope we beat them mercilessly this weekend.

[HOU_AU_90 0]

that is one of the things that really bugs me about the bcs. lsu gets SPANKED AT HOME (i mean man-handled to no end) in 2003 and au goes undefeated in 2004 and lsu wins the mnc and au doesn't even get to play for it. it's a joke that they can consider their 2003 season better than our 2004 season when they got DOMINATED at home.