Week 7 Review and 3 Games

The first BCS Standings are out, what does it mean.  Really nothing, as it has been pointed out many times this weekend, it is the first of many BCS Standings.  A lot will happen that will alter the national scope.  But one thing remains, the three teams at the top (though they struggled this past weekend) still won.  Bottom line, those three control their own destiny.

THREE THINGS I LEARNED THIS WEEK

1.  Florida is not out of the woods yet in the SEC.  Arkansas has improved immensely since they got a drubbing by Alabama, however, Florida has got to find some offense outside of Tim Tebow.  Without #15, Florida has no threatening offense, and that is a MAJOR problem if they go up against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

2.  Alabama needs to read #1.  For some reason the offense has hit a major wall.  Greg McElroy has got to regain some semblance of continuity at the QB position, not because he has to be good, but he has to be good enough to get Alabama’s offense back to the great balance it once had, when it was very effective.  Florida’s defense is just as good, and Alabama will have problems if McElroy becomes a problem.

3.  The Big Ten needs to be concerned.  Iowa can do all it can, but the chance of them going undefeated and not getting to the National Championship Game, looks pretty good.  Whether it is a statement that Iowa isn’t that good, or that the Big Ten still is light years behind the rest of college football, I don’t know.  However, Iowa fans need these undefeated teams to lose in order for them to have a chance at the national championship.

3 GAMES TO WATCH

BIGGEST GAME

#8 TCU at #16 BYU – Saturday, October 24 – Versus – 7:30 pm EST

This is a monster game for both teams.  The winner puts themselves in a fantastic position if Boise is to falter at any point this season, also the winner is in the driver’s seat in the Mountain West Conference.  This is a tough game to predict, because both of these teams are “battle tested”, but the one thing that makes me lean towards the Horned Frogs, is that TCU won all the games they played.  BYU’s biggest win, over Oklahoma, is still in dispute over whether BYU would have won if Sam Bradford would not have gotten injured.  But, with that said, BYU has played in more primetime games this year and more importantly this game is in Provo.  ESPN Gameday will be there, the atmosphere will be great, and thus I’m giving the nod to the Cougars.

BYU 28  TCU 24

MOST INTRIGUING GAME

Tennessee at #2 Alabama – Saturday, October 24 – CBS – 3:30 pm EST

For those that don’t have the privilege of knowing the history of college football in the South, this is probably one of the more heated rivalries in college football.  This game got all the more personal when former Alabama assistant Lance Thompson left for Lane Kiffin’s Volunteers.  Then Kiffin and Thompson have made some statements about how Thompson was the reason for Alabama’s #1 recruiting classes, and that Nick Saban wouldn’t get any more players out of Memphis.  You get the story.  This game is all the more intriguing because of Alabama’s offensive play in recent games.  With Tennessee’s defense being one of the more stronger defenses in the SEC, and Jonathan Crompton’s awakening against Georgia, this game will be closer than what people think.  However, the game is in Tuscaloosa, it is a rivalry game, Alabama will not overlook Tennessee, and thus the Tide will roll over the Volunteers, but look for the game to be like last week’s against South Carolina.

ALABAMA 21  TENNESSEE 14

UPSET ALERT

Connecticut at #24 West Virginia – Saturday, October 24 – ESPNU – 12:00 pm EST

First off my condolences to the Huskies after the horrific events surrounding Japser Howard.  Connecticut’s two loses this year are to a combined 5 points.  They are far more battle tested than West Virginia, who hasn’t really impressed anyone this year.  I think Connecticut will play with a lot of emotion and I think they will come away with the victory in Morgantown and with the win stay alive in the Big East race, one game behind Cincinnati.

Questions, comments, concerns, email me at alleningamenow@gmail.com.