Championship Saturday

I vowed to stop talking about college football last week but it makes up so much of the news right now. With the NBA not on television enough and college hoops not yet into conference season football is still the king. Especially this weekend.

This game hasn't gottne a lot of pub but Army/Navy is still one of the best shows in sports. To see the Midshipmen and the Cadets enter the stadium is a great scene. The game hasn't been much of a rivalry lately, Army hasn't won since 2001 when my high school teammate Ardell Daniels was the player of the game. Even worse, the games haven't even been that close. It would be good for the rivalry if the Cadets won but I don't see it happening. Navy will beat them by at least ten.

UCF opened their new stadium Bright House Networks Field this year and after a 9-3 season they get to host the C-USA Championship Game against Tulsa. Kevin Smith is still running wild for the Knights and today he will need to keep doing so to keep the ball from offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's powerful offense. Malzahn, the former OC at Arkansas has engineered Tulsa to the number one total offense in the country. The only problem is their defense is also 112th. Smith already has over 2000 yards and will run the Knights to victory.

Virginia Tech and Boston College have a rematch in Jacksonville to decide the ACC Championship. BC won the first time in the much watched Thursday night game as Matt Ryan brought BC back at the end to win 14-10. It rained in Blacksburg the last time but at a neutral site with better weather I expect Matty Ice to lead BC to another victory and this time by a larger margin.

Tennssee and LSU mixed it up in the SEC Championship Game and the question of the day is will LSU be prepared enough to win? Les Miles has been reported to be leaving for Michigan and D-Coordinator Bo Pelini has been rumored to Nebraska. I thought LSU was the most talented team this season but injuries and two triple overtime losses have kept them from being in a spot to go to the BCS Championship Game. LSU is even starting Ryan Perriloux at quarterback. If an upset happens today this is the game where it will happen. LSU has too many distractions and not enough to play for and UT will beat LSU without overtime.

In the Pac-10, instead of having a championship game they have their teams play an extra conference game. Today all of their big rivalries take place with the Civil War (Oregon-Oregon St.), the Big Game (Cal-Stanford), USC vs UCLA, and Arizona vs Arizona St. Oregon is playing their third and fourth string quarterbacks today as both Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf are both injured. That being said the game is being played at Oregon and with the emotions of a rivalry I think Oregon will pull off the win. It's been 25 years since the band ran on the field but Cal won't need to lateral the ball at all today and will beat Stanford by at least two touchdowns. As hard to believe as it is UCLA still has a chance to get to the Rose Bowl. With a win today and an Arizona St. loss, UCLA will make the Rose Bowl. However, USC is playing like one of the top teams in the country again and with the game played in the Coliseum UCLA won't upset the Trojans like last year. As far as Arizona St. and Arizona go, the Sun Devils still have a chance to make the Rose Bowl with a loss by USC. The Sun Devils will get a win but as I said before USC won't lose. ASU can still get an at large berth into the BCS with a win.

If you want to stay up until 2 this morning Hawaii continues their quest to crash the BCS against Washington. With quarterback Jake Locker still hurt the Huskies are going to have to hope they can score with the Warriors all game. Colt Brennan and his teammates are ready to contiune the WAC tradtion of getting to the BCS and the Huskies don't have a chance.

Lastly the Big 12 championship. Oklahoma won the last time in a game that they blew open in the fourth quarter. Last time the game was played in Norman and this time it will be played in San Antoinio with about a 50-50 crowd. Chase Daniel has a last chance to impress the Heisman voters tonight with a big game. Since losing to OU the first time Mizzou has been lights out. Daniel has thrown 17 touchdowns with only three picks since the last game. Freshman Jeremy Maclin could be the X-factor with a big special teams play on a return. All that being said, I'm still picking OU for one major reason http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/2007/1203.html - COVER JINX.