This weeks set of games have a potential to shake up the top of the college football polls and could effect the BCS bowl picture. With the long weekend slate of games lets get down to the games.
All times are mountain.
No. 2 Auburn Tigers at No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide (Friday 12:30 p.m. CBS)
The Iron bowl is always a tough game for either squad and the first quasi-surprise is that Alabama is a four point favorite over Auburn. Auburn has everything on the line with hopes for a BCS title and a Heisman Trophy while Alabama will come in loose for this game, but they still will have to play their best to win this game. That is what makes this Iron Bowl the biggest ever for Auburn. Alabama will need to find a way to slow down Cam Newton to have a chance which will be tough.
No. 21 Arizona Wildcats at No. 1 Oregon Ducks (Friday, ESPN 5 p.m.)
Arizona can dash Oregon's national title hopes again just like in 2007 when Dennis Dixon went down with a torn ACL in the desert. To the actual game itself we know that Oregon is a fast offense which had Cal faking injuries, but is the Oregon offense too fast. Arizona will need to play perfect to pull off the upset on offense and defense and while the Oregon offense is good and will score, Arizona will need to force some turnovers to win this game. Plus, bleeding the clock is something Arizona will also need to do to keep LaMichael James and others off the field.
No. 4 Boise State Broncos at No. 16 Nevada Wolfpack (Friday, ESPN 8:15 p.m.)
This is the game people want to see, so they better stay up for the later kick time. By all accounts a Boise win will put them third in the BCS and in line to replace Oregon or Auburn for the BCS title if one of the two falter. Both teams have a great offense, but only Boise State has a great defense. Just look at what Boise State did to Hawai'i who carved apart a USC secondary, but was completely shutdown against Boise State.
For Nevada to pull off this upset they will need to first off try to keep up with Boise State's offense, but similar to what Arizona must do which is to try to force turnovers and hold the ball away from Boise State.
No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners at No. 9 Oklahoma State Cowboys (ABC 6 p.m.)
This game will decide who gets to go to the Big XII title game to take on Nebraska. Oklahoma State has their best team ever and will have to get past their rival Oklahoma to get to their first ever Big XII title game. The Cowboy offense was not to be this good, but it is even better then last year and the big reason is because All-American weapons Kendall Hunter and Justin Blackmon have gone over 100 rushing and receiving yards eight times this year. A fun look at this game from Cowboys Ride For Free put together a translator guide for Oklahoma smack talk.
No. 5 LSU Tigers at No. 12 Arkansas Razorbacks (CBS 1:30 p.m.)
This game has importance for the non-AQ at-large bowl birth. A LSU loss hear means that they are basically eliminated from being selected as the second SEC team and gives Boise State or TCU a much better shot at going to a BCS game. LSU is a good team but very sporadic with a good defense. Look for Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallet to be able to pick apart the LSU defense for the most part. His arm will be the deciding factor in who wins this game.
There you have the most important games this week regarding the BCS. For those unaware TCU does play lowly New Mexico on Versus with a 2 p.m. mountain kick off and TCU should roll. Enjoy the turkey and especially enjoy these games.