The bowl season will kick off on December 17 with three games scheduled. LSU and Alabama will conclude things on January 9, when the two SEC schools battle for the national championship in New Orleans. A total of 35 bowl games are on tap this season with the usual chorus of people calling for a playoff system again this year.

National Championship

Alabama barely edged out Oklahoma State to win a rematch against LSU and an opportunity to be crowned national champion with a win next month. There are a lot of other teams that have had to settle for lesser bowls in addition to quite a few 6-6 teams that are going bowling.

Perhaps one of the most surprising and disappointing bowl match ups is the Gator Bowl, a Jan. 2 contest in Jacksonville, Florida, pitting a pair of 6-6 teams: Ohio State and Florida. In any other season, both teams would be desirable participants, but this year each team finished with losing records in their respective conferences. Oh, how the once mighty Gator Bowl has fallen!

Minor Bowls, Big Names

Some of the “lesser” bowls will have greater appeal this year, as each has attracted one or more participants that will spice things up. The Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 21 has 10-2 TCU and the following day 11-1 Boise State will play in the Las Vegas Bowl. Both teams clearly are strong enough to play in higher tier bowls, but because each one hails from the Mountain West Conference, they must be content with the non-BCS games.

Southern Miss leveled Houston on Saturday to win the Conference USA championship, but will have to “settle” for a Christmas Eve engagement in Honolulu against Nevada. Houston, due to its higher year-end ranking and 12-1 record, gets to play 9-3 Penn State on Jan. 2 in the TicketCity Bowl up in Dallas. Not the best venue for either team, but at least the game is held on an extended holiday weekend day.

The Baylor Bears has one of the best players in the nation, QB Robert Griffin III, a Heisman hopeful. Griffin has passed for 3,998 yards and 36 touchdowns on the year and will showcase his talents on Dec. 29 at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio against Washington. The Bears, once the doormat of the Big 8/12 conference have proven themselves to be one of the most interesting teams in the country. This game gets a Thursday evening audience, but should attract a solid following regardless of whether Griffin is awarded the Heisman.

Undeserved Teams

With USC not eligible for a bowl game, UCLA took the Pac 12 conference’s final spot and will play Illinois on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco for the “Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.” Illinois started the season at 6-0, but lost its last six games. UCLA finished at 6-7 and needed special permission from the NCAA to appear in the post season with a losing record. USC won the Pac 12 South championship because USC was deemed ineligible for the post season. That championship led the NCAA to rule on favor of the Bruins. Whoever said that the bowl system is not broken is cracked!

Besides these two schools which demonstrate how teams can back into a bowl game, there will be some other suspect teams playing in the post season. Ohio State and Florida are two others and a case could be made that Pittsburgh is another 6-6 team that hardly deserves a shot at another game. Some might question Iowa State’s appearance at the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium against Rutgers on Dec. 29, but the Cyclones did manage to mess up the season for Oklahoma State with its double overtime victory over the Cowboys on Nov. 18. Despite losing its next two games, the Cyclones are in and will head to New York City to face the Scarlet Knights.

Bowl Predictions

We said last week that we would offer our predictions for all of the bowl games, but have decided to amend that list to include only those games we think will matter most to football fans beyond the participating schools themselves.

To that end we see the following scenario unfolding:

• Houston will rebound and knock off Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl.
• Georgia will hold off Michigan State in the Outback Bowl.
• South Carolina should beat Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.
• Wisconsin and Oregon tangle in the Rose Bowl. We think the Badgers will edge the Ducks.
• West Virginia will stay even with Clemson for three quarters, but the Tigers will pounce and win late.
• Arkansas will easily handle Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.
• As for the national championship, this game is for LSU to lose. If the Tigers make mistakes, then the Crimson Tide will win. Look for more points than the 9 to 6 LSU win on November 5 too. In this contest, we’re going with the Tide in a minor upset.

Happy bowling!

The next to last full weekend of college football looms with many of the top teams enjoying games against lesser opponents, teams which should present no problem for them. That is, unless they’re looking ahead to conference championship games and dreaming about bowl opportunities. Lose at this point in the season and most teams will have to lower their expectations come bowl season.

PSU Scandal

This past week the biggest news was about Penn State and that program’s fall from grace. The child molestation scandal involving a former coach, Jerry Sandusky, isn’t going away but the Nittany Lions aren’t either. They’ll be traveling to Ohio State on Saturday in a bid to remain on top of the Leaders division and to secure a place in the first-ever Big Ten championship game. Winning at Ohio State will be difficult enough for Penn State which trails in this series with 12 wins to the Buckeyes 13 victories.

Virginia Tech, ranked #8 in the nation, continues to win following its 23-3 loss at home against Clemson on Oct. 1. The UNC Tarheels come to town, a team that may be bowl eligible, but needs a signature win to avoid getting sent to a low-tier bowl. The Hokies are ripe for the taking, but very much aware that destiny hangs in the balance. And, David Teel reminds his readers that two years ago the Tarheels shocked #14 V.T. at home.

Cowboy Nation

If #2 Oklahoma State wins out, they’ll be facing off against LSU for the BCS championship in January. Of course, they still have to beat Iowa State on Saturday and beat Oklahoma on Dec. 3 before that can be assured of playing for the title. Lose one game or play terribly against Iowa State this weekend, but still win, and they could slip in the polls.

South Carolina is ranked #12 and still has a good shot at a BCS bowl game with FCS Citadel at home this week, one week before it hosts in-state rival and #7 ranked Clemson. The Gamecocks finished 6-2 in the SEC and are a half game behind Georgia whom they beat early this season. Clemson, by the way, travels to Raleigh to take on NC State, a 5-5 team that must win to get to a bowl. Guess who’ll be priming for an upset this Saturday?

High Tide

Alabama won’t be looking ahead on Saturday as the #3 Crimson Tide hosts Georgia Southern, one of the best FCS teams in the nation. Alabama is just waiting for someone to slip up in a bid to have second shot at LSU. Auburn looms next week, last year’s national champion with nothing to lose, but a spoiler opportunity available.

The top scoring team in the nation is the #11 Houston Cougars, a team that will be hosting upset-minded SMU on Saturday. Keep winning and the Cougars will face off against #20 Southern Miss in December for the Conference USA championship. Houston will likely be a bowl buster too, securing an at-large bid even if they don’t move up in the polls over the coming weeks. Who would have thought that a Conference USA team would be ranked so high this season? Jason Starret warns that Tulsa next week could be the fly in the Cougar’s ointment.

LSU Rocks

Playing 2-8 Ole Miss on the road shouldn’t present a problem for the top-ranked LSU Tigers who will have just six days to prepare for #6 Arkansas, a team that would like to win out and secure a January bowl. Unless the Tigers become overconfident notes Glenn Guilbeau.

Boise State, now ranked #10 following its 1-point loss to TCU at home last weekend, will play at 6-3 San Diego State. An Aztec upset would bolster SDSU’s own bowl positioning, something the Broncos must keep in mind as they head to sunny southern California this weekend.

See Also — CBSSports.com: McMurphy’s Law: Penn State is the one team no bowl wants to invite; Brett McMurphy; Nov. 15, 2011

What kind of game we’ll see on Saturday may be a bit of a mystery given that both teams usually put up about 40 points per game. They’re also the stingiest on defense with the Tide giving up just 7 points per game, the best in the nation, while the Tigers give up 11.5 points per game, the third best in the nation. Clearly, neither team can afford to give the other any ground, otherwise the risk of this game quickly spiraling out of control will become a strong possibility.

Tide by the Tail

Earlier this week, the home team was a 4.5 point favorite, a position that likely pleases the Tigers who may want to play underdog for motivation purposes. Bama leads this series with 45 wins to LSU’s 24 wins, plus five ties, and had routinely vanquished the Tigers until recent years. Since 2000, LSU has won 8 of the 10 match ups, losing only in the two years when Alabama won a national championship.

Both teams are coming off of a bye week and have had plenty of time to rest and to prepare. They’ve also been listening to the hype with an exasperated Tide coach Nick Saban telling everyone to chill out. That isn’t likely to happen. Why should it?

National Championship

This is the first time since 2006 for the two top teams in the nation to square off in a regular season game. In 2006, it was Ohio State and Michigan. This year, like then, some have suggested that the loser could still play for the national championship, but just like then, don’t count on the pollsters seeing it that way. Besides, if the Oklahoma State Cowboys win out this year, they’ll have a legitimate shot at squaring off against Saturday’s winner. Stanford and Boise State will be making a case too, but the Cowboys are in the best position right now.

Some people are looking at the game of the year from a professional standpoint, reviewing each team’s roster to see who is likely to head to the NFL. According to Sports NOLA, the Tide has 12 seniors who are eligible for the 2012 draft and the Tigers have 9, but those numbers don’t include juniors who may skip out their final year of school to head to the pros. With millions of dollars on the line, can you blame them?

Possible Outcome

Dare I predict the outcome of this game? Sure, why not? Roll tide, roll…Alabama 20, LSU 17.

BCS Debut

The BCS poll debuts midseason, giving everyone perhaps the clearest picture of how these teams rank. This poll takes average ratings from the USA Today/Coaches poll, the Harris interactive collegiate poll and combined computer rankings from six sources notes Troy Oppie, writing for KBOI2.com

Boise State fans will probably be mad about my analysis of the strength of its schedule when compared to the teams immediately following it. Should the Broncos go 12-0, they’ll play a BCS game. But, they’ll likely fall behind Wisconsin, Clemson and Stanford if the Badgers, Tigers and Cardinal also go undefeated. You can blame TCU for that as the Horned Frogs simply aren’t as strong as they were last season. That only leaves Georgia as the sole ranked team the Broncos have played this year and as of this publication, Georgia isn’t a top 25 BCS team.

Kansas State

Rounding out the next four positions are Arkansas, Oregon, Kansas State and Virginia Tech. Kansas State is the biggest surprise, but it will soon run into difficult territory as its seeks to navigate through its conference schedule in coming weeks. A 2-4 Kansas team is up next, a Jayhawk eleven that is giving up 49 points per game. As long as the Wildcats are not looking ahead, they should win and then get ready to take on #3 Oklahoma, #4 Oklahoma State, #17 Texas A&M and #24 Texas in consecutive weeks . My guess is that KSU will do no better than 2-2 and could easily lose three or four games during that difficult stretch.

Among the top games this weekend has defending national champion and #20 ranked Auburn visited top-ranked LSU. This game offers the Auburn Tigers a chance to show that they’re still competitive with the SEC elite, but playing on the road against the LSU Tigers will be its toughest challenge year to date.

Michigan State

Michigan State is now ranked #16, fresh off of its victory over the Michigan Wolverines. They’re hosting #6 Wisconsin this Saturday with the Badgers leading the nation in scoring, averaging 50 points per game. Likely, Wisconsin won’t hit that number against one of the better defenses in the country. The Spartans give up about 11 points per game. Oh, by the way, the Badgers are giving up just 10 point per game.

The Washington Huskies are back! Back in the top 25, ranked #25 in the BCS poll. Their only loss this season was to Nebraska and, with #8 Stanford up next, the Huskies will be kept busy trying to contain Andrew Luck. Good luck with that!

Barring upsets, the top twelve BCS teams should stay in order this week. However, upsets do happen which means a reshuffling could offer some surprises next week.

References

KBOI2.com: Boise State 5th in BCS Debut

ESPN: College Football Schedule

What’s more, the board of regents for the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas have announced that they have granted permission to their respective presidents to pursue conference realignment, including engaging in talks with the Pac 12 Conference. More changes seem likely in the weeks ahead.

But, we’re not going to stay focused on the latest realignment news as there is still much football to be played this season. Beside, Pitt and Syracuse may still be a year or two away from leaving the Big East although that conference may simply allow each school to leave in time for next season once each school ponies up a $5 million exit fee.

Let’s take a look at this week’s action:

Arkansas at Alabama — The Crimson Tide are #1 in some people’s eyes, but they’re #3 in the nation and ready to host #14 Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. Expect an explosive offensive showing as the Razorbacks will bring to Tuscaloosa one of the strongest offenses in the nation. Of course, Arkansas chewed up three weak opponents to get to 3-0, with the #2 defense in the nation now facing off against them this Saturday.

Oklahoma State at Texas A&M — With the Big 12 appearing ready to implode, this match up between top 10 teams showcases that this conference still has plenty of strength left. Don’t forget: the Oklahoma Sooners are #1, giving the conference three top ten teams. The Cowboys bring the top passing team in the nation to Kyle Field, which features one of the stingiest defenses in the nation.

Florida State at Clemson — Surprise! Clemson is ranked, following its outstanding performance against Auburn. Ranked #21, the Tigers entertain the #11 Seminoles who are fresh off a 23-13 loss to #1 Oklahoma. In that game the Noles and the Sooners were tied until Kenny Sills found Landry Jones open for the go ahead score. Expect this game to go down to the wire with a Death Valley crowd possibly making a difference late.

LSU at West Virginia — The Mountaineers have an opportunity to make a case for playing in the SEC by knocking off the SEC’s best team, LSU, in Morgantown this Saturday night. That won’t come easy against a team which has already beaten Oregon and Mississippi State, and has not given up a touchdown since its first game this season.

The remaining games are mostly tune ups with full conference action beginning the first weekend of October.

See Also — Should Miami Hurricanes Football Receive the Death Penalty?

Unsettled weather the first weekend of college football forced several teams to leave their fields and had fans running for the exits to avoid lightening strikes. A number of games were delayed with at least two contests abbreviated as some storms refused to move on. After five consecutive days of college football the games have stopped, but a resumption of bad weather is possible this weekend as additional tropical systems threaten the eastern half of the nation.

In my long memory of following college football, I do not recall such widespread problems affecting games. Much of the trouble was in the midwest where contests at Michigan, Notre Dame and West Virginia were halted. Games in Iowa and Tennessee were also delayed according to the “New York Daily News.” [1]

Upset Alert

Regardless of weather conditions this weekend, a full slate of Division 1-A football awaits enthusiasts. TCU and Notre Dame were among the teams that unexpectedly lost, but there is a good chance we’ll see several more upsets when the second week of college football gets started on Thursday night. [2]

There is just one marquee match up this weekend when #3 Alabama travels to Happy Valley to take on #23 Penn State. An Alabama win would solidify the Tide’s quest for national title consideration even before SEC play begins. A win by the Nittany Lions would demonstrate to everyone that Penn State has the credibility to contend for the Big Ten Conference crown this year.

Auburn Angst

Auburn is not currently ranked, a somewhat shocking move, but entirely deserved following the Tigers’ lackluster performance on Saturday as it eeked out a 42-38 win over Utah State. The #16 Mississippi State Bulldogs take on Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, giving both teams a chance to make a statement. Auburn has the most to lose in this contest and could find the ‘Dogs ready to take them down.

Rutgers and North Carolina weren’t challenged in their season openers, but both schools have a lot of questions left unanswered. For Rutgers, its all about competing – can the Scarlet Knights put together a complete game against good competition or will this team be steamrolled? For UNC, the Butch Davis era is over, but can the Tarheels compete in the ACC this year? This non-conference match up should be a good indicator of where each team is headed this year.

Horned Frogs

TCU travels to Air Force in a game where the Horned Frogs find themselves 0-1 following a devastating 50 to 48 loss to Baylor. This is TCU’s last season in the Mountain West Conference, as the Frogs will navigate to the Big East Conference in 2012. Lose to Air Force and the Falcons will deliver a fatal blow to TCU’s major bowl aspirations this year.

Other games of interest include #12 South Carolina at Georgia. Following its loss to Boise State, the Bulldogs need to beat the Gamecocks to demonstrate its ability to compete effectively in the SEC. BYU at Texas is important as the Cougars must continue working through the team’s first full year as an independent while the Longhorns must hold up the banner of the Big 12 Conference even as some of its fellow members consider fleeing for greener pastures. And Notre Dame needs to find a way to recover from its loss to South Florida — too bad that involves a trip to the Big House to take on Michigan!

Will lightening strike twice again this weekend with two major upsets? That seems likely and are the only lightening strike fans want to encounter.

References

[1] New York Daily News: After WVU-Marshall Lightning Delays, It’s Time for NCAA to Revisit What Makes a Game ‘Official’; Dick Weiss; September 5, 2011

[2] ESPN: College Football Schedule

We’ve been tracking the potential brackets for the past few weeks and have seen at least one bubble team, Gonzaga, get off the bubble and find itself assured of a post season berth. As crazy as it seems, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has 11 Big East teams as potential selectees. Only West Virginia and Marquette seem to be on the bubble, but both teams may make it in on the basis of several high quality conference wins this season.

Let’s take a look at the top bubble teams and see if the bubble will burst for them or whether it will carry them to the post season:

Richmond – At 22-7, the Spiders have a high quality early season win over Purdue, but they also got pounded by Xavier and Temple down the stretch. It seems likely that Richmond will be 24-7 as they enter the Atlantic 10 tournament, but they may need to win the tournament or lose in the championship game to have a chance of getting in.

Michigan — Had the Wolverines beat the Wisconsin Badgers last week, we might have seen the selection committee add Michigan to the Field of 68. Instead, the Wolverines must beat Michigan State and hope for Illinois to lose to Indiana to have a chance. If both things happen, then just maybe. If not, NIT here we come.

Alabama — Leading the SEC West, the Tide at 19-10 should be in. What can help is a 20th win on Saturday at home against Georgia. If the Bulldogs win, then they’re in and Bama may miss out.

Baylor — The Bears must beat Texas at home on Saturday or they’ll be forced to count themselves out for the season. Some people are of the opinion that Baylor is already busted given its Tuesday night loss to Oklahoma.

Boston College — There are five ACC teams headed to the Big Dance and room for one more. The Eagles should be in even if they finished tied with Maryland at 9-7 in the conference. With two wins over the Terrapins, Boston College should secure the final spot.

Memphis — A tournament without Memphis seems possible this year although at 21-8 with two games left, the Tigers still have a shot. Losing to UTEP last week hurt, but the Tigers have two victories over Southern Miss and a win over Gonzaga to aid its cause.

Wichita State — The Missouri Valley Tournament gets underway tonight and the Shockers get to play on Friday. At 23-7 and sporting a second place regular season finish, Wichita State may still get in, but why chance it? Getting to the tournament file may not be enough especially if the Big East manages to field 11 teams.

Colorado State — Three consecutive losses have hurt the Rams, but upsetting San Diego State on Saturday would help Colorado State’s cause. Unfortunately, the Mountain West may only get three spots in the tournament despite having a pair of top ten nationally ranked teams.

As always, upsets in conference tournaments can change everything. Look for at least one of the eight mentioned bubble teams to pull a surprise and get in based on how they do over the next 10 days.

Among the key matchups this weekend are the following games worth watching:

Baylor at Oklahoma State – Baylor in the Top 25?! Yes, the #21 Baylor Bears are for real, knocking off the Longhorns on the road last week. This weekend they’ll be taking on the #17 Oklahoma State Cowboys in a bid to stay on top of the Big 12 South standings. Both teams know how to air it out – the winner may need to put up more than 40 points to ensure a victory.

TCU at Utah – This is “The Game” of the 2010 Mountain West Conference season. This conference, which doesn’t have an automatic bid for the BCS has a pair of Top Five teams battling it out. And quite a battle it should be as the Utah Utes are averaging 45 points per game and the TCU Horned Frogs are putting up 41 per game. Interestingly, both teams have stingy defenses with TCU giving up a nation leading 8.7 points per game. Utah isn’t far behind, averaging 14 points per game.

Arkansas at South Carolina – The #19 South Carolina Gamecocks are atop the SEC East and can play for the SEC championship by beating the #18 Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend and the Florida Gators next weekend. But first this weekend – the Gamecocks have to figure out a way to contain Razorback QB Ryan Mallet who has already passed for 2,449 yards this season.

Alabama at LSU – The #6 Alabama Crimson Tide cannot afford to lose again this season IF they expect to defend their national championship. The #10 LSU Tigers haven’t smashed their opponents this year, but they’ve won and stayed with Auburn on October 23 before falling 24 to 17. Auburn needs to keep winning if they want a shot at likely #1 Oregon Ducks in January.

Arizona at Stanford – The #15 Arizona Wildcats still have the Oregon Ducks on their schedule, but they’ll have to figure a way of dispatching with the #13 Stanford Cardinal on the road this Saturday first. And that won’t be an easy task – Stanford’s QB, Andrew Luck, is a Heisman hopeful and someone the Wildcats must contain if they’re to have a shot at the PAC 10 title.

As for the other top teams, the Oregon Ducks host the Washington Huskies and the Boise State Broncos will try to slow down the nation’s top passing team, the Hawaii Warriors who are led by Bryant Moniz.

Easily one of the most recognizable fight or victory songs is the Notre Dame Victory March. That tune has been around for more than a century, becoming nationally known in the 1940 Hollywood classic, “Knute Rockne, All American.” As the “win one for the Gipper” speech drew to an end, the Victory March swells and the rest is history.[1]

The Victory March is one of several Notre Dame fight songs and has itself been updated and shortened slightly and is now 57 seconds long. Four seconds may have been trimmed from the original, but the song remains basically the same.[2]

Hundreds of schools have their fight and/or victory songs, but time and room limits our list to what just may be the 13 best songs out there.

1. United States Naval Academy — Navy has learned how to win again, therefore “Anchors Aweigh” is played much more frequently these days. Like the Notre Dame tune, the Midshipmen song is recognized and has a century of history behind it, a tune first played publicly at the 1906 Army-Navy game.[3]

2. Yale — There was a time when the schools now comprising the Ivy League played for the national championship. Harvard v. Yale is a class match up (The Game), one that hasn’t diminished through the years despite the refocus of college athletics on the Ivy level. Yale’s “Down the Field” is played at the end of every game while “Bulldog” is played following a Yale touchdown.

3. USC — The University of Southern California uses “Tribute to Troy,” but also makes use of catchy modern terms including “Tusk” and “All Right Now” to stir up the fans. UCLA fans, eat your hearts out!

4. Memphis — The school’s fight song is known to fans, but “Eye of the Tiger” is recognized widely, a 1982 “Survivor” chart topper. Sometimes the classics get usurped by the contemporaries.

5. Rutgers — “On the Banks of the Old Raritan” may just be the oldest song of its kind, written in 1876, seven years after Rutgers met Princeton in the first ever college football game. However, “The Bells Must Ring” seems favored as the song to encourage the Scarlet Knights in battle.

6. Florida State — Some schools know how to stir up the crowds and the Florida State Seminoles are no exception. “War Chant” gets the crowd “chopping” and is meant to strike fear into FSU opponents. With more than 400 members, the FSU Marching Chiefs is the largest collegiate band in the world.

7. Nebraska — “Mr. Touchdown USA” may seem to be the Cornhusker fight song, but that’s because you’ll hear it played frequently as Nebraska puts up 50 points or more against an opponent. “There Is No Place Like Nebraska” is the tune unique to this Big 12 turned Big Ten (Twelve) school.

8. United States Military Academy — Like Navy, Army has a rich football tradition. This year, they’re in every game and may go bowling for the first time in ages. “On, Brave Old Army Team” celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010, cheering on the black, gray and gold to victory.[4]

9. Alabama — Besides the alma mater tune, you’ll hear the Crimson Tide “Million Dollar Band” play “Rammer Jammer (Hey Vols)” when they take on Tennessee. “Yea, Alabama” is the official fight song while “Sweet Home Alabama” is left to being played over the PA.

10. Michigan — Okay, “The Victors” is easily one of the most recognized fight songs in all of college football, a majestic tribute to one of the most victorious gridiron programs. Written in 1898, the song has been shaking The Big House and striking fear into opponents since.[5]

11. United States Air Force Academy — No surprise that “Into the Wild Blue Yonder” is the Air Force tune, titled as “The Army Air Corps” when it came out in 1939. The song’s official name is “The U.S. Air Force,” but you’ll be forgiven if you’re hung up on the yonder thing as I am.[6]

12. Boston College — Some credit Boston College with starting the parade of fight songs, though Rutgers faithful will contend otherwise. In any case, the Eagles’ “For Boston” has been around since 1885 and is worthy of a mention.

13. Bowling Green — This “other” school from the state of Ohio officially uses “Forward Falcons,” but when it comes to stirring up the crowd, “Aye Ziggy Zoomba” is a classic. Play it fast and you’ll get the fans (or the band) to pass out. Fun stuff!

Did your school miss our “Fab 13” list? If so, feel free to add your information or comments.

References

[1] American Rhetoric: Knute Rockne: All American (MP3 speech)

[2] University of Notre Dame: Notre Dame Victory March

[3] The US Navy: Anchors Aweigh

[4] WestPoint.org: On, Brave Old Army Team

[5] The Michigan Daily: “The Victors!” turns 100 years old

[6] Hill Air Force Base: History of the U.S. Air Force Song

Resources

Fight Music: NCAA College Football Fight Songs Music

Photo Credit: Gerald G

Week one was filled with tune up contests with a few surprises including Kansas losing to North Dakota State, an FBS school. Not that the Jayhawks are a football powerhouse, but they shouldn’t lose to a Missouri Valley Conference program. With #15 Georgia Tech coming to town this weekend, the Jayhawks are looking at a long, dismal season.

If the first week of the season didn’t tell you that Notre Dame and Michigan have improved while the Big East is looking especially lame, then you’ll have to spend a few extra hours this weekend taking in some of the top contests including:

Georgia at South Carolina — Every SEC match up is a dog fight, but in this case the #24 Gamecocks have the edge over #22 Georgia because of its home field advantage. Odd that this game was scheduled for noon because by halftime the air temperature should be pushing past 95 degrees. That might cook a few eggs, but I believe that South Carolina will finish on top in a close one.

South Florida at Florida — The Gators are ranked #8, but are without Tim Tebow. Will that make a difference? It didn’t last week when Miami of Ohio came in, but the Bulls are a better team and likely to put up a good fight. If they pull off a surprise, then everyone will wonder if South Florida is “that good” or whether the Gators have simply faded.

Florida State at Oklahoma — The #17 Seminoles travel to Norman to take on the #10 Sooner in one of the better inter-conference battles of the young season. I don’t have a stake in this game, but I have to think that the Sooners will shake off their close contest against Utah State to knock off the Noles. If not, bye-bye BCS aspirations!

Miami at Ohio State — The Buckeyes are ranked #2 in the nation and the Hurricanes are #12 which means that this game should be well played, a back and forth affair which could yield a frontrunner for a BCS contender. I’m not entirely convinced that the Buckeyes deserve a #2 rating, but I’m also not sure that the Canes are that good either.

Penn State at Alabama — JoePa is still around and his #18 Nittany Lions look to challenge for the Big Ten title. Playing the #1 Crimson Tide on the road in an inter-conference tilt means that Penn State can’t afford to make any mistakes while Alabama will have to make several if the cats are to stand a chance to pull a huge upset.

Happy footballing!

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