I love college football.  I do appreciate the grand stage that many big conference teams play on every week.  I am too often left disappointed in the lopsidedness of it all.  The media certainly tries to make you think that it will be an exciting game, but most of the time it is disappointing.  OU, USC, and LSU has yet to be challenged.  They are all on the networks every week.

Personally, I have no real affiliation to any of those teams.  I watch those games for the excitement of good execution and high level of talent.  What about the scrappy determination?  What about momentum shifts?  What about a group of players playing the game of their lives on that day?  I’m talking about a group of guys that all overachieve on that one day to try to win.  That is real excitement.

I think o####ame as a living, breathing organism.  A game has a life and a death.  There is a real energy in a game, a life-force.  A game has to evolve.  There are events in a game that will shape its future.  When the teams are not competitive in a game, the game is sick until it dies.  When the teams are evenly matched and playing well, the game is very healthy.  You will never really know i####ame will be sick or healthy until it shows symptoms.

I appreciate the big stage, but I love the competitive games.  I think that the following games will be very competitive: 

Buffalo/Ball State – I know that Buffalo is not considered to be a good quality team, but Turner Gill has them improving.  They scored 24 on Penn State.  They were close against Baylor.  They scored 42 on Temple and only allowed one TD.  Ball State is probably the better team, but they suffered a heart-breaker in Lincoln this last week.    This one will depend how beat-up Ball State is and how well Buffalo can play defense.

Air Force/Navy – The only times the service academies are truly evenly matched is when they play each other.  Navy won this one last year in Colorado Springs, but this year it is at Annapolis.  Both of these teams can score on the ground.  Both of these teams are fielding pretty good squads compared to years past.  Air Force has a big OT win over TCU, and Navy has a disappointing OT loss to Ball State.  This will be a game of momentum and guts.

Colorado State/TCU – This is the classic match-up o####ood offense vs. a good defense.  This is Colorado States first conference game.  They are 0-3, but they had a tough road to ####.  They lost to Colorado when they out gained and out played the Buff for most of the game.  They scored 28 on Cal in a losing effort.  The only stinker is a loss at Houston.  Colorado State has to win this one to stay up with the conference leaders.  TCU disappointed many by losing to Air Force.  They still have a chance at the conference if they can beat Colorado State. 

Kent State/Ohio – Ohio has improved every year since Solich’s arrival.  Last year was their first time to a bowl since before my big brother was born.  They lost a real heart-breaker last week to Wyoming.  34-33 was the final.  Their only other loss was to Virginia Tech where they were competitive until they ran out of gas in the 4th.  Kent State lost to a very good Kentucky team, and lost a close one to Akron.  I see these teams as being very close in talent.  This will be a good one.

BYU/New Mexico – The Lobos really shocked many people by beating Arizona the week before last.  BYU is the cream of the crop in the MWC, but the Lobos have some firepower.  BYU is in for a game if New Mexico can execute on offense.