NCAA College Football Preview: Week 12
Who would’ve thought that we’d enter Week 12 of college ball with Kansas State sitting pretty at number one? And that’s just one of the great storylines going into college football this week. The Oregon Ducks will duke it out against Stanford; and one of the biggest football events of the year occurs on Saturday when USC visits UCLA.
(1) Kansas State at Baylor
The number one team is squaring up against an unranked team; something that typically wouldn’t make huge NCAA news. But the fact that Kansas State even sits at number one, a position they haven’t been in since 1998, will have a lot of eyes on this game — especially those in charge of the polls. The Wildcats can easily be seen as a less worthy opponent than Alabama; and they’re not as respected as Oregon either. One small slip, and Kansas State could find themselves much farther down in the polls after this weekend.
(13) Stanford at (2) Oregon
Stanford has a tough game ahead of them, and the fact that they’re on the road doesn’t help. Oregon has won 9 out of the last 10 meetings between these two teams, and the Ducks have an offense that just won’t quit. Stanford does have one of the best defensive teams in the country, and if there’s anyone that can apply pressure to the Ducks, it’s Stanford. But they’ll need a lot of it, and there’s absolutely no room for error here if Stanford is to get a victory.
(18) USC at (17) UCLA
This is a showdown that some wait all year for, and this one’s going to be a good one on Saturday. Two huge rivals placed so closely to each other in the ranks, both with outstanding talent in certain areas, and both with challenges they must learn to overcome. For USC, that challenge is offense. Matt Barkley has had a hard year, throwing a total of 13 interceptions; something he hasn’t done since his freshman year. For UCLA however, it’s their defense that needs to capitalize on the fact that Barkley’s not at his best, and emerge from being in the middle of the pack. UCLA‘s offense is pretty good; but USC’s defense is outstanding. This one will be hard fought, and rightly wins the title of the best game to watch this week.
Categorized in: NCAA Football