College Football Watch Party Open Thread

Here at RedState, we do it all – politics, culture, and now even sports! Here, you can see just what’s going down in the world of collegiate football and discuss the games that interest you. I’ll briefly break down the top games of the week, and pick a must-watch game. If you’ve got some insight you want to see added in a future week, feel free to comment here or send me a tweet at @JoePCunningham and I’ll make sure I add it in.

This Week in College Football:

Tennessee at Alabama
Texas Tech at Oklahoma
Indiana at Michigan State
Houston at UCF
Pittsburgh at Syracuse
Iowa State at Baylor
Kansas at Oklahoma State
Texas A&M at Ole Miss
Western Kentucky at LSU
Utah at USC
Ohio State at Rutgers
Washington at Stanford
Duke at Virginia Tech
Florida State at Georgia Tech

Storylines:

Michigan State is definitely the team to watch this week to see if last week was a freak accident or a new special teams strategy. Michigan fans get a reprieve this week to keep their heads in the dirt and not make eye contact with the rest of the NCAA. Meanwhile, in SEC football (the Greatest Conference Ever, by the way), Ole Miss is trying to make a comeback in a big way against Texas A&M, who let us all down when they lost to Alabama (the New York Yankees of the SEC). LSU’s got to get a handle on its special teams, while Pittsburgh and Syracuse are a game that’s going to happen.

I’m also interested in seeing how Baylor handles itself this week, given their No. 2 status and the fact that their schedule has been pretty weak. This week isn’t a week where ranked teams are facing off against tough opponents (with the exception of Texas A&M and Ole Miss) (maybe), so right now, it’s a matter of looking at how teams deep into the season can handle themselves against opponents that are easy to underestimate.

Game of the Week:

Michigan State and Indiana should prove to be a good game. Michigan State has talent, but how they handle themselves this week is going to be telling. Will they be able to keep the momentum going after their freak win against Michigan? In all likelihood, yeah, but if the game is close, the Spartans are one choke away from ruining their good fortune.

Potential Upset of the Week:

Please, Rutgers. Please.