The Real Big Game

The most intriguing college football game of the weekend is Oregon and Michigan State.

But most intriguing is not the same as most important.

While Saturday's Oregon vs. Michigan State game is getting most of the hype around the country, I think the Stanford vs. USC game is more important in the big picture, at least from the POV of us PAC followers.

The big picture being the final four of the new College Football Playoff.

People are naturally curious about Oregon and whether the Ducks have the defense to play with the Spartans. They're also interested to see if Mariota can finally overcome a rugged, physical defense such as MSU's.  He's healthy again, so perhaps he will.

Based on what I saw last weekend, however, I think Oregon is in trouble. Poor linebacker play cost the Ducks at the end of last season, and I expect that to continue because I just don't think they have the athletes at that position to compete at a high level.

Oregon will score, but not at its usual clip. The game will be tight, unless MSU simply road grades the Ducks, in which case it might turn ugly for the Eugene mob.

Stanford and USC is the more important game at this stage because it's a counter in conference.  The winner has a leg up and USC avoids Oregon in a scheduling quirk.

Everybody is dangerous in the league, including WSU and OSU, so having that early conference lead is ultra-important.


TS