5 games to watch

Here are the top 5 games for non-BCS schools playing BCS schools, in order by importance of a victory (with my predictions at the end). I apologize to the Sun Belt and the WAC, none of their high profile teams are playing BCS teams, and the ones that are have ZERO chance of winning, tough to call that a must win.

1. West Virginia at ECU-a win would be huge, no other way around it. The reason they were able to beat Virginia Tech was because Va Tech had NO offense. West Virginia brings instant offense to the table. They have the potential to score on every play. Even a good showing would bring credibility. As much as I want to think Skip can pull this one off, they don't have a chance. West Virginia 38, ECU 24.

2. Minnesota at Bowling Green-perhaps this is as big a game for the Big East as it is for Bowling Green as they don't want one of their contenders (Pitt) to lose at home to the same team that loses to the worst team in the Big 10. Bowling Green has to follow up its victory at Pitt with a win at home against the cellar dweller Gophers. They should handle this game as Minnesota had to score late at home to beat Northern Illinois University (2-10 last year). Bowling Green 31, Minnesota 20.

3. BYU at Washington-for the non-BCS school with the biggest preseason hype, this is an absolute must win. The rest of the non-BCS teams need this one too, especially the MWC. To eke out a victory against a bottom 3 Pac 10 team won't do the charm either. BYU has not had success on the road out of conference under Bronco Mendenhall. They are winless so far going into his fourth year. Lucky for them, they get a bad Washington team coming off a humiliating loss to Oregon and are prepping for another beat down next week against Oklahoma. If they can hold Locker to anything under 200 rushing yards, they win this game. BYU 34, Washington 17.

4. Texas A&M at New Mexico-for a team that wants to compete in the MWC, they can't lose to A&M. After all, these Aggies hosted a mid-level Sun Belt team last week and lost without giving up a touchdown. After laying an egg at home last week against another Texas team (TCU), they are hoping for a little better effort. They'll need more than 3 points, though. Unfortunately, the J-Train (Javorskie Lane-A&M's running back) is as heavy as any defensive lineman for the Lobos. If he can't get off against New Mexico, then A&M's season is over, I think he will then. Texas A&M 24, New Mexico 13.

5. South Florida at Central Florida-when South Florida moved to the Big East, they were a mid-level C-USA team. Now all of a sudden they are ranked and were in the National Championship discussion last year? I think Central Florida has the talent to remind South Florida they aren't that far removed from their days of mediocrity in a mediocre conference. This would also be a big statement for the C-USA, maybe not as big as ECU-Virginia Tech last week. Also, I am not including the Southern Miss-Auburn game. A win would be nice, but VERY unlikely. South Florida 28, UCF 27.

Alternates:
Buffalo at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh 31, Buffalo 10. I still don't buy into the Pitt hype but, it's Buffalo, even when they have things going the right way, they don't belong on the same field with Pitt.
UConn at Temple: Temple 27, UConn 24. I don't buy into the Temple hype either, but I picked Pitt last week, so let's go 0 for 2 picking the teams that I think are overrated.