What, you thought there wasn’t a numbered week for this one? When it’s The Game, you only need one FBS matchup to number the week.
Inner Circle
Navy (6-5) and Army (4-7) will meet for The Game in Philly at noon Eastern on Saturday.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Navy is giving 15 at the moment. We have kind of a bad feeling about this, and urge Navy not to get too cocky. Army did actually score some points this year. We trust Coach Niumatololo (Indian name: “Needs a Nickname”) to keep the Mids in a productive frame of mind. We expect Army to be hungry and overamped.
As is our custom, we present for you a couple of the best “Spirit Spots” from the opposing partisans of The Game.
One for Army:
One for Navy (it’s recommended that you turn the volume down a bit):
And, of course, the inspiration of seeing the academy teams’ beloved mascots.
Navy:
Army:
Inner Circle, cont’d
Here come the Booger Bowls! Our very own Nevada Wolf Pack kicks off the bowl season in New Orleans on 20 December. This week we’ll just list the bowls bagged by the Inner Circle. The sprightly previews and insightful commentary, on all the bowls, will follow as we get nearer to the bowl dates.
In schedule order:
Nevada vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – 20 Dec
Air Force vs. Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – 20 Dec
Navy vs. San Diego State in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl – 23 Dec
Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman – 27 Dec
Oklahoma vs. Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl – 29 Dec
LSU vs. Notre Dame in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – 30 Dec
Kansas State vs. UCLA in the Valero Alamo Bowl – 2 Jan
Oklahoma State vs. Washington in the TicketCity Cactus Bowl – 2 Jan
Technically not a Booger Bowl
#6 TCU vs. #9 Ole Miss in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl – 31 Dec
Other ranks
As mentioned last week, our final marginal-interest Div III team bit the dust on Saturday. We’d be remiss, however, to not note the schedule for championship games in the other ranks. We’re on the hunt for someone, anyone, who’s willing to bet that North Dakota State will not be in the FCS championship game.
FCS National Championship – 10 Jan (Frisco, TX)
Div II National Championship – 20 Dec (Kansas City, KS)
Div III National Championship – 19 Dec (Salem, VA)
Pros
The pros will be giving us our mid-week pick-me-up from here on, now that the MAC has played its last Tuesday night game for the season. Tonight the once hot-running, recently stumbling 10-3 Cardinals will be at the once cooler-running 6-7 Rams for some NFC West survival play. Both teams are 3-3 on the road; bettors are awarding the home-stand Rams a 5.5-point edge.
Cowboys have their second shot at the NFC East rival Eagles in Philly on Sunday night. The ‘Boys could still be purty for a wild card slot without this one, but of course their fans would rather they do something positive and encouraging for once. Iggles were sluggish at home versus Seattle on Sunday; Pokes will be fresh, but, as so often, fragile on the margins in the skill positions.
The 8-5 Steelers lead Sunday off at Falcons, currently giving a measly 2.5 in spite of their spirited thumping of the Bengals on the 7th. Way Xtreme competition going in the AFC North; Bengals will be at Browns on Sunday as well, and although the Ravens shouldn’t have to break much of a sweat hosting the Jaguars, every game counts in this division.
Broncos will be at Chargers for a tough AFC West matchup Sunday afternoon – more than normally iffy for Denver, 3-3 on the road, because its receiver corps is still so hammered.
Few might have guessed in September that the Saints would get to their Monday night game at Bears, in December, matching Chicago with a 5-8 record. But if you can’t enjoy the Saints and Bears playing Monday Night Football, well, you’re tired of life is all we’re saying.
