Sorry about the lack of a week 5, combo of vacation at beginning of the week and training at the end of the week did me in.  And here is sloopy’s mandatory link.

 

Dubious Rivalry of the Week

New Mexico St @ Appalachian St, Boone, NC

This is a conference matchup.  Next week the Mountaineers travel to Idaho for another ridiculous conference game.  Lovely Moscow, the heart of the Sun Belt.

This is the last year for those teams (New Mexico St and Idaho) in the Sun Belt before Idaho drops to FCS and NM St goes independent and irrelevant, so enjoy these matchups now.

 

Tailgate of the Week

Missouri @ Kentucky, Lexington, KY

I have been to a lot of UK games over the decades.  Too many, in fact.  Lots of losses.  Some I can’t unsee.  If it was higher def and you froze it, you can probably spot me in the background at the peak of the pass.

Which leads to the need for the following:

Beer:  West Sixth or Country Boy?  Your call, but as there is a glib meetup on Friday at W6, hit up Country Boy on Saturday.

Liquor:  We ain’t mixing nothing today.  This is bourbon straight.  I don’t think I have ever attended a UK game in which, at some point during the game, bourbon wasn’t spilled on me.  In other words, the tailgate doesn’t stop in the parking lots.  In ye olden days, you could get a pass out to go to the parking lot during halftime, which made the second half a special kind of drunkenness.

Game of the Century of the Week

Wake Forest @ Clemson, Clemson, SC

You probably didn’t think this game was a big deal in 2006 either.  Here is a list of teams whose last ACC title was more distant than Wake’s in 2006:  Virginia 1995, Duke 1989, UNC 1980, NC St 1979. Miami, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Boston College have never won it.

As for the 2006 ACCCG, I don’t want to talk about it.

 

Top 25

Once again, this isn’t a prediction but based on assuming the team wins out.  Which explains GT being ranked so high even with a loss: their 7 remaining games are all against teams in the top 21.

 

  1. Michigan (4-0)   4.440  +1
  2. Clemson (5-0)   4.347  +2
  3. Georgia Tech (3-1)   4.295  +2
  4. Georgia (5-0)   4.271  +4
  5. Utah (4-0)   4.210  +1
  6. Duke (4-1)   4.183  -5
  7. Miami FL (3-0)   4.150  +5
  8. Washington St (5-0)   4.121  +2
  9. Oklahoma (4-0)   4.096  +9
  10. Virginia Tech (4-1)   4.088  -7
  11. Alabama (5-0)   4.087  +2
  12. Notre Dame (4-1)   4.073  +4
  13. Virginia (3-1)   4.071  +7
  14. Wisconsin (4-0)   4.059  NR
  15. Penn State (5-0)   4.056  +8
  16. Maryland (3-1)   4.018  NR
  17. Ohio State (4-1)   4.003  NR
  18. Washington (5-0)   3.997  +6
  19. Auburn (4-1)   3.968  +6
  20. Southern Cal    (4-1)   3.939  -13
  21. Wake Forest (4-1)   3.928  -10
  22. Oregon (4-1)   3.909  NR
  23. Texas Tech (3-1)   3.897  -14
  24. North Carolina St (4-1) 3.897  NR
  25. Michigan St (3-1)   3.892  NR

Falling out:  Indiana, Cal, Minnesota, Iowa, South Carolina, and LSU.