Is No. 2 Florida State at No. 10 Louisville the most important game of the 2016 college football season? Sounds crazy to say in mid-September, but it really could be.
For starters, it’s a terrific football game that pits Seminole running back Dalvin Cook, who entered the season as a leading Heisman candidate against Cardinal quarterback Lamar Jackson who has run, passed and muscled his way into the race. Anybody holding a ticket will someday say they saw these two greats match up.
The ACC’s Atlantic Division is as good on top as any conference in college football. Both Louisville and FSU had realistic dreams of a playoff berth, as does No. 5 Clemson.
But this game could strongly influence the playoff chances of a third team. Rick Pitino and the Papa John’s guy aren’t rooting as hard for Louisville as No. 6 Houston is.
The Cougars are trying to be the first group of five school to reach the four team playoff. UH needs to go undefeated and then have its nonconference wins be enough to convince the committee.
Houston hosts Louisville on No. 17. Anything that makes the Cardinals look more impressive is helpful to the Cougars. Ergo, beating Florida State makes Louisville a bigger potential trophy.
If Houston does get in, that means only three other Power 5 teams can get into the playoff. Nothing gets the ball rolling faster toward an eight-team playoff than two Power 5 leagues being shut out of the four team field. There’s too many other things that have to happen for this game to directly lead to that kind of change. But it could be a leg in the journey.
College football loves hyperbole. There’s a game of the decade every other year. Is this one of them?
At least for now.
(OTHER) GAMES OF THE WEEK: No. 1 Alabama at No. 19 Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. CBS – The Rebels have been Kryptonite for the Crimson Tide in recent years. Can the Tide finally gets past the Rebels?
PLAYOFF BOUND: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Houston
IF I HAD A HEISMAN VOTE — Lamar Jackson wasn’t on many Heisman radars to start the season, but in two games so far, the Louisville quarterback already has combined for 1,000 yards (697 passing, 318 rushing). If the Cardinals win Saturday, he might be the favorite.
DON’T BE SURPRISED IF –The ACC announces a replacement host site for it’s championship game quickly. The league moved the game out of Charlotte in opposition to North Carolina’s controversial HB2 Bathroom Law.
The league took a stand on principle, but hosting a game in just over two months also requires a city to have a lot of things in place and a considerable number of available hotel rooms. The ACC isn’t pulling out of Charlotte without assurances that there’s a capable host ready to step in. Bet on Orlando.
The city of Charlotte is a bit of an unfortunate victim in all of this. It’s economy will lose about $30 million according to estimates from several places. It was Charlotte’s city ordinance protecting the LBGTQ community to provoked the HB2 law to begin with. The city passed a non-discrimination law setting of a chain of events that led to it losing the game because of the state’s discrimination.
FINALLY —When Arizona travels to Hawaii Saturday, the Wildcats will wear special uniforms to honor the sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor.
I’s helmets, patches and jerseys will all be designed to remember the battle 75 yards ago. According to ArizonaSports.com:
“The white-shaded helmets are the colors of the upper-mast of the battleship, the white jerseys the color of the hull and the red pants that of the U.S.S. Arizona’s keel. At the front of the collar, there is a medallion that was worn by Arizonan Esther Ross, who wore it on the ship’s christening in 1915. On one shoulder, there’s another patch: That of the 47th pursuit squadron stationed at Pearl Harbor. On the other shoulder is a 48-star flag (Arizona is state 48). The helmets feature a red block ‘A’ that is based off a team photo of U.S.S. Arizona football players. They also include a 12-7-41 dateline where the helmet and faceguard meet and a helmet patch of the ship’s bell. All of the jerseys will say “U.S.S. Arizona’ on the front with a “BB-39” where names usually appear on the back.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage