Western Kentucky @ Chattanooga
Am I the only one who didn’t know Chattanooga had a football team? Maybe it’s something to do with the 2-6 record or their near cellar status in the Southern Conference, either way, the Hilltopper will add to the misery making a mockery of the Mocs.
The contest is over. Don't even bother turning in a ballot.
Turner Gill is the Mid-American Conference's coach of the year. What he has Buffalo doing is just stunning. A team that has one no more than three games in a season since joining Division 1-A in 1999. With a few more games to go in 2007, the Bulls already have four.
More importantly, Buffalo is 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference's East Division, and 4-1 in league play. After last week's 26-10 win over Akron, the Bulls took over first place in the division.
This week, we'll see if they can hold onto it.
Saturday, the top two teams in the East, Buffalo and Miami, will play in Oxford, Ohio. It is without question the most interesting conference game this week, with Miami standing at 2-1 in divisional play.
There is another wrinkle to this game. Gill's success hasn't gone unnoticed, and some have speculated he could return to his alma mater as head coach.
Gill's not saying much about it, but a win would put the Bulls in a very good spot. With 18 or so ESPN channels and 723 bowl games, more success will mean more exposure. And if Nebraska doesn't hire Gill, someone else will make him a big offer.
As for the game Saturday, it could come down to defense. Buffalo's Davont Shannon, who made 13 tackles against the Zips, is a freshman, though you'd never know it looking at the stats. He has three interceptions and a team-leading 43 tackles, to go along with two sacks.
Miami, coming off a 24-13 loss to Vanderbilt, gives up a conference-low 25.8 points a game. Defense isn't exactly something this conference thrives at, is it?
In other games, Akron travels to Bowling Green for a Friday night game, while Temple travels to Ohio Saturday, and Eastern Michigan goes to Toledo.
In a non-conference game that some at Ball State wait for all year, the Cardinals face Indiana.
The conference race is finally hitting its stride, but this week no matchups are particularly exciting.
The closest we get is 6-2 New Mexico and 4-4 Texas Christian. The TCU Horned Frogs stumbled early and are essentially out of the MWC race, but they would still like to get bowl eligible. (Wouldn't we all?) Plus UNM, with that one daggum conference loss, has to keep up with BYU's pace of no conference losses.
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