It's what college football needs, and it needs it now.
The ACC-Big Ten Challenge has become one of the best parts of basketball's regular season, spawning similar partnerships with the Big 12 and SEC and Mountain West and Missouri Valley.
The SEC wears the crown -- and it has for seven straight years -- but the Pac-12 is looking impressive in its own right this season with two teams in the top 10 and four appearing in the latest Associated Press Top 25.
Sure, they've met twice this season, with Auburn beating Washington State on opening weekend and Oregon throttling Tennessee on Sept. 14, and we could get a potential bowl matchup or two. But a full-on SEC vs. Pac-12 clash isn't happening, though that can't stop a scribe from fantasizing, can it?
Let's imagine commissioners Mark Slive, Larry Scott and a certain four-letter sports network sat down in a presumed luxurious spot and hammered out a SEC-Pac 12 Weekend. Here are the ideal pairings they'd emerge with -- set up by taking the team's rankings, personnel and histories into account -- and who would reign supreme.
*With 14 teams in the SEC and only 12 in the Pac-12, the weekend is going to need one conference-on-conference game. So enjoy, Kentucky and Mississippi State, the two SEC squads with the fewest wins this fall.
The Ducks boast the Heisman Trophy frontrunner in QB Marcus Mariota, who has plenty of playthings in his toy box, including electric RB De'Anthony Thomas. We've seen the Crimson Tide be burned by a high-octane offense vs. Texas A&M and this could look familiar. But if it's close, you have to like the Tide's chances with veteran AJ McCarron at the controls.
Edge: Alabama
With Aaron Murray and a healthy Todd Gurley, there's no denying how explosive the Bulldogs offense can be. But the Cardinal are the more complete team and can turn this into a grind-it-out game the Bulldogs aren't accustomed to.
Edge: Stanford
Johnny Manziel and Co. are scoring 49.2 per game and Brett Hundley's Bruins have games of 58 and 59 points. Plus, both defenses have their problems. Whatever the world record is for an over/under, this could rival it. I believe they would call this a pointsplosion.
Edge: Texas A&M
Two underrated QBs in the Huskies' Keith Price and Tigers' Zach Mettenberger and two bruising backs with Bishop Sankey (Washington) and Jeremy Hill (LSU). The Huskies have the better defense on paper, but the Tigers are more imposing up front.
Edge: LSU
Sean Mannion and the Beavers passing game are averaging 420.6 ypg (second in FBS) but they've played four Ds ranked 63rd or lower. The Gators have arguably the nation's best defense and the likes of blitz-happy LB Dante Fowler Jr.
Edge: Florida
The Sun Devils are ninth in passing and have the nation's TD leader in RB Marion Grice (13 TDs). But they’ve been slowed by physical, athletic defensive fronts (see loss to Stanford), which the Gamecocks have behind Jadeveon Clowney (that is if he wants to play).
Edge: South Carolina
Gary Pinkel and Mike Leach go back to their Big 12 days, when Pinkel's Tigers won three of their four meetings. The Cougars are coming into their own -- see Connor Halliday's 500-yard performance vs. Cal -- but Missouri is stronger with QB James Franklin and WR Dorial Green-Beckham.
Edge: Missouri
The Trojans have the more superior defense (14th compared to the Vols' 79th-ranked unit) and the biggest playmaker on the field in WR Marqise Lee. At least afterward they can all sit around and complain about Lane Kiffin.
EDGE: USC
This one's interesting with Rich Rodriguez, the godfather of the spread offense vs. one of the newest coaching stars running it in Hugh Freeze. The Rebels have the talent to neutralize RB Ka'Deem Carey and put the pressure on the Wildcats' 118th-ranked passing offense.
Edge: Ole Miss
Bret Bielema despises up-tempo offenses and Sonny Dykes has made his name with them. That being said, Bielema's Razorbacks have the depth and talent at RB with Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams to feast on the Bears' 110th-ranked rush D.
Edge: Arkansas
The Utes' defense has been burned by its share of dynamic offenses (Utah State, Oregon State and UCLA) and the Tigers could follow suit, but they're still getting acclimated to Gus Malzahn's attack. Utah's balanced offense may be the difference here.
Edge: Utah
The Commodores' only losses came vs. top 25 teams, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Missouri, and the Buffaloes' were beat by their only opponents who have been ranked (Oregon State and Oregon). Plus, Vandy's Jordan Matthews would feast on that porous Buffaloes' pass defense (121st)
Edge: Vanderbilt
Overall the SEC dominates the hypothetical proceedings 9-3, though the Pac-12 did claim one of the premier matchups Stanford topping Georgia.
Let's hope we at least get to see one of these games, with Alabama and Oregon seemingly on a collision course that can give us some real clarity. But for now, it looks like the Pac-12 is rising, but the SEC just remains better from top to bottom.
Saturday at around 4 a.m., Jerry Kill suffered his fifth seizure since becoming the Golden Gophers coach in 2011. This one was different, as he was unable to make the trip to Ann Arbor and missed the team's 42-13 loss to Michigan.
Kill's is a delicate situation. Minnesota knew about his history of epilepsy before hiring him and the school knew his affliction could directly impact his ability to be on the sidelines. But suddenly, people will wonder: can coach and team keep this up?
"We're all pretty used to it and the kids are, too," said defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, who served as the Gophers coach in Kill's absence.
Kill is 52. He's beaten kidney cancer and he's turning the Golden Gophers around, climbing from 3-9 in 2011 to 6-7 last season and now 4-2 after the loss to the Wolverines. The coach's drive isn't the problem, football isn't the problem, and, with a staff including seven assistants who have been with him for over a decade, neither is cohesiveness.
Minnesota and Kill have built a safety net to deal with something that frankly, could never happen again or could happen tomorrow. The very nature of his condition makes it that much harder to put coach and school in a position where they would need to part ways because he isn't producing on the field.
So long as Kill, his players, assistants and Minnesota are comfortable with the situation, who are we to question his ability to continue as the face of Gophers football? Any debate, it seems, is only coming from outside the program, anyway.
"He's going through so much and we know deep down that he wants to be here more than anything and it's hurting him not to be here," said Minnesota safety Brock Vereen. "That's motivation to play harder."
UPS AND DOWNS
The Hoosiers finally got over the Penn State hump and coach Kevin Wilson has the biggest win of his three-year career. After losing to Penn State in their first 16 meetings, Indiana broke through with a 44-24 rout. The most stunning part was a defense that a rush defense that was giving up 248.4 per (115th) holding the Nittany Lions to just 70 yards.
The Bulldogs remained in the BCS title mix, thanks to Murray's steady hand and Marshall Morgan's 42-yard field goal in overtime to sink Tennessee 34-31. You have to wonder how many times the offense can bail the Dawgs defense out? The Vols, who came in with a 93rd-ranked offense, racked up 404 yards and it gets no easier for Georgia with Missouri (543.8 ypg) on Saturday in Athens. Just maybe Georgia manages to pull out shootout after shootout behind Murray, but at some point that defense has to come through.
If we can't get the aforementioned Alabama-Oregon clash, maybe we could get the Ducks and Bears together to see if they can get a scoreboard to explode. Bryce Petty and Co. are the first team since 1970 to score 70 points in three straight as they beat West Virginia 73-42. Oh, and Petty has thrown for 1,348 yards, 10 TDs and one pick, and he's taken a seat early in the second quarter of every game.
The rally fell short as Keith Price's completed pass on fourth down in the final minutes was overturned (have Pac-12 officials become the season's biggest villains?), sealing the Huskies loss to then-No. 5 Stanford 31-28. Now after that tough loss, Washington gets to pick up the pieces and face No. 2 Oregon. How Steve Sarkisian's crew responds, win or loss, could set the tone for the season's second half.
Outscored by UCF and Louisville 110-0 and beaten by FCS squad Bethune-Cookman 34-13, it has been a rough year for the Panthers. Here's the good news: They're unbeaten in Conference USA, beating Southern Miss 24-23 on the road, scoring nearly 19 more points then they'd averaged on the year.
A fringe Heisman candidate to start the season, QB Chuckie Keeton was, if nothing else, a blast to watch. Unfortunately his season came to an end as he tore his ACL and MCL in Friday's loss to BYU. The junior threw for 1,388 yards and 18 TDs and ran for 241 yards and two TDs. He was responsible for 120 points, second most in FBS.
Facing a Maryland defense that, at least on paper, was the best the regular season has to offer, Winston was more than up to the task. He threw for 393 yards and five TDs and ran for another 24 yards in a 63-0 win and set up a massive clash with Tajh Boyd and Clemson in Florida State's next game Oct. 19.
One play after he whiffed on a tackle that led to a 28-yard run for Arkansas in the first quarter, Purifoy sacked the Razorbacks' Brandon Allen, forcing a fumble. Then, in the second he intercepted an Allen pass and took it 42 yards for a score. He finished with four tackles as the Gators won 30-10.
Of his 290 all-purpose yards in the Cardinal's win over Washington, 204 of them came on kickoff returns, including a 99-yarder for a touchdown on the opening kick (he also a 34-yard TD reception). "I would say Ty was the difference in the ballgame," said Stanford coach David Shaw.
Allowing 331.2 ypg (21st), Oregon has faced just one offense ranked higher than 73rd -- that's 1-4 Cal (17th) -- and Price and the Huskies are racking up 557 pg (fifth). Can Oregon's D make a statement? It may not matter with Mariota and Thomas facing that average Huskies rush defense (45th), but we should have a better idea of what the Ducks defense is capable of after this one.
The Pick: Oregon 41, Washington 31
No personnel matchup this weekend will be more intriguing than Tigers receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry against Purifoy and the Gators DBs, who spearhead a defense that's sixth against the pass (152 ypg). Ultimately, this one will be decided on the other side of the ball, where QB Tyler Murphy has filled in nicely for Florida since Jeff Driskel's season-ending injury, but the Tigers will be the best defense he's seen. Here's thinking LSU sets the pace defensively.
The Pick: LSU 30, Florida 25
It's been speculated that a big loss here could cement Mack Brown's exit. Odds are, that if it happens, the Longhorns won't make an announcement until after the regular season. It's hard to see Texas winning against a Sooners crew that has proven it can be explosive and lean on its defense to grind out a win. The last two years, Oklahoma has won 55-17 and 63-21. Expect this to follow suit.
The Pick: Oklahoma 45, Texas 24
Last Week: 3-0
Overall: 13-2
