Predicting College Gameday with One Eyed Willy

I’ll never understand the people that have a problem with ESPN. Those in the blogging world (I refuse to say blogosphere…we already made up the word blog, do we really need to expand upon it?) seem to hate the network for the most part. Put me on the other side of that argument. I don’t love or even like everything the network does, but without ESPN we might not be where we are in terms of sports coverage and we wouldn’t have College Gameday.

I don’t know about you, but as the week heads ever so slowly toward the weekend, I anticipate 10 o’clock Saturday morning. I enjoy the preview for the day and the chance to learn a little something (okay, really I just like the clever signs and the cheerleaders) before the day’s games begin.

Part of the fun of Gameday is the location chosen for the week. More often than not it makes complete sense. The matchup the crew has chosen to travel to is the one (or at least one of the ones) you would expect them to be at. But you definitely get your off-the-wall locations as well. For instance, Gameday traveled to Texas Tech/Texas during week three this season when Tennessee/Florida seemed like the right choice. I’ve already expressed why I didn’t get that decision, so we’ll move on.

One Eyed Willy and I decided to attempt to predict where Gameday will end up over the rest of the season. It wasn’t just to see if we’re good prognosticators, but also to look ahead to some of the season’s best matchups. So without further lead in, here are our picks for the rest of the season’s Gameday locations.

Where Gameday has been already (or will be this week)…

Week 1: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (Atlanta)
Week 2: USC @ Ohio State
Week 3: Texas Tech @ Texas
Week 4: Iowa @ Penn State
Week 5: FSU @ Boston College
Week 6: Florida @ LSU

Where we think it’ll be…

Week 7: The Bull Gator – Oklahoma vs. Texas (Dallas) – If Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy had left after last season, I might take USC at Notre Dame here instead, but they didn’t so this is the choice. Although, I did make this selection before the Sooners dropped their second game, so a visit to South Bend wouldn’t surprise me. One Eyed Willy – Oklahoma vs. Texas (Dallas) – Don’t think there is really any other game that would give this one a run for their money. Plus Oklahoma was in the NC game last year and they haven’t been to see them yet in ‘09. Don’t think USC vs. ND only because ND has been shown to be a farce this year. Farce is a good word.

Week 8: The Bull Gator – Tennessee @ Alabama – They missed the boat on Tennessee at Florida and I think they have to go to at least one Lane Kiffin game. The Vols record hurts this game as a choice, but it’s still a classic matchup. One Eyed Willy – TCU @ BYU – I think they had their chance with the Lane Kiffin story and they chose to go another route. If Tennessee keeps losing or looking bad I don’t think they get awarded with a game this year. I wanted to say Penn State at Michigan, but I chose the OSU at Michigan in week 12 instead. So I am going to go for a big time sleeper here and say TCU at BYU – they always do one of these non-BCS conference games once a year and that could be it. Chances of this happening are probably about 5%, but whatever!

Week 9: The Bull Gator – USC @ Oregon – So hard not choosing Georgia vs. Florida, but the Bulldogs already have 2 losses and still face Tennessee before this week (not saying the Vols will beat them, but I have a weird feeling Tennessee will upset someone this season). Instead, they go with the Pac-10 leaders. One Eyed Willy – USC @ Oregon – I would like to say the Cocktail Party and I think if UGA wins up to it then that’s a distinct possibility, but I probably agree with you more. USC has a couple of more big games this year before then, but Oregon seems to be a Gameday favorite so this is a pretty good pick. If for some reason the Texas vs. Oklahoma State game is for the Big 12 South then I could see that one sneaking up there as well.

Week 10: Ohio State @ Penn State – I know they just went to a Penn State home game in week 4, but the other pick for me was LSU @ Alabama and I have them going to Alabama in week 8. One Eyed Willy – Week 10 – LSU @ Alabama – Man, this is a hard week. It’s either OSU at PSU or LSU at Alabama. I’ll go with LSU at Bama for the SEC West Title.

Week 11: The Bull Gator – Iowa @ Ohio State – Two weeks in a row (they’ve done this before) for Ohio State because this could be for the Big Ten title if Ohio State beats Penn State the previous week, which I think they’ll do. There’s something about Penn State. I want to believe in them, I just don’t. Not completely sure why. One Eyed Willy – Florida @ South Carolina – I know, I know, but I think there are a lot of good story lines with Steve Spurrier, the blocked FG from a couple of years ago, Tebow’s last SEC game, etc., etc. My initial hunch is that Iowa isn’t all that good and therefore won’t be in contention for the Big Ten title at this point. And I don’t think they would do an Ohio State game two weeks in a row as you predicted. Of course I don’t have them going to the OSU game in Week 10, but nonetheless I will stick with the Gators and Cocks on this one.

Week 12: The Bull Gator – LSU @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss won’t be as good as people say and LSU may trip up once or twice before this, but they missed going to Ole Miss last year, so I have them going this year. The tailgating alone warrants a visit. One Eyed Willy – Ohio State @ Michigan – The Big House. The Rivalry. Ole Miss won’t be that highly ranked by then. So why not?

Week 13: FSU @ Florida – The #1 team in the national finally gets Gameday at home. Of course if the Seminoles are 4-7 at this time, I reserve the right to change my pick. One Eyed Willy – FSU @ Florida – Bobby Bowden’s last game against the Gators before he retires. Others in contention are Oklahoma State at Oklahoma and Georgia at Georgia Tech.

Week 14 does have a few games on the schedule, but it’s also championship weekend, so it’s anyone’s guess at this point.