A Week Unmatched: Rivalry Week

Nov. 25, 2016

What makes a rivalry? Is it a short distance between schools? Maybe it's the continuous success both teams experience. Many colleges who are rivals recruit the same kids because they recruit the same areas. Even during the recruiting season, teams are trying to beat out their rival to get a kid to commit to their school. For most rivals, the game is circled on the calendar every year. Generations of athletes know what that game means to them and their school, and that passion is passed down each year. Regardless of where a kid is from, he is taught what it means to be a part of a special tradition and eventually, it's in his blood to get hyped for this game.

It's been a long time since so many games in a week meant so much for the playoff. Rivalry week is normally unrivaled by every week of the season, but this year it's without a doubt the best week. There are so many games that will be heated this weekend and are also worth watching. Expert picks can get thrown out the door, because these games are always closer than anticipated. The only way you can explain it: it's a rivalry game. Players pay more attention to the scouting report, work a little harder in practice, and have more focus for this week. Coaches want to prove they recruited the better kids, and each position player wants to outperform their counterpart to prove the other school made a mistake by not choosing them. The games may not look equal in terms of quality entertainment, but those involved would say otherwise.

Week 13 of college football is upon us, and there are big implications heading into this week. Some games, like Washington-Washington State and Michigan-Ohio State, will directly determine playoff position, while others will be for bragging rights (hint: BFD to those teams). Here are the rivalry games for this week

FRIDAY:
North Carolina-NC State
Washington-Washington State
Arizona-Arizona State

SATURDAY:
Georgia Tech-Georgia
Kentucky-Louisville
Kansas-Kansas State
Michigan-Ohio State
Virginia-Virginia Tech
Mississippi State-Ole Miss
Auburn-Alabama
Notre Dame-USC
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Oregon-Oregon State

UCLA-Cal
South Carolina-Clemson
Florida-Florida State

These are just the rivalry games, but there are plenty of other games that will provide quality entertainment and competition this weekend. College football has been entertaining so far this year, but it also is just starting to heat up with postseason play around the corner.

GOPHERS UPDATE

Record: 8-3
Last Week: W, 29-12 vs Northwestern
This week's opponent: Wisconsin Badgers
Opponent's Record: 9-2
Site: Camp Randall Stadium--Madison, Wisconsin
Outlook: Hazy. On paper, this game shouldn't be close. Wisconsin has the better team by far with a defense that can compete with the best of college football. Their offense is what holds them back in certain games, but they still have a potent run game which is difficult to stop. Minnesota is definitely the little brother of the two: their defense is good, but not as good, and their offense is bad, but worse than the Badgers. The beauty about this game is that it's a rivalry game, and even though Wisconsin has dominated it since 2003, the Gophers still have a chance. If Minnesota can move the ball against the Badgers, they have a shot of bringing the Axe home. It's funny how much this game will tell us about Minnesota: a win would show us this team is capable of beating the best teams in the conference, a loss would just confirm were still a year a way....yet again. At the beginning of the year, many thought the Badgers would be down and Minnesota would be atop of the division, but that is far from the case. This could arguably be the best Badgers defense we've seen in a while, and that spells trouble for a Gopher offense that is severely one dimensional. The pressure of ending the streak continues to weigh on every Gopher team, and I'm not sure how this team will handle that pressure. Stay tuned until Saturday to see what happens.