The Saturday Viewing Guide - November 1

We heard the echoes. The writing was on the wall.

"We need our Saturday viewing guide back!"

The last few weeks have been so chock full of good football that I felt it rendered the college football junkies TV Guide useless. If you couldn't figure out which games to watch and which to not over the last two weekends, here are the listings for the Fox Soccer Channel; that might be what you're actually looking for (GO MAN U!)

I've created a supplement for the SVG, and it comes disguised as a clever shameless plug! Check my other all-sports blog, Beyond The Scoreboard (courtesy of my friends at The Fan AM 1060), for your guide of exactly what NOT to watch...that being what I call the ESPNU Trifecta.

The Morning Slate
Northwestern Wildcats at #17 Minnesota Golden Gophers (9:00 AM, ESPN2) No, I'm not joking. Tim Brewster has got a fun Gophers team to watch...in fact...I was glued to their game against Illinois last week. They go up and down the field and when their defense is on their game, they're pretty hard hitting. Don't forget that Northwestern has been a nice story thus far as well, despite the fact that stud RB Tyrell Sutton (who we saw as a freshman at SDS in 2005) is out for the season.

During your...road game...tailgate?
#8 Florida Gators vs. #6 Georgia Bulldogs (12:30 PM, CBS)
It's the annual "we don't want to officially call it the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party but it is the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." And it really needs no more hype than that. The winner of this game, as always played in Jacksonville, will move to 5-1 in conference and will all but wrap up a matchup with Alabama in the SEC Championship. Plus, you never know, Urban Meyer might clear HIS bench this season.

#24 Oregon Ducks at California Golden Bears (12:30 PM, ABC)
It's the only decent Pac-10 match-up of the day, and I'll always advocate catching at least some quality West Coast football every week. Flip to it during commercials of UGA/FLA.

Washington Huskies at #5 USC Trojans (3:00 PM, FCS Pacific)
Washington football: it's Lame Duck Coach-tastic! No real reason to watch this game; in fact, don't. Burn your cable box before turning to Cox 172. I just wanted to sneak in one more shot at Ty.

The Nightcap
#1 Texas Longhorns at #7 Texas Tech Red Raiders (5:00 PM, ABC)
Before the season started, I didn't pick T-Tech to be a darkhorse in the Big XII South. I picked them to win it outright. Now we'll see if we can trust Mike Leach's defense against what will obviously be their toughest challenge. Don't forget that late last year, Oklahoma went down to Lubbock (what's a Lubbock?) with national championship dreams and they were crushed by Michael Crabtree. A solid performance from Colt McCoy, though, should be the icing on top of his Heisman resume.

Arizona State Sun Devils at Oregon State Beavers (7:15 PM, FS Arizona)
Let's go, folks. It's a 5-game losing streak, it's all dire straits from here on out, but admit it. You still love your Devils and we're all still going to watch. GO DEVILS!