Spring
Preview
2009
The 20 Big Questions ... No.
20 (Part 2)
By
Pete Fiutak
2009 Spring Questions - Top
50
Non-Conference Games (No. 1 to 10)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 11 to 20)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 21 to 30)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 31 to 40)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 41 to 50)
2008 Spring Questions - Top 40
Non-Conference Games
With spring ball underway, it's time to start diving into the 2009
season ... no, it's not way too early. Here are the 20 Big Questions to
start off the offseason, beginning with the top non-conference games.
20. 50 non-conference games to get really, really excited about (No. 11
to 20) ...
20. Florida State vs. BYU, Sept.
19
BYU has some
face-saving to do after the problems at the end of last year, and that’s
not going to happen with the season-opener at Oklahoma. It’ll be
statement time a few weeks later when Florida State, who has never been
afraid to go anywhere, comes to Provo. This will be a big game for the
Mountain West, and a bigger game for BYU. The Noles will start out the
season against Miami and get a layup against Jacksonville State before
making the trip to Utah, and if their pass rush is as deadly as ever,
they could come away with a nice non-conference win.
19. Michigan State at Notre
Dame, Sept. 19
The
Spartans dominated the last two meetings between the two, but this was a
blast of a showdown from 2000 to 2006 with all seven games decided by a
touchdown or less. The Irish have a sneaky-tough opener against Nevada
before dealing with a Michigan team that’ll desperately need the win. If
Charlie Weis and company can get to 2-0, Michigan State might be the
only real barrier to 5-0 with Purdue and Washington to follow before the
USC showdown. MSU might need to do some tuning up, and it’ll get the
time with Montana State and Central Michigan coming to East Lansing
before the trip to South Bend.
18. TCU at Clemson, Sept. 26
Be careful, Clemson. The Tigers might not have
their full focus on the always dangerous Horned Frogs after diving
knee-deep into conference play with games against Georgia Tech and
Boston College in the first three weeks and with a trip to Maryland
coming up the following week. TCU will have already dealt with an ACC
road trip, starting off the season at Virginia, and if this year’s team
turns out to be as nasty as last year’s, the Clemson battle could be the
one that turns out to be the true jumping off point for a big season.
This is a huge game for the Mountain West in terms of national respect.
17. Illinois at Cincinnati, Nov.
26
It’s a nice
bowl-like game to close out the regular season for the Illini. If
Illinois is decent enough to have a bounce-back season, it should come
in to this game on a roll with a relatively light and breezy second half
of the year to build on. Ron Zook’s club will be coming off a date with
Fresno State, who comes to Cincinnati in late September. The defending
Big East champions aren’t expected to be quite as strong as last year,
but if they’re on any sort of a winning streak, the nationally-televised
Thursday night game should be a must-see for bowl positions.
16. Notre Dame at Michigan,
Sept. 12
No, this
doesn’t have anywhere near the juice it did nearly two decades ago (yes,
we’re all old), but it’s a vital game for the two monster programs and
it’ll be a major tone-setter for the rest of the season. Notre Dame will
be coming off a game against a Nevada team that’ll finish the season
with one of the five best statistical offenses in the country, while
Michigan will have battled a Western Michigan team that’ll be good, but
will be rebuilding. If Rich Rodriguez can get the desperately needed
early win, Michigan will likely get off to a 4-0 start before going to
Notre Dame. The Irish will face the Spartans the week after going to Ann
Arbor.
15. South Florida at Florida
State, Sept. 26
It’s
been said that South Florida could be the new Florida State or the new
Miami. The talent and recruiting bases are there, the school is big and
ready to take the step up and be a consistent star, and the expectations
are rising. Now it’s time to come up with the Sunshine State statement
win needed to get more and more of the top state players to come to
Tampa instead of Tallahassee. This is the first meeting against FSU,
who’ll be coming back from a dangerous trip to BYU and will be eying a
key ACC game at Boston College the following week. There will be no
excuse for South Florida to not be 100% tuned up after a ridiculous
opening three games against Wofford, Western Kentucky, and Charleston
Southern.
14. Illinois vs. Missouri (St.
Louis), Sept. 5
These
two teams have played some tremendous shootouts to kick off the last two
seasons. Missouri won both games, 40-34 and 52-42, with the Illini
making interesting comebacks in each. With the Tigers rebuilding, and
with Illinois looking to bounce back after missing out on a bowl game,
this is a big chance for Ron Zook’s club to get much-needed early season
win. The second half of the season isn’t all that bad, but the Illini
play Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State, the three best teams in
the Big Ten, before mid-October. If Mizzou wins this, it’s 3-0 with
Bowling Green and Furman to follow before travelling to Nevada.
13. Miami at South Florida, Nov.
28
South Florida faces
Florida State on September 26th in the first meeting of the two schools.
The game against Miami late in the year might be even bigger because
it’s being played in Tampa. The atmosphere should be electric in what
might be seen as the most important non-conference home game in USF’s
brief history. In the regular season finale, the Canes will be coming
off a home game against Duke that should allow for a bit of a breather
after dealing with a trip to North Carolina. Their intensity level had
better be there or they could be walking into a beartrap. Miami won the
only meeting between the two schools 27-7 in 2005.
12. Utah at Oregon, Sept. 19
This would’ve made for an interesting BCS game
last year. Oregon starts off its season with a battle at Boise State,
and doesn’t take it all that easy the rest of the way. Utah got by
Oregon State at home last year, and now it has to go to Eugene to deal
with a Pac 10 team bent on making a big splash before dealing with
California in the Pac 10 opener. The Utes beat Oregon in 2003 and will
need to do it again to show continue the success from last year. On a
14-game winning streak, it should be up to 16 with Utah State and San
Jose State to start the season.
11. West Virginia at Auburn,
Sept. 19
The 34-17
loss in Morgantown last year was part of the ugly second half of the
season for Auburn and helped push forward the end of the Tommy
Tuberville era. For West Virginia, it was a strong win that led into a
big 35-13 win at Connecticut the week after. This year, Auburn hosts the
Mountaineers a week after kicking off the SEC season against Mississippi
State, while West Virginia will be coming off a revenge-game against
East Carolina.
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