Sports Thread #1 for 10/25/08: College Football's Big 3 Games This "Satur"Day

(Photos:Colt McCoy pic is from coltmccoyfans.org;Dez Bryant's photo is from www.daylife.com)

Another massive, critical Saturday in college football. In fact, and especially in the SEC and Big 12, that has been the case all season, and will be the rest of the way.

Surprisingly though, the biggest game of the day maybe Penn State and Ohio State in Columbus, since College Gameday decided to go there this week instead of being in Austin for the mammoth undefeated clash between Texas and Oklahoma State, and the elimination "Do or Die" game in the SEC between Georgia and LSU in Baton Rouge.

Make no mistake, we will have a quick preview of the Big 10 game a little later since it is at night time, but the duel 3:30 games of the Big 12 and SEC respectively highlight again how awesome these two conferences are.

No talk about a brutal schedule Texas has: Two weeks ago, it was Oklahoma. Last week, it was Missouri. Today, it is the Cowboys, who are desperate to end their ten game losing streak to the Longhorns. And next week, it is Texas Tech. All four of those opponents of Texas had or still definitely have legitimate National Title hopes to go along with their Big 12 title aspirations just as much as Mark Brown's top ranked team.

But a key factor in this amazingly strong schedule of Texas is this: They never have to leave their state. The neutral site against the Sooners, the two home games against Mizzou and Ok State, and next week at the Red Raiders. Now all of the games are still difficult, and this doesn't take away from the fact of how awesome Heisman Trophy Leader Colt McCoy and his team have been this year. But it does make the path at little more easier than say, LSU having to go to Florida, and then the week after, survive against a talented South Carolina team a good third of the country away from them.

Will Ok State finally get the monkey off their back. It is going to take an off day for Texas to do so at home, but one thing about Mike Gundy's team is the fact that they are motivated, and love playing for the man. And with a playmaker like Dez Bryant, this should be another classic this year in the Big 12.

(Photos:Matthew Stafford pic from matthewstaffordfans.com; Brandon lafell pics from 2theadvocate.com)

The same can be said about Georgia-LSU "winner survives, losers good bye" duel today. The key for both teams is whether their wide receivers will make big plays today to ease the pressure off their superior run games on offense. I certainly reiterated last week, and I'll say it again for Jarett Lee: He has to get the ball to Brandon Lafell and Demetirus Byrd. If he does, LSU will win this massive encounter.

But if he doesn't, then Georgia has a chance to go against Florida next week to show why they are the top team in SEC as the pre-season conference rankings indicated. Outside of Alabama right now, of course.