Indiana Makes Cheese Too? Bub looks at Week 9

And so at the 5/8th's pole, it's Ohio State, Michigan, Southern Cal, West Virginia, Louisville, Auburn, Texas, Florida, Cal, and Notre Dame contending for the BCS lead. Someone thinks they are in the wrong place, ACC leader Clemson? No, silly, Notre Dame. This week, head coach and team buffet leader, Charlie Weis, complained to the media that his Fighting Irish are ranked too low and should be higher based on performance. The Irish don't get the big BCS payday if they are not in the Top 8, and if you saw their stunning dissection, oops got their talking points memo, I mean close encounter with mediocre UCLA, you can understand their rank. Okay, you have a huge fan base. You also have a stupendous head coach. You also have an overrated quarterback and are the luckiest team this side of Berkley. The team that looked awful against Georgia Tech, got behind 17 in East Lansing, lost by 21 at HOME to Michigan, and was thoroughly outplayed for 58 minutes by the sixth best school in the Pac-Ten is in the top 8? Not only no, but HELL NO! I'd hate to see Notre Dame in the SEC. Umm, Mr. Weis. Everyone knowsif you blitz Brady Quinn, he folds. If you were an independent team named, New York State, for example, you'd be lucky to be a top 15 team, let alone a top 8. Stop Whining! Now, five games for your pleasure: Notre Dame at Navy- Navy and CBS say thank you for the money and the ratings here. Like last week, this should be a game that the Irish handle with ease. They have the stud quarterback, the wise coach, and great receivers. Now, about that defense. The Naval Academy is not about exceptional football, but grooming leaders. They are probably the best of the service academies this year and would scare most decent teams. Rutgers, a decent team, shut them out 34-0. One would think that a team on par with Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers could crush them. ND by 10. Navy impresses, Brady Quinn suckers more Heisman votes. Miami at Georgia Tech- I can't write anything nice about the thugs in South Florida. They almost lost to Duke. Duke! If Reggie Ball can't beat this load of dysfunction, he should be benched. Or Chan Gailey should be fired. Tech, big. Oklahoma at Missouri- The bridegroom ball of the Big 12. Before Adrian Peterson smashed his collarbone diving for a touchdown, the Sooners would have been double-digit favorites. Missou has improved, but not that much. Or have they? Peterson is hurt and the major advantage the Sooners have is gone. The Tigers are more balanced on offense and with Oklahoma not able to control time of possession, the defense should be about equal as well. If the Sooners win, they get some confidence back. It's been a horrible year in Norman. Missouri can continue to impress the pollsters and bowl people with a win. Which they will have, by 1. Tennessee at South Carolina- The Ol' Ball Coach may be doing better in Carolina, but the Vols have the talent. The key for Tennessee is going to be playing the smart game. Talent doesn't mean a lot in the SEC. Parity is the rule here. Special teams has made the difference quite a bit this season, 'Bama/Arkansas and Florida/Auburn come to mind, and the team that makes the fewest mistakes on special teams wins. So if the Vol's punt, kick, and hit extra points, they should win. If they don't get dumb penalties, turn the ball over or look flat, they should win. South Carolina plays with heart. They aren't elite yet, and Erik Ainge plays a good quarterback. Vols by 5. Georgia Vs. Florida- The World's Largest Outdoor Dr Pepper Party. (Who drinks cocktails anyway?) The Bulldogs come in with no starting quarterback, no offensive game plan, a loss to Vanderbilt, and a horrible head coach. The Gators come in with two capable quarterbacks, a bitter loss to Auburn, a quick and efficient offense and a very good head coach. Why is this even a game? Because it is a rivalry game. Seasons full of success or failure get rewritten in three and a half hours on the field. As horrible as Georgia has looked this year, and they have looked absolutely awful, if they win this and Stafford plays like he thinks he can, then this is a great year and they will be under ranked and all that happy horse manure. If the Gators win, Chris Leak becomes a legend. They get back in the top five, and the Swamp talks about hotels in Glendale. Season's change on games like these. Florida is the better team, no question about it. They do everything well except... This is the SEC, where the difference between most teams is how special that unit plays. ...punt. Like the Vols, if the Gators play smart, they win, and I think that these two teams are on such different levels, they win big. But, you knew that was coming, Georgia will be pumped. They can win if they do the right things, no turnovers, penalties, and great play under center. The pressure is on Florida. A Georgia loss changes staff this off-season. With everything to play for, expect the Gators to rise to the occasion here. By 3, rivalry games change everything.