Games to Watch: Week 5

At first glance at the schedule, there didn't seem to be anything spectacular about this week's games, but a second look showed me  I was wrong. I've got eight games this week that I'm looking forward to; and while I doubt there will be time enough to watch hardly any of them on Saturday, I'm still excited about them.

Here's a quick rundown:

#22 Michigan @ Michigan St., 12:00pm ET - There's nothing like a good rivalry. And though Michigan is 4-0 and Michigan St. is 1-3, everybody knows that records and rankings don't matter when it's rivalry time. With the game at Michigan St., I look for it to be a good battle, but I see Michigan coming out on top.

#4 LSU @ # 18 Georgia, 3:30pm ET - This is a big game because of the rankings. Having played South Carolina, Arkansas, and ASU, Georgia has had as tough a schedule so far as anybody, and they're still ranked 18. Not to entirely discredit LSU, but they sure haven't had as tough a schedule. I think this game will stand to show us who's for real.

UCLA @ Stanford, 3:30pm ET - Did you know that Stanford is leading the Pac10? You probably have because all the sports pages have mentioned it somewhere. But I'm not that excited about it; half the teams in the Pac10 haven't played any conference games yet. Give it 2 or 3 more weeks and then you can start being amazed if Stanford is still up there. I pick UCLA to come in and steal this one from the Cardinal, but regardless, at this point in the season, this is a big game for the Pac10.

Washington @ Notre Dame, 3:30pm ET - I like this game because it's Notre Dame. And I like them. But Washington has Jake Locker, who I also like to watch. Jimmy Clausen's not that boring to watch either though (did you see his game winning drive last week?!). Notre Dame seems to be giving NBC something to be happy about (NBC has a contract to show all of Notre Dame's games through 2015 and were sorely disappointed in the Fighting Irish's dismal performances (bad ratings) last season). This should be a fun game to watch.

#9 Ohio St @ Indiana, 7:00pm ET - Real quick on this one. Michigan struggled to get the W over Indiana last week. Michigan vs Ohio St. is a huge rivalry. I'm just curious to see how Ohio St. handles Indiana at Indiana. I think this game (along with last week's Michigan vs Indiana game) should give us some insight as to what the Ohio St. @ Michigan game will look like at the end of November.

Oregon St @ Arizona St, 7:00pm ET - Go ASU! Oregon St. hasn't shown a whole lot this season, but if ASU wants their stock to keep rising, they need to bowl over the Beavers. I think they can do it, they should be able to do it, and I just like watching my Devils.

#7 USC @ #24 Cal, 8:00pm ET - Here's why this game is important: we want to see who's for real. We know they've both got talent. We know they can both win big games, but USC lost to Washington. What was that? And then the next week, Cal got BLOWN OUT by Oregon (I'm still kinda upset about that one). So this week, the two face off, and I want to know which team wants to stick around.

#8 Oklahoma @ #17 Miami(FL), 8:00pm ET - I'm going forgive Miami for their no show last week in the loss Virginia Tech. This week's game is important. Oklahoma has one of the best defenses in the country, but they're without Bradford (one of the best Quarterbacks in the country), who's still nursing that shoulder of his. When Miami is on, they can beat anybody, I believe that. So let's hope they show up, and it'll be a great game to watch.

So there you have it. Sorry it's eight games this week. But i just couldn't narrow it down.