My favorite rivalry in all of sports is Michigan-Ohio State football. No matter the teams records, it stirs the emotions. Watch this introduction from 2003 with the legendary Keith Jackson narrating. If you don’t get chills, you aren’t a sports fan…
The teams meet once again with the Buckeyes and Wolverines both in the top-10, contending for a chance at the College Football Playoff. Just the way it should be in college football…
Meanwhile it’s another (fairly) meaningless edition of the Territorial Cup rivalry, which I once referred to as the second most hated rivalry in college football behind Auburn-Alabama.
Saturday will mark my 18th consecutive ASU-UofA game in-person and 19th overall. Thus far I’ve seen 8 Arizona wins and 9 ASU wins. As fun as the wins have been, the losses have been that much more painful (see 2010). Will that even out on Saturday?
Let’s be honest for a second – ASU is the better team and has been pretty much all season. The Sun Devils have lost five games by a combined 31 points. The Wildcats have lost six games by a combined 110 points. Doesn’t that say it all?
On a neutral field, ASU would be favored by close to a touchdown…but considering the Sun Devils have been hardly stellar on the road this season, it’s darn near a toss-up according to Vegas.
ASU is playing for pride…UofA is playing to become bowl eligible as well as finish ahead of the Sun Devils in the Pac-12 standings. Scroll down to the picks below…but just as (ASU alum) Wesley is always going to pick the Sun Devils, Steve and I can’t pick against the Wildcats.
Not sure anyone knows more about the rivalry from top to bottom than author of a book on the Territorial Cup game history, Shane Dale. Check out his pick and the rest for a fun Thanksgiving week below:
Fanatic Guest Picker Standings:
Week 1 – Chris Schubert: 8-2 SU, 7-3 ATS
Week 2 – Wesley Franco: 7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 3 – Shawn Crespin: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
Week 4 – Jeff Hoodzow: 9-1 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 5 – Mike Bauer: 8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 6 – George Sarafin: 5-5 SU, 3-7 ATS
Week 7 – Mike Muraco: 5-5 SU, 4-6 ATS
Week 8 – Randy White: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
Week 9 – Wesley Franco: 6-4 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 10 – Wesley Franco: 6-4 SU, 3-7 ATS
Week 11 – Wesley Franco: 9-1 SU, 5-5 ATS
Week 12 – Wesley Franco: 5-4 SU, 6-3 ATS
| Eric Cohen | Jon Bell | Shane Dale | Steve Malina | (Fanatic Staff Guest Picker) Wesley Franco |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
@eacohen83 |
@koshercoach |
@shanedaleabc15 |
@beardownsteven |
@ProducerWes |
|
| Last Week (SU) | 8-1 | 6-3 | 9-0 | 7-2 | 5-4 |
| Last Week (ATS) | 7-2 | 6-3 | 7-2 | 6-3 | 6-3 |
| Season (SU) | 80-39 | 73-46 | 78-41 | 81-38 | 78-41 |
| Season (ATS) | 65-54 | 58-61 | 58-61 | 58-61 | 62-57 |
| ASU (-1.5) at Arizona | AZ 34-30 | AZ 32-30 | AZ 37-31 | AZ 34-31 | ASU 42-30 |
| Oklahoma (-2.5) at West Virginia | WV 47-42 | OK 62-50 | WV 42-34 | WV 48-47 | OK 28-25 |
| Washington at Washington State (-2.5) | WSU 23-17 | WSU 41-17 | WASH 23-20 | WSU 31-27 | WSU 30-27 |
| Michigan (-4.5) at Ohio State | MICH 27-20 | MICH 38-14 | MICH 20-17 | OSU 27-24 | OSU 17-14 |
| Stanford (-6.5) at UCLA | STAN 34-26 | UCLA 24-21 | STAN 24-20 | STAN 24-23 | STAN 31-24 |
| Auburn at Alabama (-24.5) | ALA 35-14 | ALA 41-0 | AL 34-10 | ALA 38-10 | ALA 38-31 |
| South Carolina at Clemson (-24.5) | CLEM 31-14 | CLEM 41-6 | CLEM 34-27 | CLEM 55-17 | CLEM 35-7 |
| LSU at Texas A&M (-2.5) | LSU 24-20 | A&M 24-20 | LSU 24-23 | LSU 21-20 | LSU 27-14 |
| Colorado at California (-12.5) | CAL 30-17 | CAL 19-10 | CAL 27-20 | CAL 27-20 | CAL 24-21 |
| Notre Dame (-10.5) at USC | ND 34-17 | ND 38-17 | ND 35-23 | ND 38-24 | ND 45-14 |
| BYU at Utah (-12.5) | UTAH 30-14 | UTAH 23-20 | UTAH 30-20 | UTAH 28-13 | UTAH 35-17 |
This Week’s Bold Prediction:
EC: Here’s I’ve given you back-to-back correct minor upset specials with Tennessee and Northwestern. I’ll give it another shot this week with Utah State beating Boise State as a 3 point underdog on the blue turf.
JB: A sparse crowd at the Coliseum that is more Irish than Trojan is the final straw for USC AD Lynn Swann, who eats Clay Helton’s irresponsibly large buyout and hits the reset button for the 3rd for USC time since Pete Carroll bolted for the NFL in 2010.
SD: Khalil Tate will have his best rushing game of the season Saturday vs. ASU.
SM: Ohio State scores on a Dwayne Haskins touchdown pass to Hill with 3 seconds left in the game to put Ohio State in the lead and ultimately win the game even though Michigan never trailed throughout. This causes Jim Harbaugh to lose his mind after the score…breaking his glasses and clipboard again and an altercation between Harbaugh and Urban Meyer ensues at mid field after the game where Harbaugh must be restrained by his staff.
WF: Arizona STATE doesn’t have to throw a pass in the 2nd half of the game. Eno terrorizes that U of A defense just as his predecessor Demario Richards did. Same score as last year, (PT)42 to 30! Give Em’ Hell in Tucson Devils!
Cohen’s Weekly College Football Playoff Bowl Forecast:
(Changes from last week in blue)
Peach: Texas vs. LSU
Fiesta: West Virginia vs. Central Florida
Rose: Ohio State vs. Washington State
Sugar: Oklahoma vs. Georgia
Cotton (semifinal): Alabama vs. Michigan
Orange (semifinal): Clemson vs. Notre Dame
National Championship Game Prediction: Alabama over Clemson
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