15 College Football Games that should be happening 1-5

It's been longer than I intended, but I did want to finish the series of 15 college football games that should be happening that currently are not before time moved too far along and I forgot to finish the series!!!
6-10 are here and 11-15 here.

Anyway, here are my top five that need to be played every year...

1) Texas vs Texas A&M

The top game that needs to be played and still isn't on the schedule ruined the college Thanksgiving tradition between the Aggies and Longhorns over issues between the schools ranging from the Longhorn Network to Big 12 problems and eventually sent Texas A&M out of the Big 12 and into the SEC.
The bad blood is so thick between this two that the series that made so much money for the pair went by the wayside and doesn't seem to be returning anytime soon.
Neither seems very interested in renewing the rivalry, but neither's attempts to replace it on Thanksgiving weekend (A&M vs LSU on Thanksgiving Saturday and Texas alternating years with TCU and Texas Tech on Thanksgiving Day) have clicked as anything more than secondary rivalries.
This one really needs to return...

2) Kansas vs Missouri

The hard feelings in this one might be even worse than Texas-Texas A&M even though the situation was similar as Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC.
This longtime border war likely will be DOA until ironically the person that seems to have taken this the hardest leaves-Bill Self of Kansas-the BASKETBALL coach!
Neither of these teams are generally football powers, in fact, Kansas usually stinks and Missouri is a mid-level SEC team on an average to good year, so it's not like losing this game costs anyone national implications.
Still, this is a game that is huge to Missouri, a team without a natural rival in the SEC and costs Kansas one of the two teams that their fans considered rivals, so it is still a loss to the game...

3) Penn State vs Pitt

This is one that is currently being played in a four-year contract (2018 will be year three), but there is not a future agreement and it's unknown if there will be another contract signed in the immediate future.
Penn State has been the holdup in the past as far as playing this game as they wanted to have two home games for every one home game for Pitt (similar to their past dealings with Temple on the eastern side of Pennsylvania), while the Panthers preferred the home and home series, which Penn State agreed to for the current four-game series.
Pitt has much prestige than Temple and isn't going to settle for a contract like that, so if that is the only offer, they aren't likely to play again for a while after 2019.
It's too bad as the best two teams in Pennsylvania need to play every season...

4) Pitt vs West Virginia

However, if that game cannot be played and Pitt is able to play the Backyard Brawl again every year against West Virginia, that's more than a good enough replacement.
The two neighbors in many ways are even bigger rivals than Pitt and Penn State, share former conference rivalries going back through multiple leagues and frankly just plain hate each other.
I'm not sure if you asked Pitt fans which they'd rather play each year that West Virginia wouldn't come out the winner in a fan vote.
As for the Mountaineers, who seem to think they are above their in-state rival in Marshall and pull on the Herd what Penn State tries to with to Pitt, they likely consider Pitt their biggest rival considering they are stuck in a league that the nearest team is the Iowa State Cyclones, not exactly a heated or passionate pairing there to develop anything at all.
This series was most famous for the 2007 game that saw the second-ranked Mountaineers needing simply a win at home in Morgantown over the visiting Panthers, who had a losing record, to play in the national championship game- only to lose 13-9.
The series is scheduled to return for four games in 2022, so hopefully, there can be a way to keep the rivalry continuing after that.

5) Nebraska vs Oklahoma

This rivalry dates back to the old Big 8 when it seemed like every Thanksgiving Friday the Sooners and the Cornhuskers hooked up in a battle of the Big Reds for the Big 8 title, the trip to Miami for the automatic Orange Bowl bid and often a shot at a national title.
The Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry was cleanly played with respect, was developed out of two powers that played every year and knew in order to do anything on the national title scene, they would have to go through the other at the end of November.
When the Big 8 became the Big 12 and the two were placed in opposite divisions, the heat was placed off the stove a bit and when Nebraska left for the Big 10, the two schools haven't played since.
Considering that neither school has a natural non-conference rival, a long-term series between the two would be a great fit.
The schools will play home and home in 2021 and 2022 and then again in 2029 and 2030

15 College Football Games that should be Happening! 6-10

We now move to the middle point of our series of college football games that should be happening, but aren't.
The first part of the series can be found here.

6) West Virginia vs Marshall
This is one that almost made into our top five.
Marshall has only been D-I for twenty years, but being the only other D-I school in the state, they should be playing the flagship school in the Mountaineers.
The Thundering Herd has never beaten WVU in their eight modern meetings and went zero for seven in their series that ran from 2006-20012, but still, it makes sense for this series to be played.
The issue appears to be that Marshall wants the series to alternate between Huntington and Morgantown, while the Mountaineers want two home games for them for every trip to Marshall.
It's too bad that the state capital in Charleston doesn't have a suitable stadium to hold the game or that would be the perfect compromise for the third game.
Those that say there is no rivalry between the schools, well my response to that is-Wait until Marshall wins one ( and they will) and then watch it thrive.

7) Notre Dame vs Michigan
Longtime readers may be surprised since I don't like either of these teams and usually try to avoid this September game like the plague.
However, that game was usually a close affair, exciting and with two schools with deep tradition, this game needs to be played every year.
Like the Notre Dame-Purdue series, this series was one that was stopped by the Irish light affiliation with the ACC, which means that the Irish will play five ACC opponents a year.
Notre Dame being an independent meant they could have a lot of rivals with games with Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Navy, USC, Stanford etc and something had to give with their ACC agreement.
The two teams will play home and home in 2018 and 2019 and hopefully there can be a way to bring this back to every year status.

8) Texas vs Arkansas
This rivalry dating back to the days of the old SWC with Darryl Royal (Texas) and Frank Broyles (Arkansas) battling for SWC titles and occasionally even national championships.
The 1969 "Game of the Century" (Just watched this today on Longhorn Network,- BOOM, TV upgrade today) saw number one Texas nip number two Arkansas 15-14 and is still remembered to this day.
It just wasn't an SWC game in those days of one or two games a week without it involving one of these teams and their encounter usually had a national television audience
The teams have played five times since the Razorbacks left for the SEC (two of those bowl games), but not since 2008 in the regular season and have no future games scheduled.

9) Kentucky vs Indiana
The former battle for the Bourbon Barrel (both schools eliminated the trophy after an alcohol-related death in 1999, although they could have changed the name to Bronze Barrel, I guess) saw the Wildcats and Hoosiers play almost every year (a few gaps in the early 80's) from 1979 to 2005, but haven't played since.
Neighboring states with a big rivalry in basketball along with both usually being among the weaker football programs in their respective conferences make this a series that would be worth renewing.

10) Maryland vs Virginia
The Terrapins and Cavaliers were longtime conference rivals as the two most northern teams in the ACC (until expansion), they were the closest to each other and battled often for the same recruits.
A trophy was never involved between these schools and despite teams having other rivals (Maryland had various rivalries with other ACC schools, depending on who was strong during in a particular era while Virginia played Virginia Tech every year before VT joined the ACC), their conference rival was consistently each other.
The conference changes saw each add a "rival" in conference (Maryland with Penn State, who doesn't look at them as such and Virginia with Virginia Tech) and could use a non-conference rival currently.
The two will play home and home in 2023 and 2024, so maybe there is hope for reviving this rivalry.

Look for the top five sometime soon!

15 College Football Games that should be happening! 11-15

Today on conference championship
Saturday, I wanted to start our three-part series on games in college football that should be happening, but are not on a consistent basis.

A few parameters:
First, some of these games are actually scheduled or even have happened in the last year or so.
However, our argument is that they should be on schedules every year or at least every other year and either home and home or at a neutral site that would make sense.

Second, there are some schools that either are playing would be rivals already or simply don't have a suitable school in line to play, but some have multiples that would make sense.
For the purposes of this series, a school can be only used twice on the list.

11) Arkansas vs Arkansas State
A rivalry that has the potential to be a great one, but has never happened because of a long-standing policy by the Razorbacks to refuse to play in-state opponents in any sport.
The Red Wolves have become a perennial powerhouse in the Sun Belt with a parade of coaches that move up to the next level with success such as Gus Malzahn, Bryan Harsin, Hugh Freeze, and their current coach Blake Anderson is likely to join that list soon.
Arkansas is a small state that could gain by these two teams playing each other and I get the Razorbacks would have more to lose in the short term, but in the long run, this game could be a huge help to both schools.
Added bonus points, if they play the game in the above pictured (somewhat ) neutral field in Little Rock!

12) Cincinnati vs Louisville
These two schools have played each other often through the years, 53 times in fact, and played for a trophy as well- the Keg of Nails.
These teams moved together through four conferences through the years, building a great rivalry with the cities connected by I-71 and it ended by one thing-conference realignment.
Both the Bearcats and Cardinals tried to get into the ACC after the Big East breakup (the football schools formed the American Athletic with the basketball schools staying in the Big East), but only Louisville managed to get there and the series was last played in 2013 in the last season before the Cardinals joined the ACC.
I know Louisville has one rivalry in non-conference play (Kentucky), but Cincinnati doesn't- this one really needs to return...

13) Akron-Youngstown State
The only all smaller school game on the list, these teams used to be heated rivals from nearby cities and also played for a trophy- the Steel Tire incorporating the two manufacturing items that the cities were known for.
There is, even more reason for heat between the schools dating back to the late '90s (the last game between the two was 1995) when Youngstown State applied for MAC membership and was denied in favor of Marshall ( who left after a few years) and Buffalo.
Perception is that Akron and Kent State were involved to keep 1-AA Youngstown State from moving to D-I for recruiting reasons adds to the discontent and the resulting decision by the MAC to refuse to have their schools play road games at 1-AA schools to keep 1-AA schools from appearing to be at the same level killed the series.
Either with YSU in Division One or not (and there really isn't a lot of difference between the MAC and the better 1-AA schools other than depth), these teams should be playing each other.

14) Arizona-New Mexico
The neighboring Wildcats and the Lobos hooked it up every year for the Kit Carson Rifle from 1920-77 until Arizona joined the then Pac 10.
The two have played just six times (two of the six were bowl games) since then, most recently a 45-37 Arizona win in the 2015 New Mexico Bowl, haven't played in the regular season since 2008 and neither appear on each other's schedule in the future.
This article tells more about the history of the rivalry that was and should be again.
Each though has options for a cool non-conference rivalry if they REALLY don't want to play each other.
Arizona could establish a series against San Diego State (recruiting hotbed) or UNLV (neighboring state), while New Mexico could try Arizona State or go to their state to the east and try Texas Tech or even better- former WAC rival UTEP in what could be a fun series of games.

15) Tennessee-Virginia Tech
The Vols and the Hokies played just last year inside the Bristol Motor Speedway and it was a huge success.
I'm not sure if the speedway would want to make this an annual thing, but it would be a great thing to have these two play a schedule where every three years, each team gets a home game and Bristol gets the third game.
Bristol is halfway between both schools, neither has a non-conference rival (VT had rivals become conference games when they joined the ACC and they do have a game with West Virginia, but I have other plans for the Mountaineers later), it boosts the power rating with a Power five team every year.
This works all the way around...

These games just missed, so here are some honorable mention games in no particular order
Miami vs Florida- They do play each other every few years and it seems possible they could play even more in the future.

Nebraska-Colorado- Former Big 8/12 rivals renew a rivalry that was quite torrid in the Bill McCartney years in Boulder.

Notre Dame-Purdue- The battle for the Shillelagh Trophy was a casualty of the Irish's deal with the ACC to play five ACC opponents a year.

California-San Jose State or Fresno State-  Cal played San Jose all the time from 1962-1996, but the northern California schools haven't played since despite being just 45 minutes away from each other.
Fresno State is under three hours away, but yet have only played the Golden Bears three times and if they played now, it would be quite interesting with former Cal coach Jeff Tedford turning the Bulldog program around.

Houston-TCU- Former SWC rivals and former group of five bullies (TCU formerly, Houston currently) from the two biggest cities in Texas (TCU is in Fort Worth, but I'll still count it!) would make an interesting series and could incorporate their games against SMU into some type of three-game series for a trophy...

I'll have the Big Ten title game coverage later and look for part two of this later this week!

Cleaning out the inbox!

The inbox is overflowing and it may take two or three cleanings this week to keep things scaled back.
So,if you enjoy the inbox-stay tuned because there is a lot coming up.

We start with the oldest and work our way up with a Grantland "Requiem for a Dump",which serves as a goodbye to the last of the standing 1970's arena in the Nassau Coliseum.
I always laugh seeing games from there on TV  because it really is a memory inducer of those 70's arenas,like my beloved Richfield Coliseum and the local Capital Centre.
I see the Nassau Coliseum and wonder how they would have aged.
The broadcasts are always at weird angles above the ice,the lighting is odd and it really has an older broadcast feel.
Rachel also have laughs at the various sponsors there,most notably the circulatory socks ad at CENTER ICE a few years back!
I guess King Edward Cigars wasn't available.

Grantland returns with a new series that looks at "Unheralded Rivalries" in college basketball.
I love stuff like this and the first installment was Indiana vs Purdue.
I rooted for Purdue often in the 80's and 90's as Ohio State was rarely anything to get excited about and I always respected Gene Keady a lot as a coach.
I was also a big Glenn Robinson fan,liked his game and his years as a Boilermaker were always fun to watch.
The Big Dog was quite a scorer and with better knees would have had an even better pro career than he had,which was pretty good as is...
I'm looking forward to seeing more from this series.....

The Pirates recently made a few minor trades,including adding former Hagerstown Suns infielder Steve Lombardozzi for cash considerations,but one got my attention and it might not affect either team at first.
The Pirates sent a strong arm in Bryton Trepagnier to the Braves for third baseman Edward Salcedo in a swap of 23 year olds that are still interesting to watch for 2015.
Trepagnier spent last season at High A Bradenton and composed interesting and much improved numbers than his previous season at Low A West Virginia.
Trepagnier throws hard (mid 90's) and keeps the ball down (allowed just one homer),so Atlanta may have gotten lucky on a future reliever if some kinks in his command can be worked out...

Pittsburgh received Edward Salcedo,a former shortstop that outgrew the position and is now at the hot corner.
Salcedo was thought of highly at one time,having received over a million dollar bonus,when he was signed out of the Dominican Republic.
However Salcedo has shown decent power (double digit homers each of the last 4 years up the ladder),combined with trouble getting on base (never a avg. higher than .248 or an OPS higher than .711) and decent speed for a big man (6'3) having notched steals in the 20's three times.
Salcedo played for AAA Gwinett last year,but if the Pirates are serious about rehabilitating him as a prospect-I'd think an assignment to AA Altoona might be a better idea.
It's a deal with potential for both teams that might also be forgotten in six months...

Fox Sports had a good article on the late Wayne Estes and their naming of the practice facility of Utah State's after the former Aggie star.
Estes passed away fifty years ago today after being electrocuted after a game that he complained about feeling numbness in his hands "like electric passing through them".
It's an interesting tale for the sports fan and the supernatural fans that like premonitions.
Estes was one of the top scorers in the country in 1965 with Rick Barry as they battled for the scoring title.
Look for a potential Forgotten Superstars appearance for Wayne Estes in the future...

When you follow Twitter and Facebook,you see a lot of friendly jabs at each other between teams and usually it's lighthearted and fun.
Not in the case of the Fresno Grizzlies and Sacramento RiverCats,who are taking shots at the other constantly and I haven't seen a subtle smile yet.
The Grizzlies lost their affiliation with the Giants to the RiverCats,which started a lot of this (Fresno is now with Houston) and through that along with some "stolen" ideas for promotions,these two swap less than kind banter all the time.
Usually in the minors,these types of things are as real as pro wrestling,but I've been assured by a employee of one of the teams that this is legitimate and very real.
I'm kinda caught in the middle (I follow both teams) as the Giants are now with Sacramento,but Fresno is the only team in the minors that follows me (Yeah,really the Suns and Keys don't, Ha Ha),so my heart is with the Grizzlies on this one!

And finally a goodbye to maybe the most underrated golfer ever as Billy Casper passed away at the age of 83.
Casper is seventh on the all time win list with 51 wins on tour with three of those being majors (2 U.S.Opens and a Masters) and had the bad luck to play at a time when the PGA tour had its strongest lineup of players as far as depth goes in its history.
Casper also was special to me for signing a picture and some cards and then adding a note that thanked ME for asking him.

There is still plenty in the inbox,so look for a mostly non-sports edition coming up soon!