It’s a very strange week for college football. It seems like most of the action is next weekend, so this week teams just seem to be in a position to make sure that they don’t screw up by overlooking their current opponents. That makes this weekend very interesting, but not in such an obvious way as next weekend will be. Here are some of the games I’ll have my eye on:

Texas (-13.5) at Kansas – We start it out with an exception to my mentioned trend. Texas doesn’t have any tough games left, but they need to win this game and their next one impressively to make sure that people don’t forget them when the season draws to an end and the national championship matchup is being determined. Kansas is just playing for pride. This is not a good Jayhawks team, and they are not in a good place right now, but a win here would do a lot to erase some of the bad memories the last month has created.

Boise State (-36) at Idaho – The Broncos have tough games against Nevada and Fresno State standing between them and an undefeated season. First they get to beat up on Idaho. Boise State knows that they need to keep winning and winning big to have any chance of making the BCS. If they are in the right frame of mind they could win this one by 100.

Mississippi State (-22) at Alabama – Alabama’s big game is a couple of weeks away – the SEC Championship against Florida. It should be smooth sailing until then, but Alabama needs to stay focused and on task until then to make sure not to blow the good thing they have going. This game really should be no problem, but the Bulldogs tripped up the Tide last year, so we know that it can happen. Mississippi State is not having a great year, but they derailed Vanderbilt’s season this year and they would love to do it again.

USC (-24) at Stanford – The Trojans have an outside shot at the championship game, but they would need a whole lot to go their way between now and then. Winning this game huge and putting up yet another defensive wall would be a good first step. That’s not the biggest intrigue here, though. The Cardinal blew up USC’s season last year with an improbable win in L.A., and they are looking to do it again. It seems highly unlikely, but then last year USC was favored by 39, so anything can happen.