Thanksgiving weekend is nearly here, which can only mean two things. First, many people are going to eat entirely too much food over the next four days, but it will all be worth it in the end. Second, many of these same people and more are going to watch entirely too much football. Wait? Is there even a such thing as watching too much football?
I can’t say that there is, especially when it comes to Week 14 of the college football season with all of the Thanksgiving weekend rivalry games starting on Thanksgiving night and going all the way through Saturday night. Well, technically they will go into Sunday morning in certain parts of the country, but enough about that. Many of these games have BCS implications, but first and foremost, conference championships bids are still at stake this weekend. Certain conference title game matchups have been set, but the rest will all be determined after the exciting rivalry games taking place over Thanksgiving weekend.
- My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Discover Products Inc. and its affiliates.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, the latest results of the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll all relate to the day with the biggest consumption of turkey all year long. Week five of the poll asked college football fans whether or not they would give up their seat at the dinner table this Thursday in exchange for free tickets at the 50-yard-line to watch their favorite team play. Overall, 42 percent of the fans surveyed said that they would rather pass on turkey than pass the pie around the table, opting to accept the free tickets to watch their favorite team play. While that number is high, the majority – at 55 percent – said that they agree with the sentiment that home is where the heart is, and that even free tickets at midfield to watch their favorite college football team play would not be enough to get them to skip Thanksgiving dinner with their family.
It seems that while turkey and football go together, just don’t make fans choose one over the other. The majority will try to find a way to thoroughly enjoy the best of both worlds! After all, I know that I would!
When breaking the data down by conference, fans of an SEC or American Athletic Conference team were most likely to take the free tickets, at 46 percent, which is three percentage points higher than the average fan. On the flip side, fans of Pac-12 teams said that they would not skip the traditional Thanksgiving Day festivities, as 60 percent would pass up the tickets in favor of spending the day with family. This Thanksgiving, only fans of four teams would have to make that decision, as the only two college football games scheduled are the Ole Miss Rebels traveling to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns hosting the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Both of these games will have bowl implications, but neither will have any ramifications on any of the five BCS Bowl Games.
Neither game is likely to decide the SEC or Big 12 conference either, although Texas is still mathematically alive if it can win out and also see the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Baylor Bears lose one more game. The Longhorns must defeat the Red Raiders on Thanksgiving night and then knock off the Bears the following Saturday and have the Cowboys lose to the Oklahoma Sooners. The odds of all of those results taking place are not great, but as we have seen throughout the season in the world of college football, anything is possible. Texas would certainly be thankful for the ball to bounce its way over the next two weeks.
* Discover Products Inc. sent me a Gift Card for participating as a Blogger in the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll program
What about when it comes to the dinner menu on Thanksgiving? This is certainly more of a personal preference, with many people having such different tastes. In the longstanding debate over which Thanksgiving dinner staple people cannot live without, college football fans weighed in and turkey sits squarely on top, proving that the debate may not be as close as some may feel. Turkey takes the top billing with 48 percent, followed by stuffing at 20 percent, pie at 9 percent, mashed potatoes at 7 percent and cranberry sauce at 2 percent. Surprisingly, 12 percent said that another item of food is No. 1 in their hearts. While stuffing and pie and the top two musts on my Thanksgiving dinner plate, I would love to know what of the rest of you would say – especially the 12 percent who did not choose any of the top five food items as their No. 1 choice. Once again, feel free to weigh in with your own responses below.
As for what is on the menu in terms of the big games this weekend, some conference championship games have already been set, with no differences possible regardless of the Thanksgiving weekend results. Others, however, will all come down to the following few days. Here is a look at the major conferences, both in terms of championship matchups – if they have already been set – as well as different scenarios that could play out this weekend.
ACC: The Florida State Seminoles have clinched the ACC Atlantic division due to their early season win over the Clemson Tigers. It is a shame that Clemson is not in the ACC Coastal, as that rematch would make for a fantastic ACC Championship Game. Unfortunately, the Coastal division is not as talented. The Duke Blue Devils can clinch it with a win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Virginia Tech Hokies can get in with a win over the Virginia Cavaliers and a Duke loss. The Miami Hurricanes get the spot with a win over the Pittsburgh Panthers and losses by Duke and Virginia Tech. Did you get all that? All you need to know is that Florida State will destroy whichever team makes it to face them in the ACC Championship Game.
Big 12: With no conference championship game, the Big 12 will be decided over the final two weeks of the season. The Oklahoma State Cowboys win the Big 12 with a win over the Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday. The Baylor Bears win with wins over the TCU Horned Frogs and Texas Longhorns plus an Oklahoma State loss to Oklahoma. Texas wins with wins over the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Baylor plus an Oklahoma State loss. The winner of the regular season gets the automatic bid for the Big 12 into a BCS Bowl Game.
Big 10: This conference championship matchup is all set. The Ohio State Buckeyes will face the Michigan State Spartans a week from Saturday. No games this weekend will alter that result.
Pac-12: This matchup is also all set for next Saturday. Regardless of what happens over Thanksgiving weekend, the Stanford Cardinal will face the Arizona State Sun Devils to decide the Pac-12 championship which will likely send the winner to the Rose Bowl.
SEC: The only conference with neither spot secured, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers will meet in the Iron Bowl to determine which school from the SEC West plays in the conference championship game. In the SEC East, the Missouri Tigers will advance to the conference title game with a win over the Texas A&M Aggies. A Missouri loss would place the South Carolina Gamecocks in the SEC Championship Game.
These five power conferences will have a lot on the line over the exciting slate of Thanksgiving weekend with so many huge rivalries with either conference championship or BCS implications. Make sure you save some of the great food from your Thanksgiving feats, as it will make for a perfect snack during this weekend’s biggest college football games!
Make sure that you stay tuned to Boston Super Blog for all of the latest polls and results from the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll. We have got you covered throughout the remainder of the 2013 college football season, leading all the way up to the BCS Championship Game! Make sure to Like Discover on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!
The Discover Fan Loyalty Poll is conducted twice a month by Rasmussen Reports, a nationally recognized leader in polling, who gathers sentiment by phone from 1500 college football fans who follow games at least once per week on television, radio, in person or online. The Poll leads up to the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl. Discover’s commitment to college football includes relationships with ESPN and Notre Dame Football on NBC.
About Discover
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