Let's See MACtion! Open Thread
With apologies to The Who.
Hot damn, this should be fun. We've got a triple MACtion game tonight, plus one on Friday and another Saturday. And also a bizarro Big 12 XII/B1G game between Nebraska and Cincinnati, but in America's own KC Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium. Why? For tradition! Touches earpiece I'm being told this is for cash, baby, cash. Well, regardless. Let's get to it.
Ohio at Rutgers
6:00 Et: 5:00 GTZ. BTN.
Buffalo at Minnesota
8:00 ET/ 7:00 GTZ. FS1.
Nebraska at* Cincinnati
9:00 ET/ 8:00 GTZ. ESPN
Miami Hydroxide at Wisconsin
9:00 ET/8:00 GTZ. BTN.
Yo, we heard that you nerds like trivia!
If you were playing along with Kind Of...'s trivia in his Monday Tidbits article, we've got some answers!
Kind Of...
- Miami (OH) and Northwestern renew acquaintances. They've played 11 times previously. What is the series record?
The Cradle of Coaches leads the Cradle of overwrought journalism, 7-4. (BoilerUp89 on point with this one!)
- Cincinnati has a chance to upset a B1G team when they play Nebraska. However, even if they do, it won't be their biggest upset over a B1G opponent. When, and against whom, did that take place?
In 1999, #9 Wisconsin fell in Nippert Stadium 17-12. Cincinnati had lost to then-FCS Troy State the previous week. Wisconsin had a game-winning TD in the final seconds called back because on a penalty. Wisconsin would lose to Michigan the next week, but then run off seven consecutive victories to win the B1G outright. After defeating Stanford in the Rose Bowl, the Badgers finished #4. Cincinnati would win only one more game, finishing 3-8. It's a funny sport.
- There are a lot of teams traveling a long ways this weekend. What non-Hawaii team involved in a game featuring at least one FBS team is taking the longest trip?
Note the question wording. Stony Brook is, for some reason, playing a road game against San Diego State.
- What about the shortest trip?
Duquesne could literally walk to their game at Pittsburgh. (Well done wesd2005)
- What about the shortest trip that crosses a state line?
The historical rivalry between Washington State and Idaho only requires a 10 mile bus trip. (Again, nice work wesd2005)
- Syracuse heads to Atlanta to take on Tennessee. What SEC team did Syracuse defeat in the Carrier Dome in what was the last time this team left the South for a non-conference game in over 30 years?
In 1991, #5 Florida was ambushed by #18 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, 38-21. It was Florida's only regular season loss. Syracuse was really good, finishing 10-2 on the year. The next time Florida left the South for a non-conference game was 2023 when they lost at Utah
- Miami and Notre Dame played several famous games in the 1980's so it feels like a rivalry is being renewed after a long pause. However they had a home-and-home in 2016-2017. What two schools that have played each other at least 20 times ARE meeting for the first time in over 30 years this weekend?
Virginia Tech and South Carolina have met 20 times, but none since 1991. South Carolina leads 11-7-2.
- There are two games this week that feature teams that share a head coach in their history (e.g. USC/Washington, Steve Sarkisian). In neither case is the coach active. Which one involves a coach who failed to live up to expectations at the second school?
Jim Donnan took Marshall to four FCS title games in a five year span (1991-1995) This included three straight showdowns with Jim Tressel's Youngstown State teams (Tressel won two of three). While he won over 2/3 of his games at Georgia, he never won an SEC East divisional title and went 1-4 against both Florida and Tennessee (and 2-3 against both Auburn and Georgia Tech).
- Which one involves a coach who is the winningest coach in the second school's history?
Dick Tomey is fondly remembered both at Hawaii and Arizona. While Arizona never made the Rose Bowl, Tomey and the "Desert Swarm" defense led the Wildcats to a share of the 1993 Pac-10 title, and Arizona did go 12-1 (losing only to Pac-10 champ UCLA) in 1998, finishing #4.
- RIDICULOUS NON-FOOTBALL QUESTION: There's a matchup between teams this weekend that have combined for ONE Final Four appearance combined. However, that team produced a future NBA Finals MVP. Identify this matchup.
In 1977, Charlotte (then UNC-Charlotte), in only their fifth year as a D-I school in men's hoops, made the Final Four behind star forward Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell. He dropped 25 and 13 on Michigan in the Elite Eight, before Charlotte fell in on a last second bucket that was basically the precursor to Christian Laettner's famous shot to beat Kentucky in 1992 (Seriously, the footage is grainy as hell but check it out). Maxwell would go on to a pretty good pro career that included being named Finals MVP in 1981 (though Larry Bird probably deserved it). Incidentally, second-year Charlotte coach Lee Rose stuck around for one more year before heading to Purdue where he led the Boilermakers to the 1980 Final Four. Rose left Purdue after only two years for South Florida, who doubled his salary.
