Right now, in late August and just days before the college season opens, you know the biggest games of the year, the ones that ostensibly could shape the national championship picture: Alabama-LSU. USC-Oregon. Oklahoma-West Virginia. Florida State-Virginia Tech.
Those types of games. But although those might present the most danger for potential title contenders, sometimes it's the next tier of challenges that ends up derailing title hopes. Just ask Oklahoma (Texas Tech, Baylor) in 2011 and Alabama (South Carolina) in 2010 .Here is a look at the games that are slightly below the radar and most likely to serve as roadblocks in the BCS championship runs of the top eight teams in the preseason AP poll.
1. USC Trojans
Obvious: Oregon, Nov. 3Less obvious: at Utah, Oct. 4
The potential of two meetings with the Ducks is what has the West Coast buzzing, but the Trojans had better be on full alert for a Thursday night game at Utah.
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Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
