Five for the Weekend - October 2nd Edition

Here are the five I am checking out this weekend, plus Monday of course:

Wisconsin Badgers at Minnesota Golden Gophers (Saturday, 11 A.M. CST)
Ten years ago today, Wisconsin traveled to the "Horseshoe" in Columbus to play the 12th ranked Buckeyes and promptly fell behind 17-0. The Badgers promptly scored 42 unanswered points behind freshman Brooks Bollinger, in his first career start, for a 42-17 victory. I remember it well because it was my wedding day and many details of that day are still vivid, including the score being 17-6 when we got in the limo. The 1999 Badgers did not lose another game that season.

Fast forward to this weekend - what if this version of the Badgers does not lose another game? Would they even be in the BCS championship discussion? I know it is foolish to even speculate - I still think this is an 8-4 team. But until they lose, we can still dream.

Major League Baseball (all weekend)
Seven of the eight playoff spots are determined, but there are still a few unfinished items. Detroit has a magic number of 2, which should at least get them to a playoff on Monday. The Twins also draw Zack Greinke one more time. It looks like Detroit will be headed to the Big Apple. In the National League, the Rockies can steal the West with a sweep of the Dodgers. There may be no advantage to winning the division. I would be gunning for the spot that avoids St. Louis. Unfortunately, home field advantage between St. Louis and Philadelphia is not determined.

New York Jets at New Orleans Saints (Sunday 12 P.M. CST)
The surprise match-up of 3-0 teams this week. The unstoppable force against the immovable object? The Saints have the obvious offensive fire-power, but there defense has been surprising. The Jets defense has been the talk, but the Jets offense has done enough to win. This appears to be the game the Jets offense will need to do more than enough. Can GQ Sanchez do it? My guess is everyday man Brees will be smiling Sunday night.

Dallas Cowboys at Denver Broncos (Sunday 3:15 P.M. CST)
New England/Baltimore seemed too obvious. I want to find out if Denver is for real. Check out the Broncos schedule. We will find out very fast if they are real or impostors. It is easy to jump to the impostor conclusion, but there might be some Belichek magic on this team. I am going to hold judgement, at least for one more week.

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (Monday, all day, all night)
The most-hyped week 4 game in NFL history arrives Monday. It might be the only game ever with three large fan bases - Packer fans, Viking fans, and Favre fans. Do you know what games hyped this much usually turn into? Starts with a "d" and ends in an "ud". Many will point to the Packers not playing up to expectations thus far. A closer look at the Vikings would indicate the same thing, despite the unblemished record. The Packer fan in me fears this is the game the Vikings put it all together. The Packers fan in me hopes this is the game the Packers put it all together. The realist in me thinks the former is more likely. And to add insult to injury, an un-named 3 year old told me this week he wants Favre and the Vikings to win!! Ugh!!

Lock of the Weekend: The under on Washington and Tampa Bay.
Upset of the Weekend (College): Miami over Oklahoma
Upset of the Weekend (Pro): Baltimore over New England

Until the next one...