Territory Cup; Saturday's Pick of the Day

It's Saturday the day college football fans can focus on football and not deal with the overload of weekday drama. I'll have my eyes on the Penn State game but only because I am an Ohio State alum and looking for the Buckeyes to stick it to the Nittany Lions. It's not a game I am going to bet on as my game is tonight in a rivalry I know a little something about, the Territorial Cup

What is the Territorial Cup, it's a battle for supremacy in the state of Arizona. These teams just flat out hate each other, fights are the norm on the field of play and expect to see a lot of yellow flags. For the Arizona Wildcats this is their bowl game, with high expectations heading into the season led by one of the top 5 quarterbacks heading into next year's NFL draft Nick Foles along with his favorite receiver another NFL ready player Javon Criner who is just the best of a very deep receiving corp that should face little resistance from the Sun Devil defense. The Sun Devils have the 92nd ranked pass defense in the NCAA this year. Not to be outdone the Wildcats have the overall 107th ranked defense so it should be a shootout tonight in Tempe. The total is indicative of no defense, all offense and a lot of points with an over/under of 70.

The history of this game is a tight one too with the last two games between these two hated rivals separated by only 4 points including Sun Devil come from behind victory last year in Tucson that sent the Wildcats on a slide that they have not forgotten and will be seeking sweet revenge.


Having lived in Tempe, Arizona and spent two years in Tucson I know that either team can win this game. For Arizona State a win means a possible tie with USC for the Pac 10 South and spot in the first Pac 10 Championship game. For Arizona they are 2-8 and this is their bowl game plus a chance to knock Arizona State out of the title game which is sweeter. When it comes to records in this game, they say throw them out and I have seen Rose Bowls destroyed in this game for both of these teams. In a toss up game the Sun Devils are favored by 10.5. consider it the best bet of the day and take the Wildcats +10.5. In a shootout neither team will get too far ahead the pressure is on the Sun Devils to win and they will probably play tighter and with the talent levels about the same the Wildcats will play much looser and if not win the game put a scare into ASU with the game decided in the waning moments.

Notice the picture, the kicker for Arizona State is about to plant the pitchfork in the A at the 50 yard line in Tucson after kicking the game winner in the 2010 ASU victory, this one is sticking in the minds of every Wildcat player wanting a piece of the Sun Devils.