Football does not get much better in late November. It can be a time of sheer joy or utter heartbreak, and I love it.

Whoever decided to play football games on Thanksgiving is a great American. There were three NFL games on Thursday, but only two of them were widely viewed because the third game was televised on the new NFL Network. Not very many people have the NFL Network. Next Thursday night, the premier game of the week is on the NFL Network; the Packers at the Cowboys.

Montana

And now there’s one: Two teams were left standing in Montana college football going into the weekend: The Montana Grizzlies and the Carroll College Saints. Now there’s one.

Those Terriers bite: The Wofford College Terriers from South Carolina came to Missoula and beat the Griz. As John Madden would say, “There’s no way a terrier should beat a grizzly.” But they did. The option game killed the Griz. The Griz were not prepared for a triple option threat. (Ever hear of going to a 3-4-4 defense, coach?) The Griz did nothing with three Terrier turnovers. The Griz had a chance at the end, but the 47-yard field goal sailed left in the frozen air to end the Griz playoff run. Heartbreaker.

Will Hauck and his staff be back next year, or move up to a bigger college? Time will tell.

On the frozen tundra: In Helena, Carroll College beat Morningside College of Iowa 27-16 in the quarterfinals of the NAIA playoffs. The first half of the game was kind of tough to watch on TV as the audio and the video cut in and out. It was finally fixed. Hopefully next week they can have the audio and video up to par from the beginning.

The Saints will host No. 5 St. Francis, Indiana, Saturday at noon.

Big Time College Football

Go Mizzou: In the most anticipated game of the season for many of us Missouri fans, the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks played Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri in front of 80,000 fans. It was a war.

The Jayhawks were ranked #2 and the Tigers #4 going into the game. The Tigers pulled out to a 21-0 lead and then held on to win 36-28. The Tigers are Big 12 North champs and play Oklahoma (Big 12 South champs) next Saturday night in San Antonio for the Big 12 Championship. The game will be telecast Saturday night at 6:00 pm on ABC.

Missouri controls their destiny, which will include a BCS National Championship game if they win Saturday. MIZ…ZOU!

The Others: #1 LSU lost to unranked Arkansas in overtime which ended their national title dreams. By the way, Hawaii is the only undefeated team left. The pollsters do not believe they play a tough enough schedule, so they are out of the BCS title shot. If they win their final game, they deserve a top five ranking in the BCS.

Here’s how the BCS top ten did this week:

1. LSU 10-1 –LOST
2. Kansas 11-0-LOST
3. West Virginia 9-1-WON
4. Missouri 10-1-WON
5. Ohio State 11-1 –Did not play
6. Arizona State 9-1 –LOST
7. Georgia 9-2 –WON
8. Virginia Tech 9-2-WON
9. Oregon 8-2 –LOST
10. Oklahoma 9-2-WON

Here are the new BCS Standings from Sunday afternoon:

1. Missouri 11-1
2. West Virginia 10-1
3. Ohio State 11-1
4. Georgia 10-2
5. Kansas 11-1
6. Virginia Tech 10-2
7. LSU 10-2
8. USC 9-2
9. Oklahoma 10-2
10. Florida 9-3

Here are my top Heisman candidates:

1. Darren McFadden (RB, Arkansas)
2. Tim Tebow (QB, Florida)
3. Chase Daniel (QB, Missouri)
4. Colt Brennen (QB, Hawaii)

Bowl Game Alert: There are about 32 bowl games this year, so 64 teams will make the “bowl show.” They start on December 20 and end on January 7. On January 1, there will be six bowl games. Oh boy!

Tackle Football for Money

I am 10-5 going into Monday night’s game. How about the game the Eagles gave the Patriots Sunday night? The Patriots are human, but still undefeated. It was a great game! The Patriots won 31-28. They are 11-0.

There were a few upsets this weekend. The Raiders beat the Chiefs for the first time in nine games. This is the Raiders’ first victory over an AFC West opponent in 17 games. Da Bears came from behind and beat the Broncos in overtime. Note to Broncos coach Mike Shanahan: Don’t kick to Devin Hester. The Bengals came to life to beat the Titans and the Vikings whipped the Giants. The 49ers beat the Cardinals in overtime.

From now on out, we’ll have games on most Thursday nights, a few Saturday nights, and then the regular Sunday games. Those games, along with the college bowl games will give us great football for the next six weeks!

Top Five NFL Teams

1. New England Patriots
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Green Bay Packers
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. Jacksonville Jaguars

Have a great sports week!