As much as you might hate the idea, week 6 is “Desperation Saturday”

It’s not exactly a secret: Many people don’t like ESPN.

This means many different things for various consumers and evaluators of ESPN content. To cite just one example out of many, a lot of people hate it when ESPN insists on applying a label to a given week’s slate of games.

Showdown Saturday.

Survival Saturday.

Separation Saturday.

I’ve seen, heard and read the complaints over the years. Trying to establish a narrative before the games begin, pigeonholing teams or conferences (or both) into certain categories.

I have a mixed view of this issue. I find the concept to be value-neutral; like many things in life, it depends on the execution. Sometimes, ESPN seems to force an issue or cram an expression down our throats without asking us. Other times, when the term for a given Saturday fits, ESPN exercises creativity in the attempt to build enthusiasm.

I know many reading this piece will disagree with that last point, but if a given weekend of college football does possess a certain theme or common thread, I see nothing wrong in applying a label.

In fact, ESPN, if you wanted to use a name for week six of the 2015 season, I’d offer this:

Desperation Saturday.

It just so happens to be that in several cases, two teams that are struggling in their (shared) conference face each other. In a few other instances, one team which is hanging on by a fingernail in its conference must stare down a difficult matchup. It’s the kind of Saturday in which teams in the middle tiers of conferences must decide whether they want to move to the top tier or sink to the lower class in their neighborhoods. Some teams were expected to be here, but many of them weren’t.

To add further complexity to this dynamic, some of the teams in trouble might have been expected to fall upon hard times this season, but even if they were, they’re playing opponents which have been more successful than most people thought.

Desperate times call for desperate measures in week six of the college football season.

Let’s take a quick look around the nation to explain what we mean:

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Oregon State was supposed to struggle this season. However, the Beavers’ opponent this Saturday, Arizona, was not supposed to be 0-2 in the conference after losing twice by an average of more than 30 points. Beavers-Wildcats is one of several games in week six which can be called an “aspiration killer.” The loser won’t have very much to look forward to the rest of the way — winning a rivalry game might become the only major goal left on the table.

Oklahoma State and West Virginia both have Baylor and TCU left on their Big 12 schedules. Neither team looked very good last week. Oklahoma State did win, but with Kansas State’s proliferation of injuries, it has to be at least somewhat alarming that the Cowboys had to play that game uphill for most of the first three quarters. The loser here drops into a very precarious position, especially if it’s the Mountaineers. West Virginia’s schedule rotation in odd-numbered years is brutal. Dana Holgorsen — or is it Hologram? — can’t afford to drop this contest.

In the SEC, Georgia and Tennessee fans are going to be bundles of nerves this Saturday. If the Bulldogs lose, they know they’ll have to run the table the rest of the way AND get help from Florida’s opponents in order to win the SEC East. Worse, the Dawgs will know that they aren’t very good (in the present tense) and would need to rally in a profound and unexpected way to salvage their season.

If Tennessee loses, the Vols’ season — in any truly meaningful sense — would be over. Other than that, everything’s going just fine for Butch Jones.

Above, I referred to an instance in which a team might have been expected to struggle, but is playing an opponent which has performed a lot better than expected. What’s an example of this situation? Missouri hosting Florida. The Tigers might not have been a convincing pick in the SEC East this year, but Florida has clearly exceeded expectations. If Georgia-Tennessee feels like a “last stand” kind of game for the Vols, Florida-Missouri is the same creature as far as the Tigers are concerned.

Staying in the SEC for one more game, Arkansas — bloodied, beaten and battered, but able to win at Tennessee last week — gets one more chance to change the way in which it will be remembered this season. If the Hogs can win in Alabama and send shockwaves through the college football world, Bret Bielema can say with some legitimacy that the reports of his program’s demise were greatly exaggerated. A loss, however, would indeed reduce the Razorbacks’ division title chances to a grain of salt.

In the ACC, Georgia Tech gets one last major chance to change the trajectory of its unraveling season when it goes to Clemson, a team that’s going to be favored to win every remaining game it plays (barring key injuries, of course). Miami’s situation is very similar to Georgia Tech’s; the Hurricanes could instantly transform their season on the road at Florida State, but it’s going to be very hard to do so.

In the Big Ten, Wisconsin-Nebraska could be the showcase game on “Desperation Saturday.” Two first-year head coaches who were both seen as substandard hires have been as unsuccessful as most people thought they’d be. The loser of this game will see a season torn to shreds. The winner of this game won’t earn leverage so much as it will survive to play another day in the Big Ten without being buried in the West division standings.

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Desperation Saturday — call it a contrived theme or label if you want, but the matchups in week six just happen to involve a number of teams that have already reached a point of no return this season.

About Matt Zemek

Editor, @TrojansWire | CFB writer since 2001 |

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