Columbus’ day is rivaled elsewhere

That game in Columbus, Ohio, is getting so much attention that it might be easy to forget that there’s a full slate of college football today, and rivalries besides Ohio State and Michigan are being renewed.

In fact, it’s intrastate day in many parts of the country. Auburn plays Alabama in the “Iron Bowl,” California visits USC with a Rose Bowl berth possibly on the line and Tennessee is trying to avenge last season’s embarrassing loss to Vanderbilt.

Indiana is trying to secure a bowl berth with a victory against Purdue, and Washington will be trying to prevent Washington State from improving its chances of getting one in the Apple Cup game.

A game between Illinois and Northwestern is for nothing but state bragging rights.

One of the nation’s longest-running rivalries will also be renewed today when Harvard and Yale meet for the 123rd time since 1875. The matchup was dubbed “the Game” in a 19th-century telegram and cemented as such by New York sportswriter Red Smith in the 1940s.

Both teams are still in contention for the Ivy League title, meaning they are far more focused on “the Game” than the other game in Ohio.

“It’s great to still be in the race,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. “But you don’t need any extra motivation in the Ivy League other than pride.”

Iron Bowl

Auburn has won the last four games against Alabama and if the Tigers win again today, it will be their first five-game winning streak against the Crimson Tide since 1954 to ’58.

The Tigers lost last week to Georgia, but have a longshot chance at winning the Southeastern Conference West Division title.

They are more interested in the state title, however.

“This is the game that counts. This is the game that everybody’s waiting on,” Auburn linebacker Will Herring said. “You can put everything behind us that’s happened this season. It’s going to be a great game, a hard-fought game, and history’s going to be made Saturday.”

Drop in the bucket

Usually, the Purdue-Indiana game is about a bucket. This year, it’s about a bowl.

This version of the game for the Old Oaken Bucket has added significance for the Hoosiers. If they beat their intrastate rival, they become bowl eligible and could play in a postseason game for the first time since 1993. Purdue already is bowl eligible, but the Hoosiers are aware of the significance of the 109th game in the rivalry.

“I’ve never played for something like this,” Indiana safety Will Meyers said. “It feels like I’m in the playoffs. If we win, we get to keep playing. We are really excited about the opportunity.”

Not playing for peanuts

Arkansas and Mississippi State don’t have a traditional rivalry, but that doesn’t make their game any less important to the Razorbacks, who can clinch the SEC West title with a victory.

“This is it. This is championship week,” Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said. “All emphasis will be put on this [game]. This is Super Bowl week. It’s this week and it’s in Starkville.”

The blame game

The Dallas Morning news reported this week that at least one Texas fan took last week’s loss to Kansas State pretty hard.

The paper said that “an unhinged Longhorn fan” allegedly threatened ABC analyst Doug Flutie in an e-mail, saying that Flutie had jinxed the ‘Horns by talking about them in the pregame show. The e-mail was sent to Flutie’s foundation for autism in Framingham, Mass.

Getting eligible

There are 32 bowls and, therefore, 64 slots for the qualifying teams in Division I-A. Through last week’s games, 54 schools had the required six victories. Another 17 teams are on the cusp of bowl eligibility with five.

He’s a keeper

Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel received a $225,000 annual raise and a three-year contract extension, locking him up through 2011. The contract guarantees Pinkel at least $1.3 million a year. The Tigers began 6-0 -- the team’s best start since 1973 -- and are bowl eligible for the third time in Pinkel’s four seasons. If the team wins its final two games, Missouri will finish with nine wins for only the fourth time in 116 seasons.

Press box Pa

Joe Paterno, recovering from surgery on his broken leg, will be watching his Nittany Lions play Michigan State at Beaver Stadium, but instead of pacing the sideline, Paterno plans to follow doctor’s orders, stay off his feet and watch the action from the press box.

“We are assuming that is where he would be, but you never know with him where he might end up,” defensive coordinator Tom Bradley joked.

Paterno missed last week’s game against Temple -- his first absence as a head coach since 1977.

Award season

The 10 finalists for the inaugural Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award: Mack Brown of Texas, Lloyd Carr of Michigan, Danny Hale of Bloomsburg, Bobby Petrino of Louisville, Greg Schiano of Rutgers, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, Jeff Tedford of California, Mel Tjeerdsma of Northwest Missouri State, Jim Tressel of Ohio State and Tommy Tuberville of Auburn. The winner will be announced Dec. 16.

Patrick Willis of Mississippi, James Laurinaitis of Ohio State and 2005 winner Paul Posluszny of Penn State are the finalists for the 2006 Butkus Award for linebacker of the year. The winner will be announced Dec. 9.

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-- Compiled by Peter Yoon

The Associated Press contributed to this report.