On the Line: The final Bedlam, Jimbo vs. Lane Train, Bama vs. LSU and everything else up for grabs this college football weekend

The final Bedlam. The Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry (first game: 1904) is older than the state of Oklahoma (1907). The state will endure after Saturday, but the rivalry will not.

Bedlam is (was?) the most lopsided rivalry in college football, a 91-19-7 OU advantage. And while the Sooners have taken seven of the last eight and 17 of the last 20, the actual games themselves are competitive more often than not, because Bedlam has Big 12 championship implications more often than not.

That's the case this season, with the winner overwhelmingly likely to reach the Big 12 title game; No. 9 OU's remaining opponents are 7-8 in Big 12 play, No. 22 OSU's are 3-12. 

Obviously, this game centers around stud Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II. If he can approach 300 scrimmage yards, it's anyone's game. If not, it's tough to see the Pokes winning. A high bar to clear, surely.

But I'm equally curious about the atmosphere at this game (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). It'll be like a family reunion, if everyone knew it was the last family reunion. See: this quote from Oklahoma State-turned-OU DE Trace Ford.

That grudge you've been nursing for the past 15 years? Get it off your chest now or forever hold your peace.

What's the highest-scoring Bama-LSU game ever? That's the question on my mind as No. 14 LSU visits No. 8 Alabama (7:45 p.m. ET, CBS). 

The answer is, no surprise, LSU's 46-41 shootout win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa back in 2019. Joe Burrow went 31-of-39 for 393 yards (plus 64 rushing) with three touchdowns and no interceptions that day, and it feels like Jaylen Daniels needs a similar effort for LSU to emerge with a victory. 

I expect LSU to score because the Tigers are really good offensively: they lead the nation in yards, yards per play, and points. I expect Alabama to score because the Tide are good at the deep ball (9.6 yards per attempt, 7th) and LSU isn't good in the secondary even when healthy (7.6 ypa allowed, 85th). 

An Alabama win all but wraps up the Tide's 10th SEC West championship of the Nick Saban era, and an LSU win either puts the Tigers in first or in a 3-way logjam (see below). 

Another round of Lane Kiffin vs. Jimbo Fisher. Texas A&M's visit to No. 10 Ole Miss has SEC West title implications (both need an LSU win over Alabama Saturday night), but the standings are a secondary concern. This is a chance to see Lane tee off on Jimbo yet again.

This week, Lane called A&M "the most talented 5-3 team ever."

After Jimbo referred to Lane as a clown last season, Lane said following his team's victory, "Maybe Jimbo has a Joker outfit for me."

Lane in 2022: "It's basically like everyone's got different salary caps. I joked the other day, 'Are they gonna implement a luxury tax on Texas and Texas A&M?'"

Ahead of their 2022 game, Lane said this on losing defensive coordinator DJ Durkin to the Aggies: "We tried to keep him... We got outbid. Kind of a common theme with that program."

Lane even has a habit of bringing Jimbo into conversations he's not party to. For instance, he said this after going for numerous fourth downs in Ole Miss's Texas Bowl loss last December: "We read the (analytics). When it doesn't work, everyone says they are stupid. So, Jimbo will be happy today, the book didn't work."

Of course, if we were to bring tweets into this, we could fill this entire page. Here are two choice selections.

How much of this is Lane's true feelings and how much is simply Lane playing the character he created for himself? Probably a little of both.

But either way, it wouldn't work if Lane's team didn't back it up on the field. Lane is 2-0 against Jimbo (A&M and Ole Miss didn't play in 2020), winning 29-19 in Oxford and 31-28 in College Station. In 2021, Ole Miss racked up 257 rushing yards and 247 passing on 93 plays; the Rebels threw for only 140 yards last season, but only because they rushed for 390. The 31-28 victory at Kyle Field last season was Ole Miss's only win after Oct. 15. 

The key matchup in this year's tilt is the Rebels rushing offense against A&M's top-15 rush defense. 

Ole Miss has to go to No. 2 Georgia next week so any SEC championship talk should likely wait until after that, but a win here puts the Rebels on track for a 10-2 season and a New Year's Six bowl berth. 

Texas A&M's season is hanging in the balance between a successful season and an unsuccessful one. Four weeks from now, the Aggies could well be 9-3, ranked in the Top 15 and feeling great about where things stand heading into 2024. They could just as easily be 7-5, and 0-5 against the five best teams on their schedule. 

And who knows, this could even be the last time we get to see a Lane-Jimbo showdown. 

Additional Games: 

-- TCU at Texas Tech (7 p.m. ET Thursday, FS1): Both teams entered the year with hopes of making it to Arlington, and the loser likely won't make a bowl game. Heck, the winner isn't in the clear, either. TCU is 4-4 with Texas and OU still to come; Tech is 3-5 with trips to Kansas and Texas still ahead.

-- South Alabama at Troy (7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN2): A Sun Belt West elimination game for South Alabama. USA is one of four divisional teams sitting at 2-2, while Troy leads the pack at 3-1. 

-- Boston College at Syracuse (7:30 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN2): Syracuse is 4-4. The Orange won their first four games by margins of 65, 41, 15 and 13; they've lost their last four by 17, 33, 38 and 28. A close game might do the heart good. BC can clinch the first bowl trip of the Jeff Hafley era (the Eagles qualified in 2020 and '21, but neither bowl game was actually played) with a win.

-- Colorado State at Wyoming (8 p.m. ET Friday, CBS Sports Network): In the far-flung Mountain West, Laramie and Fort Collins are only an hour's drive apart. CSU leads this rivalry 59-50-5, but Wyoming has won two in a row and six of seven. A win sends Wyoming to a bowl game, and a loss means Colorado State would have to win out to reach the postseason.

-- No. 1 Ohio State at Rutgers (noon ET, CBS): Ohio State is the CFP's No. 1 team for the first time since Dec. 3, 2019; Rutgers (6-2, 3-2 B1G) looks to ruin that by beating the scarlet and gray for the first time in 10 tries.

-- No. 23 Kansas State at No. 7 Texas (noon ET, Fox): The other de facto Big 12 semifinal, 4-1 K-State visits 4-1 Texas for the final time ever. The voters see Kansas State as a fringe top 25 team, but the computers see K-State as a top 15, or even a top 10, outfit. The Wildcats enter Saturday having won their last nine and a half quarters 103-3, but K-State has been a different team at home, and Texas surrenders 10 points per game at home. This will be a line of scrimmage game.

-- No. 15 Notre Dame at Clemson (noon ET, ABC): It feels like Clemson puts its manhood on the line every week, but what we have here is a 4-4 team that's 5-7 in its last 12 against Power 5 competition taking on a solid Notre Dame squad. At some point we'll stop being surprised when Clemson loses. 

-- Nebraska at Michigan State (noon ET, FS1): Nebraska's 6-year bowl-less streak can finally end with a win over walking corpse Michigan State. The Huskers can also maintain their tie for first in the B1G West, but first things first.

-- Jacksonville State at South Carolina (noon ET, ESPNU): I like the Gamecocks to take this one.  

-- Army at No. 25 Air Force (2:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network): Air Force clinches its 22nd Commander-in-Chief's Trophy (and second consecutive) with a win. AFA last won two straight C-I-Cs in 2010-11.

-- Louisiana at Arkansas State (3 p.m. ET, ESPN+): Both UL and A-State are 2-2 in Sun Belt play, so this is likely an elimination game in the race to keep pace with Troy in the SBC West. 

-- No. 12 Missouri at No. 2 Georgia (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): It's Mizzou's biggest game since the 2014 SEC Championship, and simply the next big game for Georgia. The 2-time defending SEC champions have quietly climbed to sixth nationally in yards per play, topping seven a snap in their last three games. Brady Cook, Luther Burden III and Cody Shrader will have to play the games of their lives for Mizzou to win, but the goods news is if the Tigers' triplets do play the games of their lives, Mizzou may very well win.

-- Georgia Southern at Texas State (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+): Georgia Southern looks to maintain its lead in the Sun Belt East; Texas State looks to secure the first bowl trip in program history. 

-- No. 21 Kansas at Iowa State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN): If it's possible for a conference to play three semifinal games, the Big 12 will on Saturday. Iowa State is one of five teams tied atop the standings at 4-1, while KU lurks behind at 3-2. 

-- No. 5 Washington at No. 20 USC (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC): Is this the last gasp of relevancy for USC? A loss means the Trojans are out of the Pac-12 title hunt, out of the Top 25, and out of the minds of Angelenos who would gladly turn the page to LeBron's Lakers and James Harden's Clippers. And will a return to the spotlight inspire Washington to play a better game than it did in wins over Arizona State and Stanford? 

-- No. 19 UCLA at Arizona (10:30 p.m. ET, FS1): An elimination game in the Pac-12 (both teams are 3-2) and a chance for Jedd Fisch to take Arizona bowling for the first time since 2017. The Wildcats are 3-1 at home this year, the one loss coming by a touchdown to Washington.