College football schedule: An NCAA Tournament upset for one school playing in each time-slot today

Every week, while dozens of people across the country flock to their local “stadiums” to watch “football,” we will present a smarter alternative. Rather than pretending 15 minutes of action stretched out over three hours is fun, why not sit back and re-live some of the great NCAA Tournament upsets of all-time, featuring the same colleges that are taking the gridiron today?

Here’s the full schedule:

Noon:

NC State at No. 12 Florida State, ABC/ESPN2

Florida State has only played one game so far, so if you’re a Seminoles fan, I understand the urge to watch some football. If you’re not, perhaps I can interest you in the Sweet 16 game that sent VCU to an improbable regional final (which they then won). In this game, the Rams took down Florida State in overtime, 72-71, behind a Bradford Burgess layup in the closing seconds.

Afternoon:

No. 1 Alabama at Vanderbilt, CBS, 3:30 p.m.

I wonder if South Alabama fans were chanting “We want Bama! We want Bama!” on Selection Sunday 1989. Ponder this question and more while watching the Jaguars’ improbable first-round win over their in-state rivals. I guarantee it’ll be more entertaining than watching the football Crimson Tide steamroll the Commodores (or only win by three touchdowns because it’s a road game and Vandy is kind of good).

Late afternoon/Evening:

No. 8 Michigan at Purdue, FOX, 4 p.m.

This is as much of a no-brainer as I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong — Wolverine football is pretty good this year (I guess), but nothing (NOTHING!) is as good as watching some 1990 Loyola Marymount basketball. If you don’t know anything about this team, here’s a quick summary:

• The Lions played a run-and-gun style, often shooting within seven seconds, making for a high-scoring, high-flying offense.
• During the 1990 WCC Tournament, star Hank Gathers collapsed on the court later passed away. The WCC canceled the remainder of the tournament in light of the tragedy. The game below was the Lions’ second game after the fact, coming in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
• LMU advanced to the Elite Eight that year.

Here’s the Lions’ 149-115 (you read that right) win over Michigan:

Night Games:

Syracuse at No. 25 LSU, ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Syracuse basketball is really synonymous with one thing. It’s not Jim Boeheim. It’s not the Carrier Dome. It’s neither Carmelo Anthony nor Gerry McNamara.

It’s Vermont’s T.J. Sorrentine hitting a shot from the gosh darn parking lot.

So, rather than watching the Orange get trounced at LSU, watch them lose in gut-wrenching fashion in the first-round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament at the hands of the Catamounts. We head to Vimeo for this one, courtesy of Catamount Pride.

Part 1:

Part 2:

The Late Games:

UCLA at Stanford, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

We’ve already featured a scoring machine on here, so let’s give the exact opposite some time as well. Presenting Pete Carril and his vaunted Princeton Offense. The low-scoring, but highly disciplined system of constant motion, backdoor cuts, and high-percentage shots was on full display in the Tigers’ upset win over UCLA in 1996.

Enjoy the games, friends!