NCAA Football Weekend Primer: The Game of the Century (of the Week)

Just like their classic 1993 clash, Florida State and Notre Dame's game this weekend will have plenty of Heisman and national title implications.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

In the annals of college football, many games have been dubbed "The Game of the Century."

2006's Ohio State-Michigan game in Columbus comes to mind, and the 2011 Alabama-LSU game in Tuscaloosa is another recent example (there are plenty of others from both centuries), but the big one I remember, from when I was too young to fully understand coaches polls and bowl games, was when No. 1 Florida State traveled to South Bend to face No. 2 Notre Dame in 1993.

The Irish were the biggest name in college football, boasting a huge home field advantage, while the Seminoles were the hottest program in the land under Bobby Bowden, but still hadn't won a national title.

The Irish built a 31-17 lead and held on like crazy to defeat eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward and the Noles 31-24. Oddly enough, an upset loss to rival BC caused Notre Dame to lose the top spot in the polls just a week later, and it was Florida State that played new No. 2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for a national title, beating the Huskers on a last-second field goal.

After losing the game of the century, Florida State captured it's first national championship and became a national brand.

NCAA Football Weekend Primer: Heads Could Roll

Florida coach Will Muschamp (left) and Michigan coach Brady Hoke (right) are in dire need of a win this week.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

We had our first major college football head coach firing earlier this week, as the inevitable failure of Charlie Weiss at Kansas finally met its predictable end point.

After compiling a 6-22 record in just over two years of work at KU, including an abysmal 1-18 mark in Big 12 play, Weiss was relieved of head coaching duties at the major college level for the second time in five years. The supposed "offensive guru" was also fired from Notre Dame in 2009 after his Irish squads limped to a 16-21 record over his final three years, after qualifying for BCS Bowl games in his first two seasons.

Weiss getting the ax in Lawrence certainly wasn't a surprise, and there are several other coaches that could get canned sooner rather than later. So, I know we've got a great slate of games this weekend (more on that later), but let's take a look at all the guys coaching for their jobs over the next few days.

Coaches Feeling the Heat (and who they're playing this week)

In Must-Win Mode:

Michigan's Brady Hoke at Rutgers
Florida's Will Muschamp at Tennessee