Commentary: We saw two unbeatens go down last week, Clemson and Kansas State. The wildcats losing wasn't a huge shocker, but how bad they lost by was. Clemson falling in Atlanta shouldn't have been as much of a shock to me but it was. Vegas kept the line on the game close and I guess there is a reason why those guys live in big houses and I don't. The spread on Bama/LSU this week is higher (and favoring Bama by 5). Makes you wonder what they know.
Cheering for:
-Georgia Tech: I know it's my school and all, but damn that win last week was sweet! I know I had little faith in the team going into last week. Clemson was good, well still is good but the Jackets made them look overmatched last week. The defense has gotten a lot better, the offense looked like it was in early-season form and special teams held their own. Also, one of the more interesting parts of the win is an unofficial title now sits with the Jackets. If you do college football like you do boxing, where you become the champ when you beat the reigning champ, currently Georgia Tech is the champ! I've seen a few sites that follow this, one does it from the first game between Princeton and Rutgers, another with the first AP champ in 1936 (Minnesota for the record), and a third that started it with the 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers. All three "merged" at different points and Clemson had it until last weekend! Rest up Jackets and get ready for a title defense against the Hokies next Thursday!
Laughing at:
-Maryland: I think Ralph Friedgen is still available... well no he isn't for you. Nevermind. Nice 2-6 record there.
-Colorado: I don't blame Colorado for letting Dan Hawkins go. It didn't work out well despite the accolades he came in with. He was an experienced coach from outside the program coming in and didn't do well with a lot of things. It happens. However the Colorado administration went the exact opposite in their hire of Jon Embree. He played at Colorado but had little coaching experience (mostly just a positional coach wherever he was). Hawkins' tenure at Colorado started with a loss to 1-AA Montana State and rarely got any better. The first season they finished 2-10. Despite one bowl season, Colorado never finshed above .500. So far with Embree the Buffalos are 1-8, the one win against state rival Colorado State. The move to the PAC-12 hasn't helped like it should yet. Embree has a long way to go and the administration deserves this spot for the knee-jerk, short-sighted hire of Embree.
Feeling sorry for:
-New Mexico: one of two winless teams. The prospects aren't looking good this week either. 4-3 San Diego State hosts the Lobos this week. 2-5 UNLV visits next week though!
-Florida Atlantic: the other winless team. FAU was off last week so little suffering occured. This week the Owls host conference leader Arkansas State. The next two weeks have road trips to Florida International and Troy. Its not until the 26th when the Owls host lowly UAB and then host Louisiana-Monroe the following week that there are any real hopes for ending the streak.
Top 25: Boise State's SoS keeps rising, enough to push it higher than Oklahoma State. This weekend's LSU/Alabama winner will probably be at the top next week, can't say for sure yet. Tulsa makes an appearance despite three losses overall due to the fact that the three teams that Tulsa lost to have a combined one loss on the season (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State).
1) LSU
2) Boise State
3) Oklahoma State
4) Alabama
5) Stanford
6) Houston
7) Oregon
8) Penn State
8) Arkansas
10) Virginia Tech
11) Kansas State
12) Michigan
13) Nebraska
14) Clemson
15) Washington
16) Texas
16) Georgia
18) South Carolina
19) Oklahoma
20) USC
21) Tulsa
22) West Virginia
23) Auburn
24) Michigan State
25) Cincinnati
The picks:
-Florida State at Boston College: Thursday evening games are interesting to me due the psyche of the teams. The home teams get a national spotlight for an evening with little competition, a short walk from class straight to the game, and the chance to win now and relax over the weekend. The visiting team has a kink in the usual schedule, a trip to make (and a long one in this case) and a night game on an unusual day to travel to. If this were a Saturday game FSU would have no issues at all. Boston College has been terrible this season and a long bowl-streak may end. BC would have to win out just to extend that another year. It is motivation for sure, but it still won't be enough. FSU wins with a solid second half. FSU by 10.
-Chancellor's Spurs; Texas Tech at Texas: One thing that Tommy Tubberville is good at is playing the top teams. Two weeks ago Texas Tech pulled off a stunning upset of Oklahoma at Oklahoma. Tubberville has also been known for playing poorly against lesser teams. Last week the Red Raiders basically forgot to show up against lowly Iowa State. Tech was averaging 43 points a game going into that one and scored seven. This week is a little bigger than that one. After dropping two games against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Texas got things back on track beating up Kansas last week. I don't see Texas dropping this one at home. Texas by 7.
-Louisville at West Virginia: This series initially was thought of as a fight for the Big East title, though in the past couple of years that hasn't been the case. WVU has owned this series since Louisville joined the Big East in 2005. While Louisville is the "lover scorned" here since WVU got the Big 12 invite and Louisville didn't, it won't make enough of a difference here. WVU by 10.
-Michigan at Iowa: Michigan hasn't done well in the series the past couple of years, but then again Rich Rodriguez's tenure was filled with failure. Iowa lost an all time of a clunker last week to Minnesota, for the second year in a row. I think the Michigan offense takes advantage and wins a close one here. Michigan by 3.
-North Carolina at NC State: UNC has lost four in a row to the in-state rivals, and the (interim) head coach for UNC calls out NC State on its academics. Adding fuel to the fire? Now the game itself is another story. NC State had a horrible, ugly loss last week to FSU. UNC beat up a good Wake Forest team. Momentum would be with UNC now, but I think the motivation shifts to NC State right now. NCSU by 4.
-Texas A&M at Oklahoma: Look out everybody. Oklahoma is in "impress the voters" mode and A&M is in the path. Last time this occured OU routinely hung 60 on everyone to reach the Big 12 Championship/BCS National Championship game in 2008. A&M doesn't have a good passing defense, but has been able to hang with anyone. Oklahoma isn't Baylor or Texas Tech. OU rolls here, wins by 20.
-Louisiana Monroe at Lousiana Lafayette: Without knowing much about these teams, it appears that Lafayette is having the much stronger season, is still looking for the Sun Belt title. Monroe isn't doing so well. Lafayette by 10.
-Commander-in-Chief's Trophy; Army at Air Force: If Air Force wins here, the trophy is theirs! Army isn't have much of a year right now, doesn't appear to have the horses to keep up. Air Force by 14.
-South Carolina at Arkansas: The only times that South Carolina has managed to win this game lately is when Arkansas finishes with a losing record. That isn't happening this year, so South Carolina drops an important one. Arkansas by 10.
-Kansas State at Oklahoma State: The resounding thud you heard last week was Kansas State being brought down several levels by Oklahoma last week. It was close at halftime but wasn't close by the end. Oklahoma State will want to flex its muscle to show it can beat up a good team too and win big. Oklahoma State by 14.
-Oregon at Washington: Since the opening week loss at LSU, Oregon has quietly been having a fine season. They're not out of the title picture at all. Washington isn't bad, but isn't that good. Oregon wins by 14.
-Saban Bowl; LSU at Alabama: I'm having difficulty writing about this game. Well, I'm having a difficulty finding a difference between these two teams, other than the names on the jerseys and the coaching staffs. The only thing that seems to truly separate these two teams this weekend will be the fact that the game is at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. That's about it. Alabama by a touchdown.
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