For the first time this year I'm actually less than enthused for this weeks slate. That being said this week should go a long way in answering some questions in the SEC, Big Ten, Big XII, ACC and Pac-12 through some very good conference games. (All times Central Standard and let me know what you think)
Saturday, October 14th, 2011:
#15 South Carolina at Mississippi State, 11:00 am, with the dismissal of embattled QB Stephen Garcia, current Gamecocks QB Connor Shaw no longer has to look over his shoulder while preparing and playing in games. Mississippi State has it's own quarterback controversy with as Chris Relf has really struggled to find his stride at the helm of the Bulldogs offense. I think this comes down to the more stable QB situation which, and this is hard to believe, is the Steve Spurrier led team. Winner: South Carolina 24-20 ATS: South Carolina -2.5
#11 Michigan at #23 Michigan State, 11:00 am ESPN, the battle for Michigan football supremacy and the Paul Bunyan trophy is an intriguing match-up from all sides. Michigan's offense is averaging 491.4 yards a game with 270 coming on the ground good for 14th and 7th respectively in the nation. Michigan State's defense ranks 3rd nationally against the run allowing 64 yards a game and 1st in total defense at 173.4 yards a game. Something has to give, but the biggest match-up may be the abilities of the Wolverine D vs. the Spartans O and which unit has shown the most improvement so far this season. Winner: Michigan 27-20 ATS: Michigan +2
#20 Baylor at #21 Texas A&M, 11:00 FX, is RG3 talented enough to lead this team to a top five team in a top heavy Big XII, is Texas A&M gonna finally fulfill the promise that we all saw in the preseason? This game will continue to clear the picture of these two teams and the season that await them. Winner: Texas A&M 38-27 ATS: Texas A&M -9
Indiana at #4 Wisconsin, 11:00 am ESPN2, last year the Badgers put up 80 on the Hoosiers, this year should be much of the same in Madison. Winner: 62-17 ATS: Wisconsin -40
#12 Georgia Tech at Virginia, 2:30 pm ESPNU, Virginia is a team climbing it's way back out of oblivion under the tutelage Mike London. Paul Johnson's Yellow Jacket team is one of the surprise teams out of the ACC this year. With Miami and Clemson coming up on the schedule I think this is a definite trap game for Georgia Tech on the road. Winner: Georgia Tech 27-24 ATS: Virginia +7.5
#6 Oklahoma State at #22 Texas, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN, the Longhorn's finish the Oklahoma portion of their schedule with a visit from the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. Unfortunately for Mack Brown's team the biggest weakness of his squad matches up with the greatest strength of the Cowboys which should make for a long day in Austin. Winner: Oklahoma State 55-31 ATS: Oklahoma State -7.5
#1 LSU at Tennessee, 2:30 pm CBS, if Tyler Bray were playing this game would be a "so you're saying there's a chance?" games for the Vols, unfortunately that won't be the case Saturday. LSU's defense will eat a young Vols offense alive. Winner: LSU 31-13 ATS: LSU -15.5
Ohio State at #16 Illinois, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN, this game will decide which team will battle PSU for the right to be #1 contender to Wisconsin in the Leaders division. If Braxton Miller plays in this game, which looks likely as of today then Ohio State has a shot to leave Champagne with a victory on Saturday. If he isn't I have little faith in Bauserman or the freshman that are below Miller on the depth chart to win this game. Winner: Ohio State 24-21 ATS: Ohio State +4
UCF at SMU, 2:30 pm, a game that has lost a little bit of it's luster from the start of the season but is a still a very enlightening non-AQ match-up this week in Texas. SMU looks to be a legit contender in C-USA after beating, an admittedly down, TCU and improving under June Jones every year. UCF was a preseason darling for fans and media alike and has been underwhelming to say the least so far this season, but can also make a difference in how Conference USA shakes out. Winner: SMU 41-31 ATS: SMU -3
#5 Boise State at Colorado State, 5:00 pm, after back to back contests against former and future conference foes Boise starts it's seven week run through it's Mountain West schedule. I think this is the first of at least four cakewalks in conference for Boise. Winner: Boise State 55-10 ATS: Boise -32
#2 Alabama at Mississippi, 5:00 pm ESPN2, the Mississippi Rebels are really bad and will battle Kentucky for title of worst in the SEC. Winner: Alabama 48-9 ATS: Alabama -25.5
#19 Virginia Tech at Wake Forest, 5:30 pm, both teams come in with one loss on the resume, but Virginia Tech's is in conference if it wants to avoid a similar fate to the Seminoles it would be advised to not take the Deacons too lightly this week. Winner: Virginia Tech 31-17 ATS: Virginia Tech -7
#17 Kansas State at Texas Tech, 6:00 pm, Kansas State is the surprise of the Big XII season so far with wins over Miami (FL), Baylor and Missouri the past three weeks but still don't seem to be getting any respect from most college football fans and analysts. Texas Tech is coming off a back door cover against the A&M last week and welcomes the Wildcats to Lubbock. I think Kansas State has some trouble with the high flying Tech offense but I have my doubts about the Red Raiders D. Winner: Kansas State 41-38 ATS: Kansas State +3
Florida at #24 Auburn, 6:00 pm ESPN, Florida is a young team on it's 3rd quarterback of the season, Auburn is young with it's original starter and have won big games this season. Florida will be able to get pressure on Auburn with their defense as they have had success with talented group to this point in the season but I think it all comes down to the effectiveness of the Gators offense on the road. Winner: Auburn 31-14 ATS: Auburn +2
#8 Clemson at Maryland, 6:00 pm ESPNU, Clemson takes a trip to a Maryland team that has had it's fair share of issues this season in the transition under Randy Edsall and no one embodies that more than Danny O'Brien. Clemson is having the most Clemson season in recent memory led by Tajh Boyd and an explosive group of talent surrounding him. Winner: Maryland 28-27 ATS: Maryland +8.5
Northwestern at Iowa, 6:00 pm BTN, Northwestern has dominated this match-up in recent years both at Iowa and at home. Iowa is coming off of a disappointing loss in a series in which it has been the more successful team recently, does the trend busting continue this week in Iowa City or do Dan Persa and company get back on track. Winner: Northwestern 31-28 ATS: Northwestern +6 P.S. if Iowa loses this game its chances of making the Big Ten Championship game go from slim to practically none.
#7 Stanford at Washington State, 6:30 pm Versus, Washington State is making strides toward being competitive in the Pac-12 but Stanford has Andrew Luck and a punishing defense. Winner: Stanford 52-17 ATS: Stanford -21
#3 Oklahoma at Kansas, 8:15 pm ESPN2, Kansas gave up 56 in the first half of the against Oklahoma State, Landry Jones and company should give that mark a run for it's money. Winner: Oklahoma 76-13 ATS: Oklahoma -34.5
#18 Arizona State at #9 Oregon, 9:15 pm ESPN, This match-up is intriguing because it should tell us something about both teams, however Arizona State hasn't won a big game in what feels like a decade and Oregon has been pretty much unstoppable in conference play the last couple years. Winner: Oregon 45-24 ATS: Oregon -16
Enjoy week 7 of the College football season and I'll see you soon to think fondly on this weekend's games.
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