2019 College Football: Week 8 - Viewing Guide and Picks

Week 7 is a good slate and we’re starting to see more and more games with conference, and divisional, implications. It’s an especially fun week in the Big 12, AAC, and Sun Belt.

Weekday Slate (Wednesday Thru Friday)

There are 7 games mid-week but they’re a mixed bag with a lot of, “alright, yeah that’s a football game”. That said a trio at least caught my interest.

Arkansas State at Louisiana (Thurs. 6:30 pm, ESPNU)

Louisiana is the best team in the Sun Belt West but thanks to their loss last week at the hands of Appalachian State they’re tied for second with Texas State and their opponent this week Arkansas State. Louisiana has the best unit on the field in it’s offense and Arkansas State has the worst (it’s defense) which means Louisiana at home with the advantage but little room for error.

Pittsburgh at Syracuse (Fri. 6:00 pm, ESPN)

Ohio State at Northwestern (Fri. 7:30 pm, FS1)

Both of these are different kinds of good bad games. Syracuse and Pitt are both inconsistent, have defied preseason expectations, and unfortunately for Syracuse both bad at offensive football. Dino Babers has all of the goodwill in Syracuse but one of the biggest surprises of the season is the lack of Syracuse offense. Ohio State-Northwestern is either going to be a bloodbath as Ohio State wades it’s way through the tall grass at Norhtwestern or is going to be incredibly ugly as Ohio State looks ahead to the Wisconsin game and Northwestern has a repeat of their slog against Wisconsin.

Home	Away	Home Rating	Away Rating	My Spread	Win%	Date	Time	TV
Troy	South Alabama	-9.265	-19.675	12.810	63.9%	10/16	19:00	ESPN2
Arkansas State	Louisiana	0.527	6.859	-4.136	54.8%	10/17	18:30	ESPNU
Stanford	UCLA	2.892	-11.007	17.361	68.7%	10/17	20:00	ESPN
FAU	Marshall	6.145	-7.102	14.506	65.7%	10/18	17:30	CBSSN
Syracuse	Pittsburgh	4.001	5.347	1.051	51.5%	10/18	18:00	ESPN
Northwestern	Ohio State	-4.523	32.269	-34.076	86.6%	10/18	19:30	FS1
Fresno State	UNLV	-4.081	-12.752	10.990	62.0%	10/18	21:00	CBSSN
Louisville	Clemson	4.724	27.349	-19.162	70.6%	10/19	11:00	ABC
Oklahoma	West Virginia	23.004	-2.632	30.741	83.0%	10/19	11:00	FOX
Arkansas	Auburn	-12.751	19.528	-28.235	80.3%	10/19	11:00	SECN
Connecticut	Houston	-21.315	-2.562	-17.243	68.6%	10/19	11:00	ESPNU
Ohio	Kent State	-11.600	-4.888	-4.399	55.1%	10/19	11:00	CBSSN
Boston College	NC State	-6.020	1.752	-5.007	55.7%	10/19	11:00	ACCN
Miami (FL)	Georgia Tech	-3.289	-14.259	14.878	66.1%	10/19	11:00	ACCN
Texas Tech	Iowa State	-2.338	10.287	-8.743	59.6%	10/19	11:00	FS1
Illinois	Wisconsin	-7.433	23.730	-28.615	80.7%	10/19	11:00	BTN
Iowa	Purdue	10.509	-3.799	18 .646	70.1%	10/19	11:00	ESPN2
South Carolina	Florida	4.226	15.869	-6.975	57.8%	10/19	11:00	ESPN
Bowling Green	Central Michigan	-15.464	-2.524	-11.332	62.4%	10/19	13:00	ESPN3
Ball State	Toledo	-3.528	-0.819	-2.166	52.7%	10/19	13:00	ESPN+
Miami (OH)	Northern Illinois	-5.476	-9.803	6.035	56.8%	10/19	13:30	ESPN+
Kansas State	TCU	4.463	5.053	3.490	54.1%	10/19	13:30	-
California	Oregon State	4.448	-8.533	15.427	66.7%	10/19	13:30	P12N
Georgia Southern	Coastal Carolina	-4.409	-8.755	6.102	56.8%	10/19	14:00	ESPN3
Wyoming	New Mexico	4.560	-13.996	20.372	71.9%	10/19	14:00	-
Washington	Oregon	16.051	14.861	5.540	56.3%	10/19	14:30	ABC
Maryland	Indiana	-2.126	3.574	-2.963	53.5%	10/19	14:30	BTN
Virginia	Duke	6.181	11.161	-2.547	53.1%	10/19	14:30	ACCN
Cincinnati	Tulsa	18.894	-7.706	29.175	81.3%	10/19	14:30	ESPNU
SMU	Temple	19.536	7.203	14.136	65.3%	10/19	14:30	ESPN2
Akron	Buffalo	-32.973	-11.258	-20.356	71.9%	10/19	14:30	ESPN3
Virginia Tech	North Carolina	-2.037	5.936	-3.820	54.4%	10/19	14:30	ACCN
Louisiana Tech	Southern Miss	4.101	4.157	1.841	52.4%	10/19	14:30	NFL
Navy	USF	4.585	-7.579	15.575	66.8%	10/19	14:30	CBSSN
Appalachian State	ULM	18.598	-4.699	26.138	78.1%	10/19	14:30	ESPN+
Mississippi State	LSU	1.931	24.762	-18.805	70.3%	10/19	14:30	CBS
Rutgers	Minnesota	-19.182	17.598	-33.873	86.4%	10/19	14:30	BTN
UAB	Old Dominion	2.767	-18.901	22.712	74.4%	10/19	15:00	ESPN+
Vanderbilt	Missouri	-14.721	10.945	-23.104	74.8%	10/19	15:00	SECN
Oklahoma State	Baylor	8.355	13.429	-1.218	51.7%	10/19	15:00	FOX
North Texas	Middle Tennessee	-12.785	-8.140	-2.610	53.2%	10/19	15:00	-
WKU	Charlotte	-1.139	-13.000	13.761	64.9%	10/19	15:00	ESPN+
UTSA	Rice	-16.726	-18.547	2.805	53.4%	10/19	17:00	ESPN3
Liberty	Maine	-1.274	-22.636	22.852	-	10/19	17:00	ESPN+
Georgia	Kentucky	15.287	0.187	20.343	71.9%	10/19	17:00	ESPN
Utah	Arizona State	17.672	10.774	10.765	61.8%	10/19	17:00	P12N
Texas	Kansas	9.993	-6.933	22.076	73.7%	10/19	18:00	LHN
UCF	East Carolina	7.375	-9.304	19.674	71.2%	10/19	18:00	CBSSN
Washington State	Colorado	-2.914	-1.430	1.671	52.2%	10/19	18:00	ESPNU
Eastern Michigan	Western Michigan	-4.871	0.309	-4.030	54.7%	10/19	18:00	ESPN+
Memphis	Tulane	9.552	10.791	0.836	51.3%	10/19	18:00	ESPN2
Georgia State	Army	4.851	-3.833	10.284	61.2%	10/19	18:00	ESPN+
FIU	UTEP	-10.130	-27.126	18.688	70.1%	10/19	18:00	ESPN+
San Jose State	San Diego State	-8.133	6.792	-13.965	65.1%	10/19	18:00	-
Penn State	Michigan	24.693	13.404	16.845	68.2%	10/19	18:30	ABC
Mississippi	Texas A&M	-1.975	2.767	-0.708	51.2%	10/19	18:30	SECN
Wake Forest	Florida State	6.242	4.216	4.863	55.5%	10/19	18:30	ACCN
Alabama	Tennessee	28.985	-7.918	42.415	95.7%	10/19	20:00	ESPN
USC	Arizona	6.390	3.388	6.765	57.5%	10/19	20:30	P12N
BYU	Boise State	-5.263	15.315	-16.823	68.2%	10/19	21:15	ESPN2
Utah State	Nevada	3.916	-5.180	11.390	62.4%	10/19	21:15	ESPNU
Hawaii	Air Force	6.689	3.428	4.661	55.3%	10/19	22:00	CBSSN

Early Slate (11:00 am)

No weird middle times early this week so just the 11 o’clock slate and it’s shallow but includes two bangers.

Iowa State at Texas Tech (11:00 am, FS1)

Hey, we still don’t know what the middle of the Big 12 is. Baylor is undefeated and has beating Iowa State who is tied with Texas at 2-1 in conference and a game up on Texas Tech who is 1-2. Tech’s offense has slowed from the Kingsbury era, but the both the offense and defense are top-45 nationally (I know arbitrary endpoints). Iowa State has a legit defense, a good enough offense, and a loss to a Baylor team that Tech took to overtime this week. This should be a fun game in the early slate when there isn’t much on.

Purdue at Iowa (11:00 am, ESPN2)

Iowa’s defense is legit, their offense isn’t, and I have no idea what Purdue is. So, keep an eye on this game as you watch the other two at this time. Also, both are 1-2 in conference and a loss all but knocks them out of the divisional race.

Florida at South Carolina (11:00 am, ESPN)

South Carolina is coming off a huge win over Georgia in which they got a lot of help from turnovers. They get Florida who’s coming off a decisive loss to LSU last weekend. Look for a return to normalcy on both sides and for Florida to roll.

Midday Slate (1:00 pm to 3:00 pm)

A really stacked midday slate with important games across the country.

TCU at Kansas State (1:30 pm, FSN)

Not the best game of the slate but the earliest. Kansas State needs this to have any chance of climbing back into the race for the second spot in the conference title game. At 0-2 in conference with losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State they already have a big hill to climb. TCU would join Kansas State at 1-2 with a loss and is one of the more inconsistent teams in the nation. Their two FBS wins are Purdue and Kansas, this game matters because it will tell us oh so much about both teams.

Temple at SMU (2:30 pm, ESPN2)

A tale of two styles brings the high-flying offense of SMU up against the a stereotypically stout Temple defense. Both teams are tied for their divisional lead and SMU remains undefeated on the season.

Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech (2:30 pm, NFL Network)

This is the battle for the sole lead of the CUSA West. Southern Miss can score and give up scores at will, Louisiana Tech has regressed on offense, but this should still be a good back and forth game with quite a bit more than many will realize at stake.

LSU at Mississippi State (2:30 pm, CBS)

Is there an LSU letdown/meltdown in LSU this year? A trip to Mississippi State is the place that stumble often occurred in recent seasons for the Bayou Bengals.

ULM at Appalachian State (2:30 pm, ESPN+)

App State is coming off a defeat of the other UL team and now get division leader ULM. This should be less of a test than ULL has against Arkansas State this week but still a letdown spot against ULM.

Duke at Virginia (2:30 pm, ACC Network)

This game matters for the Atlantic giving the winner a leg up on the road to Charlotte to play Clemson. Don’t watch this game without money on it or a pre-existing rooting interest.

Baylor at Oklahoma State (3:00 pm, FOX)

Unlike the aforementioned TCU/KSU game this one is the last because of start time but might be the best overall. Oklahoma State has looked solid this year in a bit of a surprise, while Baylor is the surprise in the Big 12 and one of the largest surprises in the country. If Baylor can handle the Cowboys all their focus goes to the look ahead spot on the road against rival TCU on 11/16, and then back to back home games against Oklahoma and Texas on 11/23 and 11/30 respectively. If they lose, well we’re back to a muddled mess in the middle of the conference of good, not great, teams.

Evening Slate (5:00 pm to 6:30 pm)

A good but not spectacular evening slate with important Pac-12, Big Ten, and AAC games.

Arizona State at Utah (5:00 pm, Pac-12 Network)

This one is going to be close, and that isn’t a compliment. The winner of this and the winner of USC-Arizona have a leg up, the loser of each game isn’t out of this because the Pac-12 South is what happens when you make an entire division out the middle of the Big 12. It should be fun.

Kentucky at Georgia (5:00 pm, ESPN)

Keep an eye on this one for the laughs, but Georgia should wreck Kentucky to keep pace with Florida. If it doesn’t, well Kirby is going to start feeling the heat a bit.

Tulane at Memphis (6:00 pm, ESPN2)

Memphis needs this game to keep pace with Tulane and SMU. They’re the best team in the division and the team most capable of taking UCF down in the conference but another loss is a back breaker and this is a must win at home. Tulane isn’t a pushover though and they’re one of the most pleasant surprises in the country this season.

Michigan at Penn State (6:30 pm, ABC)

If Penn State rolls, like they should, a couple things are on the table: 1) This is a three-team conference. 2) Harbaugh watch is officially, officially on.

Texas A&M at Mississippi (6:30 pm, SEC Network)

I think A&M is for real but the Arkansas contest sticks in my mind and Ole Miss is better than we thought they’d be. I don’t think A&M loses this, but this is the start of the lull in their schedule and a loss on the road could see a talented team with three losses spiral heading towards their meeting with Georgia and LSU at the end of the year.

Late Night Slate (8:00 pm to 10:00 pm)

A trio of important games and a traditional SEC rivalry.

Tennessee at Alabama (8:00 pm, ESPN)

Tennessee gets mad Saban who asked for a night game and got buried in a late (relatively) game against a traditional rival. Tennessee comes off an exciting win over Miss State and a positive result this week is probably keeping them inside 28 points.

Arizona at USC (8:30 pm, Pac-12 Network)

See the Airzona State-Utah blurb above, and enjoy a critical Pac-12 South game, with Khalil Tate, during #Pac12AfterDark.

Boise State at BYU (9:15 pm, ESPN2)

#MurderSmurfs (h/t @38Godfrey) heads to Provo to keep their undefeated streak alive. They haven’t been horribly efficient this year, but they took the wood to Hawaii last week and have a chance to do the same against a banged-up BYU.

Air Force at Hawaii (10:00 pm, CBSSN)

A tale of two styles with Hawaii’s spread and Air Forces triple option. Watch it for that, late-night Hawaii, and let it send you ff into a peaceful slumber.