Alright,
sorry about last week, time just got away from me and I didn’t get it finished
but I’m back this week and ready to go. Starting this week I’ll have
predictions for all the undefeated teams. Heading into week 8 the list is Ohio State, Baylor, TCU, Utah, Clemson, LSU, Michigan State, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Toledo,
Houston, Temple, and Memphis. The
bolded teams all have games this week and are subsequently bolded below.
Because I didn’t pick last week I don’t get to brag about my Memphis pick and
that’s just a god damn shame so I’ll try not to embarrass myself this week.
Thursday,
October 22nd, 2015
#22 Temple at East Carolina (-2.5),
6:00 pm ESPN2
Georgia
Southern at Appalachian State (-6.5), 6:30 pm ESPNU
#20
California at UCLA (-3), 8:00 pm ESPN
This
is a pretty damn good Thursday night set, and a great way to kick off the
weekend. No offense to the Tuesday night game. Kicking off the evening we have
our first undefeated team of the week; Temple. Temple heads down the coast to
take on an East Carolina team that has losses to Florida, Navy, and BYU. The
Pirates also beat Virginia Tech and Tulsa. Temple has started slowly the last
couple of week and against bottom feeders isn’t an issue but against an offense
like ECU’s and you can find yourself in a bitch of a whole quickly. I think Temple takes care of business,
but never gets comfortable 31-28.
Second is the game I’m most interested in this week. Yes, there are bigger
names involved in games, and one top 25 matchup, but this is going to be as
high a level of games as any this week. Both teams come in 5-1 with their only
losses coming by greater than four TDs to Power 5 teams. Georgia State followed
that up by thrashing WMU by 26 and the rest of their schedule by an average of
27.25 points. Appalachian State lost to Clemson in game two but took the hammer
to the rest of their schedule by 37.67. Both have knocked the pants off their
non-power 5 schedule. I picked Georgia Southern to win the Sun Belt pre-season
and I don’t see a reason to go away from them 38-35 Eagles. Lastly, is the game that will catch the eyes of
the casual fan as they go to sleep and prepare for their Fridays. Cal is a week
removed from a close loss on the road at Utah and take on a team that’s had
trouble protecting their freshman QB and overcoming a bevy of injuries on
defense. Both teams are going to score, almost at will, and last team with the
ball will win. UCLA 45-42.
Friday,
October 23rd, 2015
#18 Memphis (-10.5) at Tulsa,
7:00 pm ESPN
Friday
brings us to our second undefeated team of the week in Memphis who comes off a
great win over Ole Miss. Memphis wanders in post-upset into Tulsa where the
opposing team can score points in bunches. If Memphis comes in sleepwalking,
much like Temple, they’re playing a team that can put them in a big whole that
won’t be easy to climb out of. Memphis
38-35.
Saturday,
October 24th, 2015
#6 Clemson (-6.5) at Miami (FL),
11:00 am ABC
Iowa
State at #2 Baylor (-37),
11:00 ESPN
#21 Houston (-21.5) at UCF,
11:00 am
The early
slate features three undefeated teams, against inferior opponents. Baylor and
Clemson are a week ahead of their look ahead contests heading into a ridiculous
three game stretch for Baylor and Florida State for Clemson. Houston for their
part has Vanderbilt next week, but also has the easiest test of the three. I’m
not seeing the makings of upsets here, but Clemson has the toughest test on the
road. Give me Clemson 38-24, Baylor 52-13, and Houston 45-10.
#19 Toledo (-14.5) at UMASS,
2:00 pm ESPN3
Texas
Tech at #17 Oklahoma (-14.5), 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2
Indiana
at #7 Michigan State (-16.5),
2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2
Tennessee
at #8 Alabama (-15.5), 2:30 pm CBS
Kansas
at #14 Oklahoma State (-33.5), 3:30 pm
The
afternoon slate has intrigue, #ChaosTeam (h/t @Adam_Jacobi), and two undefeated
teams. Oklahoma State is
going to romp Kansas, 41-7.
Toledo-UMASS and Michigan State-Indiana strike me as similar scripts for
different reasons. For Toledo, that reason is the trap game. UMASS is fine, they’re
not great but they aren’t bad and with Northern Illinois coming up and a chance
to keep them out of the MAC West race, Toledo might get caught looking. Not to
mention the increased pressure of continuing to be undefeated. Toledo 38-34 in some good ol’
fashioned #MACtion. Michigan State is coming off the Blunder in the Big House,
The Big House Blunder, Fail to the Victors, or whatever else you want to call
it. There is bound to be a letdown, and that letdown just so happens to be
against a team that has no idea what it is, but is going to send their game
each week into fucking chaos. Michigan
State beats Indiana, beats 24-23,
but it ain’t gonna be fun Sparty fans. Texas Tech-Oklahoma and
Tennessee-Alabama are similar matchups. TTU and Tennessee have given very good
teams good games at home and have looked close to being dangerous, but don’t
have the results to show for. Both are dangerous and provide tricky obsticles
but both are probably a year away from beating the bigger branded team in their
respective conferences. Oklahoma
45-38 and Alabama 31-27.
#9 Florida State (-6.5) at Georgia Tech,
6:00 pm ESPN2
#15
Texas A&M at #24 Ole Miss (-6), 6:00 pm ESPN
WKU
at #5 LSU (-16.5),
6:00 pm ESPNU
#3 Utah at USC (-3.5),
6:30 pm FOX
#1 Ohio State (-21) at Rutgers,
7:00 pm ABC
The
evening slate has, a game that was gonna be a great, a game that should have
been great, a game where we get to watch an all-timer, and a game with USC and
a game with Rutgers. Ohio State
38-13 and LSU 41-31. LSU
will be tested, but Ohio State won’t. Florida State-Georgia Tech is
disappointing because Georgia Tech looks atrocious, but, outside of Clemson, I
think Tech is the toughest test in conference for Florida State. Tech runs a
funky offense (triple option), has talent on defense, but has fallen apart, but
just when you think you have Georgia Tech buried they come back and beat that
ass. I think Florida State wins but it stays too close for comfort, 24-20 Florida State. A&M-Ole
Miss is a pair of teams who have disappointed their fan bases after early
season high water marks. Both are coming off disappointing performances, Ole
Miss a loss at Memphis and A&M
a loss at home against Alabama. I think we see points in droves, but with
Nkemdiche recovering from a concussion I’ll support the Myles Garett led
defense, 45-41. Lastly we have the Utah
Utes taking on the Trojans in a must win for USC, and a knockout a challenger
game for Utah. I think Utah follows the Notre Dame game plan and runs it straight
ahead with deep shots by Tyler Wilson. USC fought back last week and will play
with heart, but there is too much dysfunction in L.A. for USC to contend with. Utah takes an early stranglehold
on the Pac-12 South 31-27.
Washington
at #10 Stanford (No line as of posting), 9:30 pm ESPN
Lastly
Stanford-Washington, where Stanford shuts down the Huskies and win ugly.
Nothing else to say here, enjoy the week. Stanford
20-6.
