This Weekend in College Football: Week 10

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Oklahoma @ Iowa State (ABC): It’s not unprecedented for Iowa State to pull off an upset of this magnitude, but that doesn’t make it any less unlikely.
  • Temple @ Louisville (ABC): Can Louisville remain the Big East’s only somewhat competent team? Probably.
  • Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Mississippi State (ESPN): Mississippi State’s 15th ranked scoring defense should continue to suffer against the second team on its schedule capable of scoring points.
  • Missouri @ Florida (ESPN2): The Gators would probably have to turn the ball over, like, twelve times to lose to this bunch of Tigers.
  • Vanderbilt @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Vandy can, and should, put itself in a very good position to make it a bowl game for a second consecutive season. How many times have the Commodores done that, though? None.
  • Houston @ East Carolina (FSN): Neither of these teams can play defense to save their lives, but Houston’s offense is slightly more proficient and should get them the victory in the end.
  • Air Force @ Army (CBSS): I keep forgetting that Air Force actually lost to Navy last month and so this will not decide the Commander-In-Chief’s trophy. Nonetheless, Army is still not any position to win it themselves.
  • Michigan @ Minnesota (BTN): Time for more wacky Big Ten hijinks! Whee! Michigan probably wins.
  • Troy @ Tennessee (SEC/FSN): Tennessee isn’t bad enough to lose to Troy, are they? Probably not.
  • Tulsa @ Arkansas (SEC): A few years ago, the Golden Hurricane liked to sling the ball all over the place, but these days they’re 9th in rushing and only 86th in passing. I realize that Arkansas is just plan not very good but I still find it exceedingly difficult to pick against them.

12:30:

  • Georgia Tech @ Maryland (ACC): Maryland is playing a linebacker at QB this week, but our defense has had the unfortunate tendency to make opposing quarterbacks look several times more competent than they actually are. Maryland also sports a pretty good rushing defense, the likes of which have given us fits this season.
  • Virginia @ North Carolina State (ACC): NC State should be able to regroup after a devastating, last-minute loss to UNC last weekend.

2:00: Stanford @ Colorado (FX): If you’re the sort of person who likes disaster based reality TV shows, then this will be the football game for you.

3:00: Texas Christian @ West Virginia (FOX): WVU looks to get back on the right side of the ledger, after going 0-2 in their last two games. The main thing both those games was playings teams that aren’t awful at defense. TCU isn’t either, but if the Mountaineers can get any sort of offensive foothold at all they should prevail.

3:30:

  • Mississippi @ Georgia (CBS): UGA won’t need six turnovers to beat Ole Miss.
  • Nebraska @ Michigan State (ABC/ESPN2): Nebraska, probably? It’s the Big Ten, so we’re pretty much just guessing at this point.
  • Texas @ Texas Tech (ABC/ESPN2): When was the last time TTU was favored against Texas? It has to have been awhile. Though in the Big 12, giving a team seven points is basically betting they’re going to get the ball last. Nonetheless, I think the Red Raiders can pull it off.
  • Illinois @ Ohio State (ESPN): There are no certainties in the Big Ten, other than that Ohio State will find the most excruciating ways to win, such that it continues to make the rest of the conference look bad. If you’re not sure what I mean, the usual conversation goes something like this: “Ohio State is clearly the best team in the Big Ten.” “Yeah, but they’re not eligible for the title! And they only beat the Indiana schools by a combined 10 points!” “Well, that just makes everyone else look even worse, doesn’t it?”
  • Pennsylvania State @ Purdue (ESPNU): Speaking of Purdue, they lost by 16 to Minnesota last week. Whoops! They’ll probably lose to Penn State, too.
  • Kansas @ Baylor (FSN): Kansas is Baylor’s first, and perhaps best, hope for a Big 12 victory this season.
  • Florida Atlantic @ Navy (CBSS): Navy should be able to lock-up a trip to San Francisco with ease.
  • Iowa @ Indiana (BTN): Reminder: Iowa has a .500 record in the year so far, including two Big Ten wins, and has the nation’s 107th ranked scoring offense. Big Ten Football! Feel the excitement! They should probably still win, though if their defense has an off day against the Hoosiers there should be no way they can keep up.
  • Boston College @ Wake Forest (ACC): I’m going with Wake since they managed to actually beat Army this year.

7:00:

  • Oregon @ Southern California (FOX): USC picked the wrong time to fall asleep on defense last week. If they do the same again here, this game will over by halftime. That said, I think USC will be able to keep up, at least for a bit, but Oregon should pull away in the second half.
  • Clemson @ Duke (ESPN2): Duke lost 48-7 to FSU last weekend, except similar here.
  • Connecticut @ South Florida (ESPNU): This is a matchup of the two worst teams in the Big East. Remember, Temple is in the Big East again. Yeah.
  • Southern Methodist @ Central Florida (CBSS): This is probably the second most compelling game on if Oregon gets up on USC by like 4 touchdowns before the next set of games start. Except for a slip-up against Tulane, both of these teams have marched through C-USA without meeting much resistance. Nonetheless, UCF should prevail.

8:00:

  • Oklahoma State @ Kansas State (ABC): Kansas State is pretty darn good. Oklahoma State is currently one of the best two-loss teams in the country, but they’re probably about to become the best three loss team.
  • Alabama @ Louisiana State (CBS): It’s a night game in Baton Rouge. That is usually enough for the Tigers, but it probably won’t be against this juggernaut of a football team. Alabama is actually competent offensively, and the first team to 14 points could well win this game. With the right combination of luck, we know LSU can prevail (see: last year’s regular season matchup), but I think Alabama will work diligent to make sure that on this night, luck won’t matter.

10:30:

  • Arizona State @ Oregon State (ESPN2): I got it in my head last weekend that I actually liked Arizona State to win the Pac-12 South, but I keep forgetting that they actually lost to UCLA. Whoops. Anyway, I actually still like them against the Beavers simply because the Sun Devils will be the best team they’ve played so far this year.
  • San Diego State @ Boise State (CBSS): Boise State continues its quest for a darkhorse run at a BCS game, which should make for good enough reason to find the CBS Sports Network in and of itself. If it doesn’t, or you hate the blue turf, then it’s a good enough reason to bring up the GameTracker or some such. I think the Broncos will win, but this is their stiffest test since their opener.