As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.
Noon:
- Georgia @ Georgia Tech (ABC): TO HELL WITH GEORGIA
- Ohio State @ Michigan (FOX): All right, it’s hard to think of anything to say about this game that hasn’t already been said. If you don’t have a rooting interest in any of these other games, this is probably where you want to me. I like Ohio State, but boy howdy is it super dependent on which version shows up.
- Florida State @ Florida (ESPN): Ugh. Uh, FSU? Florida has looked completely checked out the past two weeks.
- Indiana @ Purdue (ESPN2): Purdue had a kind of out-of-nowhere result last week with an upset at Iowa, and I like them to continue the trend at home against the Hoosiers.
- Kansas @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Kansas is capital-B Bad.
- East Carolina @ Memphis (ESPNU): Unless Memphis isn’t awake for this 11 AM local time start, or is just looking ahead to UCF next week, they shouldn’t have any issues here.
- Connecticut @ Cincinnati (ESPNEWS): Ugh. Uh, Cincy?
- Louisville @ Kentucky (SEC): The Fightin’ Lamar Jacksons seek revenge for last year’s demoralizing loss, and once again you’d have to predict them to win.
- Tulane @ Southern Methodist (CBSS): Maybe keep an eye on this one, this could be lit. Though if that happens, that would definitely be in SMU’s favor.
12:20: Boston College @ Syracuse (ACC): Boston College figures to continue their late-season surge, while the Orange have been doing pretty much the opposite.
12:30: Duke @ Wake Forest (ACC/RSN): Despite I watched what Duke did to my own team last week, I still like Wake a lot here. They’re a better all around team.
3:30:
- Alabama @ Auburn (CBS): You could pretty much make this a bracket. The winner here plays Georgia in the SEC championship, and the winner there makes it into the playoff. Who will win? Auburn has looked fantastic since they lost to LSU, a string of 30+ point wins in their wake (including demolishing Georgia earlier this month). Bama has, of course, been Bama, but here’s the thing: who have they played? Their best win is either LSU or Mississippi State, which isn’t quite a Georgia-quality win at this point. I still take the view that you bet against the Tide at your risk, but this is the most vulnerable Alabama team in years.
- Wisconsin @ Minnesota (ABC): After losing to Northwestern, it’s safe to say the boat is pretty much sunk for Minnesota. I like the Badgers to retain the Axe here.
- Iowa State @ Kansas State (ESPN2): Not technically a rivalry, though it does have a fun nickname (“Farmageddon”) and is one of the most played rivalries in the history of college football (8th longest, 100 straight meetings). The Cyclones have been one of the most interesting teams in football, but even K-State got into the act last week by putting an already lethargic Oklahoma State team in a sleeperhold. With the game in the Little Apple, I’m leaning slightly toward the home team.
- North Carolina @ North Carolina State (ESPNU): UNC’s lost season figures to come to a merciful end.
- Pennsylvanian State @ Maryland (BTN): Maryland is feisty this year, but it hasn’t often translated into wins, a trend that figures to continue against the Nittany Lions.
3:45: West Virginia @ Oklahoma (ESPN): West Virginia isn’t especially good this year, but they’re still dangerous enough to wreck Oklahoma’s chances of making the playoff. I’m not going to predict that, but there’s a chance.
4:00:
- Michigan State @ Rutgers (FOX): Rutgers is better this year, but… nah.
- Northwestern @ Illinois (FS1): Northwestern.
- Temple @ Tulsa (ESPNEWS): Temple.
- Vanderbilt @ Tennessee (SEC): Should I predict that Tennessee will finish its first ever winless SEC season with a loss here? Eh, why the hell not, let’s do this.
4:30: Arizona @ Arizona State (Pac12): As usual, Khalil Tate figures to just be too much for the Sun Devils. Take advantage of the opportunity to watch this if you get Pac-12 Network.
7:00: Oregon State @ Oregon (ESPN2): The Civil War has a reputation, but I don’t think an Oregon State team that is winless against FBS teams is much of a threat for the Ducks.
7:30:
- Clemson @ South Carolina (ESPN): These Gamecocks are improved, sure, but of their five SEC wins, three of them have come against teams that have fired their coach. Clemson has looked more like Clemson of recent weeks, and so I don’t think they’ll have issues here.
- Texas-San Antonio @ Louisiana Tech (ESPNU): Looking over these two teams’ records, I’m actually leaning toward UTSA a little bit. I didn’t figure on that, but here we are.
- Texas A&M @ Louisiana State (SEC): With the reports that Sumlin is out regardless of the result of this game, I’d have to guess that they might be a little bit flat. I like LSU here.
8:00:
- Washington State @ Washington (FOX): Well, the Apple Cup isn’t quite as hype as we thought it’d be when both of these teams were undefeated, but this still figures to be a lot of fun. Wazzu can still make it to Santa Clara with a win, but I think the Huskies are a better team and they always have an edge at home.
- Notre Dame @ Stanford (ABC): Speaking of taking advantage of a time slot to watch Khalil Tate, you can even see Bryce Love in primetime on broadcast television! That said, Notre Dame is a better all-around team than Stanford is this year. This figures to not be a good look for the Pac-12, especially if Washington wins the Apple Cup (and Stanford proceeds to the Pac-12 title game on tiebreakers).
9:00: Brigham Young @ Hawaii (CBSS): BYU, but avoid this unless you really need video footage from somewhere sunny and warm right now.
10:00: Colorado @ Utah (FS1): It’s not only the Battle of the Rockies, it’s the Battle of Last Place Teams In the Pac-12 South. Nonetheless, Utah’s the better team, they’ve just had some bad luck this year. I like the Utes here.
10:15: Utah State @ Air Force (ESPN2): Air Force just, well, hasn’t been good this year. I don’t figure that will change with this game.