Category Archives: On TV This Week

This Week in College Football: Week 11

MACtion and important games special!

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Tuesday

8:00:

  • Ohio @ Buffalo (ESPN2): This game features the top two teams in the MAC East and will likely decide that division. Statistically, the Bobcats are the superior team, but they already have a MAC loss to Central Michigan. I’ll stick with them anyway, mostly due to familiarity and consistent success, I suppose.
  • Bowling Green @ Miami (ESPNU): Bowling Green is okay, by MAC standards. Miami is awful by any standard. I’d suggest the other game.

Wednesday

8:00: Central Michigan @ Ball State (ESPN2): Central Michigan is sitting at 3-5 and trying to stay in the MAC bowl picture. A win here would help tremendously. Unfortunately for them, Ball State is pretty good – I’d even go as far to say that their 24-27 loss to North Texas in September was a fluke, considering the Cardinals have since beaten Virginia, Toledo, and all their other MAC foes so far.

Thursday

7:30:

  • Oklahoma @ Baylor (FS1): This the game of the week, other than the other games of the week. But hey, it’s first, and doesn’t that count for something? (Answer: not really.) Anyway, the thing that has struck me about Baylor’s schedule so far this season is that they have played absolutely nobody. Look it up. Their best win is probably West Virginia or Kansas State. I also still think the Sooners are the top team in the Big 12 and that the loss to Texas was a bit of a fluke. Hey, it’s entirely possible the Bears are legit – I bet the offense would be able to put points up against anyone. But they will lose either to these Sooners or to Oklahoma State, I am pretty sure. At the very least I am expecting they face adversity for the first time this season. For the purposes of my bowl predictions, I have pretty much put this down as a win for Oklahoma so far, so that’s what I’m going with. However, I think everyone would agree that Baylor continuing to roll is a much better story.
  • Troy @ Louisiana-Lafayette (ESPNU): The Cajuns have been raging through Sun Belt play so far, and I expect more of the same from Thursday night’s undercard.

9:00: Oregon @ Stanford (ESPN): Explosive Offense Runs Into Team That Actually Plays Defense (part 2). I don’t really expect a repeat of last year’s gritty 17-14 contest that saw the Ducks go to overtime, though. For starters, I don’t think this Stanford defense is as good, and I’m not sure their offense will be able to make enough plays to win. Right now I have this one going Oregon’s way. If it doesn’t, woo boy, the bowl predictions are going to get fun.

Friday

8:30: Louisville @ Connecticut (ESPN2): I like that since their standings page uses winning percentage, UConn is not actually dead least in the AAC standings because they’ve only played 3 conference games so far. Anyway, they’re awful, Louisville rolls.

9:00: Air Force @ New Mexico (ESPNU): This is a matchup of two really bad defenses. Unfortunately, Air Force’s offense is spectacularly inept this year, so it’s doubtful they’ll be able to stop the Lobos from getting their 3rd win on the year.

This Week in College Football: Week 5

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
7:30:

  • Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech (ESPN): Thanks to the weirdness of last season, this isn’t the guarantee it used to be vis-a-vis determining the Coastal representative in the championship game. Nonetheless, it remains a major sticking point on the schedule. Since VPI joined the ACC, we’ve only beaten them twice: once in Blacksburg in 2006 (on the back of Calvin Johnson), and the upset at home that paved the way to the ACCCG in 2009 (VPI was ranked in the top 5 at the time).
    Arguably, the most talked about aspect of this game isn’t what either team does well, it’s more about how bad VPI’s offense has been. Which is a shame, because the flip-side is a true strength-versus-strength matchup. VPI has been one of the few teams to keep the GT offense in check since 2008, with Bud Foster willing to mix things up on his defense (i.e., using smaller, faster defensive linemen that can evade the cut block and get to the ball carrier).
    GT’s defense has been “okay” I would say so far. Last week was their first real test, and the first half was a mixed back. The second half, though, showed improvement in the pass rush and in the coverage game, as we realized that UNC’s best receiver was their tight end and adjusted accordingly. I have to say that the last thing I want, though, is for Logan Thomas to remember how tall he is, as I still feel like two years ago the dude just sort of yelled “TIMBER!”, fell over, and got first downs.
  • Iowa State @ Tulsa (FS1): Well, Fox Sports 1 has to start somewhere I guess, but I’m not sure this is the optimal choice. Neither of these teams can really score or play defense, so this could well be a puntfest. I’m going with Tulsa scoring the “upset” at home.

Friday
9:00:

  • Utah State @ San Jose State (ESPN): Looking this up just made me remember that the Mountain West’s new divisions are named “Mountain” and “West”. Which is actually fine geographically but seriously what’s wrong with “East”? You were halfway right! Anyway, the game. SJSU still doesn’t look very good, but they are better. The Aggies are still even better, though.
  • Middle Tennessee State @ Brigham Young (ESPNU): MTSU has started well in C-USA, scoring wins over Memphis and Florida Atlantic. Oh, right, those teams are awful and they lost to UNC by 20. They might do the same to BYU.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 1

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
6:00: North Carolina @ South Carolina (ESPN): Aaaand we’re back! It’s the first game of the college football season, and it can’t get here soon enough. In the battle of the Carolinas, though, I expect the southern one to prevail.

7:00:

  • Tulsa @ Bowling Green (ESPNU): Tulsa will probably win, but it has plenty of potential to be more exciting than…
  • Nevada-Las Vegas @ Minnesota (BTN): Minnesota should win.

8:00: Utah State @ Utah (FS1): Both of these teams have made strives in recent years, but the level at which those strides are taking place vastly differs. Utes should roll.

9:15: Mississippi @ Vanderbilt (ESPN): It’s Week 1 ESS-EEE-CEE football. Vandy has 3 straight wins in this series (and 6 of the last 8), and I’d probably expect them to get another.

10:30: Rutgers @ Fresno State (ESPNU): I’m not required to have an opinion on this game, right? Huh. Well, apparently I am. Let’s go with Fresno just for the hell of it.

11:00: Southern California @ Hawaii (CBSS): Okay, now this is really the last time that I can say the last time the Trojans played a game they lost to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. I’m going to miss that. Also despite not apparently having a quarterback, they should win this one.

Friday
8:00:

  • Texas Tech @ Southern Methodist (ESPN): A potentially fun in-state showdown, but still a likely Texas Tech win.
  • Florida Atlantic @ Miami (ESPNU): I’ll be employing the “Miami context clue” gimmick this year. But in this case, does it really matter which one? Either would probably win.
  • Western Michigan @ Michigan State (BTN): Well, it’ll be a useful tuneup for Sparty, I guess. (Editor’s note: there are other games Friday, on major networks even, but our general policy is only to list games between two FBS teams, with limited exceptions.)

Saturday
Noon:

  • Buffalo @ Ohio State (ESPN2): And finally, the first proper football Saturday of the year. Just think Ohio State, you’d probably be a shoe-in title game pick if you’d scheduled a proper team here.
  • Villanova @ Boston College (ESPNEWS): Included entirely because ESPNEWS is apparently showing live football games now.
  • Purdue @ Cincinnati (ESPNU): Two things: Cincy still has a player named “Munchie Legaux”, and they’ll probably win.
  • Massachusetts @ Wisconsin (BTN): Remember, the BTN game in this timeslot is usually regional and it’s not always obvious which one will get shown nationally. That said, the other one involves a FCS team, so I get to actually say Wisconsin will probably win.
  • Toledo @ Florida (SEC): Maybe it’s just because I follow edsbs on Twitter, but Florida’s offense this year may have more in common with rocket explosions than the Toledo Rockets. But that said, it’s still Toledo, and the Gators will roll.

12:30:

  • Louisiana Tech @ North Carolina State (ACC): For a second I thought the first team said “LSU” but then I saw that this was on the ACC syndication package, so yeah, probably not. That said, this one is debatable. Oh, right, Louisiana Tech hired Skip Holtz and will probably be less explosive on offense. Yeah, that bodes well for the Wolfpack.
  • Florida International @ Maryland (ACC): I had forgotten about this until this tweet, and it got me scratching my head all over again.

    It’s game week and I’m still half waiting to hear FIU say firing Mario Cristobal was some kind of longform performance art prank
    — Holly Anderson (@HollyAnderson) August 26, 2013

    I think karma dictates that Maryland wins.

1:00: Rice @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (ESPN): Rice could well be very good this year. It won’t matter against TAMU.

3:30:

  • Temple @ Notre Dame (NBC): [checks “is Temple still bad?” watch] Hrm, yep, yeah, I never said the first weekend of the season was going to be filled with thrills. You’re just supposed to be happy real football is back.
  • Syracuse vs. Pennsylvania State (@East Rutherford, NJ; ABC/ESPN2): Penn State mostly surprised everyone last year by not being as awful as everyone though. Same with the ‘Cuse. Of course, the primary difference is that one of these teams isn’t on a set of scholarship restrictions which generally hurt later more than they do now. That said, Penn State may well still be good enough to eke out a win here.
  • Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State (@Houston, TX; ABC/ESPN2): Mississippi State had the rare distinction of being a “middle tier” SEC team last year. That said, it’s hard to see them keeping up with the Cowboys.
  • Brigham Young @ Virginia (ESPNU): Boy howdy Virginia probably isn’t very good this year. I’ll go with the Stormin’ Mormons in this one.
  • Central Michigan @ Michigan (BTN): Victors will, perhaps, be hailed after this one.

4:00: Louisiana-Lafayette @ Arkansas (SEC): UL-Lafayette will probably be pretty good this year, well, for a Sun Belt team. Razorbacks roll.

5:30: Virginia Tech vs. Alabama (@Atlanta, GA; ESPN): Well, short of the bus (does Alabama even take a bus to any game?) breaking down on I-20, things don’t look very good for the Hokies. Maybe Alabama will forget to pack some cleats? Maybe both the first and second teams accidentally take the wrong exit on the Connector? Maybe Saban decides to go off the rails and installs a read option offense in the middle of the second quarter while still using AJ McCarron at quarterback? I guess what I’m trying to say is good luck VPI, you’re probably going to need it.

7:00:

  • Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky (@Nashville, TN; ESPNEWS): More ESPNEWS games! Will wonders ever cease? Yeah, probably, since Kentucky will still win this game in the most mediocre fashion possible.
  • Washington State @ Auburn (ESPNU): This game has the potential to be the best game of the day featuring two teams who won 6 games last year. That is, 6 games combined. Also, there is the potential for lots of points, but since Wazzou has had an extra year to get acquainted with the ideas of “playing offense” and “scoring points” I’ll have to favor them.
  • Miami @ Marshall (CBSS): I like Marshall slightly in this one, but I’m not sure why.

8:00:

  • Georgia @ Clemson (ABC): This is the real game of the day. I hope to catch at least some of this, despite being otherwise totally preoccupied this weekend. What will carry the day? Georgia sports an inexperienced defense, but returns a bunch of excellent players on offense. So does Clemson, though, and remember that their last win was a thrilling victory over LSU in the Chick-fil-a Bowl. On a different forum, I went with Georgia, and I’m going to stick to my guns, but I can really see this going either way.
  • Wyoming @ Nebraska (BTN): It’s too bad that in football the road team traditionally wears lighter colors, because I find it hard to resist Wyoming’s ugly brown uniforms. Alas. Oh, and yeah, Nebraska wins.

9:00: Louisiana State vs. Texas Christian (@Arlington, TX; ESPN): This is the second most interesting game of the day. TCU has done well so far in the Big 12, but can they go toe-to-toe against one of the SEC’s powerhouses? Of course, most any coach will have a schematic advantage against the Hat, but I suspect that once again the Bayou Bengal’s immense pool of talent will eke out the win.

10:00:

  • Boise State @ Washington (FS1): As stated earlier, I’m really looking forward to seeing confused Idahoans in downtown Seattle on Saturday. That said, they should be happy Idahoans, as I think they’ll get the win.
  • Nevada @ California-Los Angeles (PAC12): Well, the only upside of not being a DirecTV customer anymore is that I do get the Pac-12 channels. So, yeah, if anything I’ve read about UCLA this offseason is true, they’ll probably win.

10:30: Northwestern @ California (ESPN2): I guess we’ll find out pretty quickly if Cal made the right move firing Tedford. Still going with NU though.

Sunday
3:30: Ohio @ Louisville (ESPN): How good is Teddy Bridgewater? I would say we’ll find out, but mostly this game will just ensure he’s not, like, really awful.

6:00: Colorado vs. Colorado State (@Denver, CO; CBSS): Here’s a rivalry game for your troubles. Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of trouble in Colorado football as of late, as both these teams were pretty not-good last year. But then again, both of them should be slightly better this year, which is bad news for the Buffs since they lost and all. And it’s quite tempting to pick them to lose again.

Monday
8:00: Florida State @ Pittsburgh (ESPN): Crazy fact: Pitt has a coach coming back for a sophomore season for the first time since 2006. Will that help them against Florida State? Well… probably not.

Hopefully things will be more informative next week. Until then, enjoy the weekend!

This Weekend in College Football: Week 14

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
7:30: Louisville @ Rutgers (ESPN): I’ve given up on predicting the Big East at this point seeing as how both these teams managed to lose last weekend. And don’t even get me started on picking Louisville over UConn for ACC expansion. Anyway, the quick fire prediction here is Louisville.

Friday
7:00: Northern Illinois vs. Kent State (MAC Championship @ Detroit, MI; ESPN2): It’s exceedingly possible this game will be much more compelling than the Pac-12 championship. On one side, NIU has one of the most dynamic quarterback and wide receiver duos in the country, while with a win the Golden Flashes’s first bowl game since 1972 could end up being the Orange Bowl. However, I actually like the Huskies better. While both have top-10 rushing offenses, NIU has a more credible passing game (see above) and a slightly better defense.

8:00: California-Los Angeles @ Stanford (Pac-12 Championship; FOX): The idea that UCLA purposely threw last week’s regular season game against Stanford so they could play Stanford again is ludicrous, mostly because the idea anyone actually wants to play the Cardinal twice in two weeks is the same. (As EDSBS put it, playing Stanford is like “being bludgeoned with a sack of sledgehammers”.) Anyway, the idea that UCLA will succeed this time is not ludicrous, but still highly unlikely.

Saturday
Noon:

  • Oklahoma State @ Baylor (FX): Both teams played overtime games this past weekend, though I think most would agree Oklahoma is better than Texas Tech. Expect plenty of points, also, take a drink every time the Baylor defense makes a stop and the announcers insinuate they’re not as bad as the statistics show. (I suspect that’s not really a very good drinking game since it won’t result in you taking a lot of drinks, so maybe make it a shot or something.) Also the Cowboys should win.
  • Oklahoma @ Texas Christian (ESPN): TCU had a great win last Thanksgiving, but I think it’s been thoroughly demonstrated by now that the Sooners have it slightly more together on offense.
  • Central Florida @ Tulsa (Conference USA Championship; ESPN2): Okay, so based on what I said about UCLA-Stanford I guess I have to pick Tulsa again here, but on the flip side UCF is pretty much banking on this season being awesome. Or they should be, because by delaying their bowl ban via an appeal I’m pretty sure the NCAA will bring the hammer down on them. So I’m somewhat irrationally going with the Golden Knights here.

2:30: Kansas @ West Virginia (FSN): Despite how awful they’ve been this year, no one has yet scored 60 on KU. That may change. Also the Jayhawk offense is so bad that WVU doesn’t even have to worry about how terrible their defense is.

3:30:

  • Boise State @ Nevada (ABC): I’m a little surprised this game is on ABC. Anyway, the Broncos will probably win but I think Nevada is good enough to make a game of it.
  • Cincinnati @ Connecticut (ABC): Not that it means much in the Big East, but Cincy should win this one.

4:00: Georgia vs. Alabama (SEC Championship @ Atlanta, GA; CBS): Despite watching my team lose to them by 32 last weekend, I still think UGA is overrated: their second best win all year is over Vanderbilt (or maybe Mississippi State, but they went and lost to Ole Miss, so…). Granted, Vandy is 8-4, but still. I’ll concede this year’s Alabama isn’t as good as last year’s, but I think they have a good enough defense to stop UGA and a good enough offense to overcome them.

7:00: Pittsburgh @ South Florida (ESPN2): This sure is a football game that will be televised and everything. Pitt probably becomes bowl eligible.

8:00:

  • Wisconsin vs. Nebraska (Big Ten Championship @ Indianapolis, IN; FOX): Much to Nebraska’s relief, there will not be a 30 mile per hour wind inside of Lucas Oil Stadium this weekend. The Cornhuskers only won by three back in September, but that was then, and this is now.
  • Texas @ Kansas State (ABC): K-State has had a week to think about their shocking loss to Baylor. Nonetheless, their is still a chance to clinch a bid to the Fiesta Bowl for one of the best seasons in school history here, and I think they’ll get it.
  • Florida State vs. Georgia Tech (ACC Championship @ Charlotte, NC; ESPN): Where do you even begin? While no one expected GT to win last weekend, a fair number of reasonable people expected the Seminoles to expose the Florida once and for all. For a little while in the 3rd quarter, it looked like it was going to happen. Everything was going wrong for UF, including a freak bobble on a handoff that literally fell right into the arms of a FSU defensive end who ran it in for a touchdown. And then everything went wrong for FSU, to the tune of 24 straight points for the Gators and the win.
    Tech last played the Seminoles in 2008 and 2009, after the original bout of ACC realignment put them in separate divisions. As previously detailed here, Tech managed to win both of those games. Of course, those Tech teams were better, and those FSU teams worse than the current editions.
    Everything that could have gone wrong for Tech last weekend did, just about. Despite racking up 306 yards rushing against one of the nation’s top rushing defenses, we only scored one touchdown. The tone of the game was set on Tech’s first drive, as UGA’s first drive proved it was going to be a game where Tech needed to score on all of their drives to have a shot. At the end of a 10 play, 83 yard march down the field that started at our own 15, Robert Godhigh had the ball stripped as he was trying to go in for the tying touchdown at the UGA 1 yard line. Tech kicked a field goal the next time it got the ball to make it 14-3, but then the next three possessions of the first half ended on a turnover on downs, an interception, and a missed field goal.
    The keys for this game, and a shot at creating the most absurd BCS bowl game ever, lie in the same keys any team has in seeking to pull of an upset. Don’t turn the ball over and capitalize when they do. Basically, if any football cliche applicable to this situation, GT needs to adhere to it.

This Week in College Football: Week 13

Georgia Tech coastal division champions? Maryland to the Big Ten? I don’t know about any of that, but what I do know is there’s actual college football being played all week. 

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Tuesday, November 20
7:00: Akron @ Toledo (ESPN2): Well, Toledo’s been pretty solid this year. Akron, at 1-10, less so.

Thursday, November 22
7:30: Texas Christian @ Texas (ESPN): Texas has been on a 4-0 roll after the Disaster in Dallas during the Red River Shootout. TCU can point to their upset of WVU a few weeks ago, but Texas has generally been better over the last few weeks and they appear to be a more solid team at this point in the season. Nonetheless, this will probably still be more interesting than watching the Patriots dismantle the Jets.

Friday, November 23
11:00:

  • Syracuse @ Temple (ESPN2): Last one out of the Big East, turn off the lights. That aside, looking at the records of the Big East teams and their stats and trying to discern any noticeable patterns is an exercise in madness. The ‘Cuse should win, but will they? Who knows.
  • Ohio @ Kent State (ESPNU): Some early post-Turkey Day MACtion! Early on, this looked like it could decide the MAC East but Ohio went from undefeated to losing three games this year and Kent State has already clinched. So I’ll have to go with the Golden Flashes.

12:00: Nebraska @ Iowa (ABC): Iowa’s offense should be declared a federal disaster area at this point. The Huskers should roll.

2:00: Marshall @ East Carolina (CBSS): This is the Thundering Herd’s last, best change for a bowl game, but I think they’ll probably come up short.

2:30: Louisiana State @ Arkansas (CBS): While LSU making too close to teams they should dominate makes for sublimely entertaining Les Miles press conferences, I don’t really expect a repeat in this one.

3:00: Utah @ Colorado (FX): I’m not sure why you’d watch this, but I feel pretty good about the Utes’ chances here.

3:30:

  • Washington @ Washington State (FOX): We used to make fun of the Apple Cup for featuring two awful teams, but this one will probably be more akin to a train wreck.
  • West Virginia @ Iowa State (ABC): Iowa State is one of the very few Big 12 teams that probably can’t take advantage of WVU’s defense to keep up with them, this finally getting the beleaguered Mountaineers another conference win. That said, the best realignment tweet I’ve seen all day was:

    RT @ericcrawford: RT @joelshaffer2: Word is the Big 12 is in negotiations with the West Virginia defense to join the conference next season
    — Smart Football (@smartfootball) November 20, 2012

7:00: South Florida @ Cincinnati (ESPN): Cincy should win, but see above for my disclaimer about trying to predict anything related to the Big East.

10:00: Arizona State @ Arizona (ESPN): The battle for the Territorial Cup has been pretty even these last few years, and that may make this the most entertaining game of the day. I expect the Sun Devils to win, but keep in mind the last three games have all been decided by four points or less. So if you haven’t been watching football day, this might be a good one to unwind to.

Expect bowl predictions to be up in the next couple days, and the weekend picks column up as per usual on Friday night. Until then, remember, To Hell With Georgia.