Category Archives: On TV This Weekend

This Weekend in College Football: Week 14

As usual, all times Eastern and predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Ohio State @ Michigan (ABC): Michigan isn’t disaster at this point simply because Florida still makes them look good. Ohio State should win easily.
  • Florida State @ Florida (ESPN): Whoops!

    So … Georgia Southern’s passing downs success rate was higher than Florida’s. GS didn’t complete a pass.
    — Bill Connelly (@SBN_BillC) November 26, 2013

    So yeah, not feeling good about UF’s chances here.

  • Duke @ North Carolina (ESPN2): I hate Duke so much. I also hate all the teams that managed to lose to Duke for no apparent reason after Georgia Tech went and dismantled them. I don’t have a very good idea who is going to win this game because I don’t think Duke is that good, but Carolina has been pretty not… great this year. I’m begrudgingly picking Duke.
  • Kansas State @ Kansas (FS1): Kansas is still awful, K-State rolls.
  • Temple @ Memphis (ESPNEWS): I’ll take Memphis’s three wins over Temple’s one.
  • Rutgers @ Connecticut (ESPNU): Again, I’ll take the five win team (Rutgers) over the one win team.
  • Minnesota @ Michigan State (BTN): It’s hard to see how things get any easier for Minnesota’s 70th-ranked offense against Michigan State’s defense of death.
  • Wake Forest @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Vandy is the superior team here.

12:30: Maryland @ North Carolina State (ACC): Maryland isn’t very good, but NC State is worse, so…

2:00: Colorado @ Utah (Pac12): Utah has lost five straight games since beating Stanford, making that game even more inexplicable. Despite this, they still appear to be more solid than Colorado.

2:30: North Texas @ Tulsa (FSN): North Texas should put an end to one of college football’s most disappointing outfits this season.

3:00: Brigham Young @ Nevada (CBSS): Nevada struggled much of the year before their upset last week over San Jose State. BYU had a wrenching loss to Notre Dame, but despite these factors, BYU is the better team.

3:30:

  • Georgia @ Georgia Tech (ABC): Once again, we need play basically flawlessly. Everything has to go right for us and bad for them. But, above all: To Hell With Georgia.
  • Alabama @ Auburn (CBS): This should be a great time, for a time. Alabama, though, is just too good, too efficient. Auburn’s strides since last season are nearly amazing, but I think this game will show how far they still have to go.
  • Pennsylvania State @ Wisconsin (ESPN): Wisconsin should roll as per usual.
  • Baylor @ Texas Christian (ESPN2): Baylor should be able to regain their mojo against a struggling TCU team.
  • Virginia Tech @ Virginia (ESPNU): UVA is awful, but that hasn’t stopped VPI from taking bad losses so far this season. That said, UVA is one of the few teams with a worse offense statistically than VPI’s, so they should be okay in this one.
  • Purdue @ Indiana (BTN): Once again, I’ll take Indiana’s four wins against Purdue’s single win.
  • Boston College @ Syracuse (ACC/FSN): Syracuse needs this win for bowl eligibility, but I just don’t think they’ll get it.

4:00: Iowa State @ West Virginia (FS1): These teams are evenly matched. That’s not really a good thing for WVU, who probably did not hire Dana Holgersen to run the nation’s 90th ranked scoring offense. Does Holgo still have the mojo to beat Iowa State? It’s probably going to be closer than many WVU fans would like.

7:00:

  • Notre Dame @ Stanford (FOX): The nation’s 75th ranked offense will be getting no favors from Stanford’s defense. The Tree should roll, much like a log rolling downhill.
  • Clemson @ South Carolina (ESPN2): I think Clemson is the better team here. However, that doesn’t mean I feel great about their chances. The ACC will almost certainly get two teams into the BCS first for the time ever if Clemson and Florida State win. More importantly for Clemson fans, they’ve lost four straight in this one. This is their best chance to overturn it so far.
  • Tennessee @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Tennessee’s motto at this point could well be “well, at least we’re not Kentucky”.

7:45: Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Missouri (ESPN): TAMU has lost three games this year, and I think it’s about to become four, and it’s almost entirely because of their awful defense.

8:00: California-Los Angeles @ Southern California (ABC): Call me crazy, but I’m actually calling this for USC. Southern Cal and DACOACHO have started to play like, well, Southern Cal. Meanwhile, after failing to upset either of the Pac-12’s top two teams, losing to Arizona State last week killed any chance for the preseason Pac-12 South favorites.

9:30: Arizona @ Arizona State (Pac12): Arizona’s out-of-nowhere upset followed losses to UCLA and Wazzou. I like the Sun Devils, but these teams actually look pretty evenly matched. This one could be interesting.

10:15: New Mexico @ Boise State (ESPN2): This one, less so. Boise should roll.

10:30: San Diego State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (ESPNU): And finally, a day that is bound to be gut-wrenching for many wraps up with a little affair out in Vegas. At stake in this Mountain West clash? Not much, due to the Aztech’s overtime loss to Fresno back in October. This should be close, at least for a bit, but SDSU should prevail.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 13

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Michigan State @ Northwestern (ESPN): Northwestern has had an awful time of it this season, and it doesn’t look to suddenly be getting any better with Sparty’s defense to contend with.
  • Duke @ Wake Forest (ESPN2): There often hasn’t been a lot riding on this game, has there? It’s hard to figure that Duke would lose here, no matter how much I’d like them to .
  • Oklahoma @ Kansas State (FS1): Even though they’re, shall we say, offensively challenged these days the Sooners still pack enough punch to beat K-State.
  • Cincinnati @ Houston (ESPNEWS): Tobby Tuberville does nothing but win (against really bad teams, that is). Houston came up just short against the AAC’s front runners in their past two games, so they have more than a good shot against the Bearcats.
  • Virginia @ Miami (ESPNU): When Miami lost to Duke last weekend, I wasn’t happy or sad. I was angry. Mainly, I was angry that we pretty much went out and beat Duke like they’re, well, Duke back in September, yet Miami and Virginia Tech manage to have the worst games of their seasons against the Blue Devils. Absolutely ridiculous. At any rate, Miami is still good enough to be able to easily beat Virginia.
  • Michigan @ Iowa (BTN): You could watch this game, but I don’t really know why. I guess I’m going with Michigan.
  • Mississippi State @ Arkansas (SEC): Miss State should be able to earn that tantalizing fifth win here, putting it all on the line for the Egg Bowl next weekend.

12:30:

  • Pittsburgh @ Syracuse (ACC): The ACC’s newbies face off! However, the ‘Cuse seems to be a much worse team at this point.
  • East Carolina @ North Carolina State (ACC): I’ve had NC State losing this game in the bowl predictions and such, but I’m not really sure how. ECU isn’t great or anything, but NCSU is kind of bad. I’m sticking with the Wolfpack, but this feels like an upset is a brewin’.

1:30: Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical @ Georgia Tech (espn3.com): Last week, Clemson played their most complete game of the season against GT. The Tigers won every phase of the game except for the “Robert Godhigh” phase. But, nonetheless, GT must march on. This team is pretty aggressively mediocre: we’ve lost to everyone better than us and beat everyone worse than us. Anyway, this game. Alabama A&M is 4-7 this year with a 4-5 record in SWAC play. They actually have not played any other FBS opponents this season, so it’s hard to compare exactly, but usually the level of play in the SWAC is not great. The key to this game are the same as they are to any opponent like this: don’t let them get into it. Hopefully we do a much better job of executing on the plan than we did last Thursday.

    3:30:

    • Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Louisiana State (CBS): I’ve been leaning toward TAMU on this one, but it is tough. You have TAMU’s excellent offense against LSU’s pretty good defense, and then LSU’s okay offense against TAMU’s awful defense. It’s a matter of which one screws up first. Given that, still leaning TAMU.
    • Brigham Young @ Notre Dame (NBC): I think BYU is a pretty legitimate team and can score the “upset” against Notre Dame.
    • Oregon @ Arizona (ABC/ESPN2): Thanks to USC last weekend, Oregon is back in the driver’s seat in the Pac 12 North, and this came shouldn’t cause them to have to give it up again.
    • Indiana @ Ohio State (ABC/ESPN2): Ohio State needs all the help they can get, and it’s likely even a blowout here will help that much.
    • Wisconsin @ Minnesota (ESPN): I suspect Minnesota’s four game winning streak and good feelings will face a pretty stark reality check against the Badgers this weekend and Sparty next weekend.
    • Idaho @ Florida State (ESPNU): FSU.
    • Colorado State @ Utah State (CBSS): Utah State’s only losses are still to BYU, Utah, Southern Cal, and Boise State. Those are all good teams. Colorado State, not so much.
    • Utah @ Washington State (Pac12): Wazzou can make a bowl if they win this game, but I actually don’t think they will. Utah is pretty solid and I’m not sure Wazzou is quite there yet. I am dreading that pick, though.
    • Boston College @ Maryland (ACC/FSN): BC is 6-4 mostly from beating the Marylands of the world. I expect this trend to continue.
    • Nebraska @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): What is Nebraska at this point? I have no clue. I do like their chances to beat Penn State, though.

    4:00:

    • California @ Stanford (FS1): The Big Game doesn’t feel quite so big when one of the teams is very, very bad. Stanford should roll.
    • New Mexico @ Fresno State (ESPNEWS): Fresno.

    7:00:

    • Arizona State @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): Until USC announced their intentions by beating Stanford last weekend, this looked like the battle in the Pac-12 South. For weeks in the bowl predictions I had been calling this game for UCLA, but I switched last week and I’m going to stick with the Sun Devils.
    • Vanderbilt @ Tennessee (ESPN2): This is one hard to pick, as Vandy is the better team but they always seem to have trouble with the Volunteers. I’m sticking with them anyway.
    • Kentucky @ Georgia (ESPNU): I think UGA’s chances here.
    • Tulsa @ Louisiana Tech (CBSS): When CBS Sports picked this game, I’m guessing they were thinking that Tulsa might be a little better than 2-8. Both of these offenses rank in the 100’s, and Tulsa’s defense is down there too, so I’m going with LaTech.

    7:45: Missouri @ Mississippi (ESPN): Mizzou continues their march toward a SEC East title with a win here. I think they’ll get it.

    8:00:

    • Baylor @ Oklahoma State (ABC): Your Saturday forecast for Stillwater, OK: highs in the low 40’s with game time temperature expected to be around freezing. Will that be enough to slow down Baylor? I’ve been expecting the Bears to take at least one loss in their last five games, and this is the last chance. Can Oklahoma State do it? At this point, if they can’t, I doubt anyone can. But given the conditions and what feels like inevitability, I’m going with the Cowboys.
    • Kansas @ Iowa State (FS1): I’m picking Kansas to win a game? This feels like madness.

    9:30: Southern California @ Colorado (Pac12): USC. (Can I take a second to continue to praise Rece Davis and the fact that he also uses the Internet’s jokes about Ed Orgeron on air? Also can I just say that I support DaCoachO being USC’s head coach because even though it will be a disaster it will be hilarious, well, at least if you’re not a USC fan?)

    10:30:

    • Washington @ Oregon State (ESPN2): I think this is actually an interesting game, though UDub has a slight edge on paper. So I’m going with the Huskies, but this should be a good nightcap.
    • Boise State @ San Diego State (CBSS): This game could be okay, but if Boise gets going early (and they’ve gotten going to the tune of 90 points the last two weeks), then it will be an even stiffer test for the Aztecs.

    This Weekend in College Football: Week 12

    As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

    Noon:

    • Ohio State @ Illinois (ESPN): I’m sure the Buckeyes will be able to figure out something against the nation’s 105th ranked scoring defense.
    • Indiana @ Wisconsin (ESPN2): I’m less sure about Indiana’s ability to put something together against the nation’s 6th ranked scoring defense, though.
    • Iowa State @ Oklahoma (FS1): Oklahoma figures to be out for blood after last week.
    • Cincinnati @ Rutgers (ESPNEWS): Cincy has generally be a much more consistent team so far this year; they should be able to get a win.
    • Troy @ Mississippi (ESPNU): Troy already lost 62-7 to Mississippi State this year, so…
    • West Virginia @ Kansas (FSN): West Virginia has been extremely inconsistent this season, but it’s hard to envision how bad they would need to be to lose to Kansas.
    • Purdue @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Penn State would be bowl eligible after this if they were eligible to go a bowl.
    • Kentucky @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Speaking of bowl eligibility, the Commodores are 5-4 and close with Kentucky, Tennessee, and Wake Forest. I have to say I like their chances of going 8-4.

    12:30:

    • North Carolina @ Pittsburgh (ACC): Both these teams have lost to every competent opponent they’ve played this year, making this game a pretty even match. That said, Pitt did knock off Notre Dame last week and Carolina is riding a 3-game win streak. I’m giving a slight edge to Pitt, though.
    • Maryland @ Virginia Tech (ACC): Good Logan Thomas finally reappeared last week in last week’s easy win over Miami. However, thanks to Bad Logan Thomas’s loss to Duke, the Hokies don’t control their own destiny in the division.
    • North Carolina State @ Boston College (ACC/FSN): NC State is 0-6 in ACC play, and I don’t see that improving this week.

    2:00: Washington State @ Arizona (Pac12): Wazzou is better this year than last, but they’re still not quite there yet.

    3:30:

    • Georgia @ Auburn (CBS): I’d say the tables are almost completely flipped for these two teams from where they were at the start of the season. Considering their injury situation, I just don’t see how UGA will be able to keep up with the Tigers.
    • Michigan State @ Nebraska (ABC/ESPN2): The risk for a team like Michigan State is always that one week, the defense just isn’t quite up to snuff and the offense is still as incompetent as ever. But that said, Nebraska is a 7-2 team that most people would probably describe as “struggling”, what with being a few plays away from 5-4 and all. I’ll stick with Sparty here.
    • Syracuse @ Florida State (ABC/ESPN2): Syracuse is… not good. Not good at all.
    • Miami @ Duke (ESPNU): On paper, this one shouldn’t be close. Miami is a team that can definitely shoot itself in the foot, but that’s really the only way the Blue Devils can win this game.
    • South Alabama @ Navy (CBSS): Navy isn’t awesome this year, but they don’t need to be against these guys.
    • Texas Christian @ Kansas State (FSN): TCU barely eked out a win over Iowa State last weekend, which does not bode well for their chances against the Wildcats.
    • Michigan @ Northwestern (BTN): Northwestern’s awful year doesn’t appear to be getting any better, but if they have a shot, it’s against this moribund Michigan squad.

    4:00: Utah @ Oregon (FS1): This is sure to be yet another resounding defeat for the transitive property as it applies to college football.

    5:30: California @ Colorado (Pac12): Going with Colorado, because why not?

    7:00:

    • Baylor vs. Texas Tech (@Arlington, TX; FOX): I figured Texas Tech might lose 4 of their last 5, but well, I didn’t really see them losing to Kansas State. Whoops. Things don’t look to be getting much better against Baylor.
    • Florida @ South Carolina (ESPN2): Florida is just so inept offensive that it is impossible to pick them to win this game.
    • Houston @ Louisville (ESPNU): Louisville’s best shot at the AAC crown looked to be Houston beating UCF last weekend, but that didn’t happen. The Cardinals may be out for revenge.
    • Louisiana Tech @ Rice (CBSS): Going with Rice here. They’re better, but it still feels weird.

    7:45: Alabama @ Mississippi State (ESPN): There is almost no way I could purposely pick anyone to beat Alabama right now.

    8:00: Stanford @ Southern California (ABC): DACOACHO GONNA GO OUT COACHA DA FOOTBAW ANNA LEADA THA TROWJANS TOA VICTORIE. Okay, probably not. Stanford is pretty good, folks.

    9:30: Oregon State @ Arizona State (Pac12): This is an intriguing matchup of the Pac-12’s second tier, and, well, I’ve been calling this for Arizona State for weeks in the bowl predictions, so I’m going to stick to my guns.

    10:15: Wyoming @ Boise State (ESPN2): Boise should be able to handle this.

    10:30:

    • San Diego State @ Hawaii (CBSS): The retro uniforms will be cool, but it’s hard to see the re-christened Rainbow Warriors having much of a chance here.
    • San Jose State @ Nevada (ESPNU): It’s been pretty bad for Nevada this year. Hard to see it getting much better against SJSU.

    This Weekend in College Football: Week 11

    Already this week I struck out on both of Thursday’s marquee games. So just keep in mind the below disclaimer.

    As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

    Noon:

    • Florida State @ Wake Forest (ABC): With a clear path to the national title game, can the Seminoles not trip up against a foe that… well, they’ve tripped up against before? I’m thinking no.
    • Kansas State @ Texas Tech (ABC): TTU was humbled a bit against Oklahoma State last week, but I doubt that K-State will be as effective against them.
    • Auburn @ Tennessee (ESPN): This game was probably a tossup going into the season, but now, well, it seems like an easy Auburn victory.
    • Pennsylvania State @ Minnesota (ESPN2): It feels really weird, but… I’m going with Minnesota in this? I’m so unsure that I put a question mark there.
    • Missouri @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Mizzou continues their march to Atlanta.
    • Texas Christian @ Iowa State (FSN): It’s been a disappointing season for TCU, mainly due to their extremely lackluster offense. But if TCU is lackluster, than Iowa State hasn’t even been acquainted with the very concept for “luster” at any point this season.
    • Western Kentucky @ Army (CBSS): Western Kentucky already beat Navy this year, and Army is much, much worse.
    • Iowa @ Purdue (BTN): There aren’t very many teams Iowa could reasonably expect to outscore entirely with their offense. Purdue, with the second worst scoring offense in the FBS, is one of them.
    • Vanderbilt @ Florida (SEC/FSN): Is Florida’s offense so inept and wracked by injuries that one could actually pick Vanderbilt as having a shot? The Gator defense is still legit, which means that one could be ugly and low scoring. Which is exactly what the Gators will need to win. I suspect they probably will.
    • Arkansas @ Mississippi (SEC): Arkansas is a disaster this season. Maybe John L. wasn’t that bad after all?

    12:30: Virginia @ North Carolina (ACC): UNC has been lost on offense for most of this season, but by way of analogy UVA set off without having ever consulted a map in the first place. I like the Tar Heels here.

    3:00: Southern California @ California (FOX): The Bears should probably start looking ahead to Colorado.

    3:30:

    • Mississippi State @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (CBS): Miss State’s offense isn’t quite competent enough to take advantage of TAMU’s awful defense, so the Aggies should be okay here.
    • Nebraska @ Michigan (ABC): Well, one of these teams actually beat Minnesota. That team was not Nebraska.
    • Brigham Young @ Wisconsin (ESPN): BYU is a pretty good team, and they should make the Badgers sweat, but ultimately the Stormin’ Mormons will probably come up short.
    • Hawaii @ Navy (CBSS): Navy.
    • Illinois @ Indiana (BTN): I feel a bit silly for having Illinois make a bowl game a couple weeks ago, but I don’t think it was entirely unreasonable at the time. It probably is now, though. But it is reasonable to have Indiana winning, like, ever? Sure, why not.
    • Syracuse @ Maryland (ACC/FSN): Neither of these teams is good or anything, but Syracuse is awful.

    4:00:

    • Kansas @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Oklahoma State.
    • North Carolina State @ Duke (ESPNU): I almost flippantly did the “team name with no description” thing here, but then I remembered that this is Duke we’re talking about it. But, well, the Blue Devils really are the better team at this point.
    • Arizona State @ Utah (Pac12): Arizona State is a pretty good team, while Utah has mostly wilted in Pac-12 play (except for that increasingly inexplicable win over Stanford).

    7:00:

    • Texas @ West Virginia (FOX): Texas has managed to remain relevant, and they should here. Then again, strange things can happen in Morgantown at night.
    • Virginia Tech @ Miami (ESPN): Provided they aren’t completely demoralized by getting blown away by FSU and losing their star running back, Miami still has a certain advantage over Virginia Tech: they have an offense. Of course, that presupposes Good Logan Thomas remains locked in a storage closet somewhere. That said, I’m still going with Miami.
    • Houston @ Central Florida (ESPN2): In my bowl predictions, I have consistently predicted UCF losing this game. Don’t let me down, Cougars.
    • Southern Mississippi @ Louisiana Tech (CBSS): Louisiana Tech.

    8:00:

    • Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh (ABC): So it turns out that Notre Dame probably isn’t really good or anything, but they should be sufficiently decent enough to handle Pitt.
    • Louisiana State @ Alabama (CBS): I know everyone has their hopes for this game, but… statistically Alabama is the superior team. Like, not by a ton, but it’s pretty clear-cut. Perhaps the closest comparison for a team LSU has faced this season is Florida, but only because of their defense. They toughed that one out 17-6, but as we know Florida’s offense is super inept. Now imagine a team that has a better defense than Florida, and oh yeah, a freaking idea of what they’re doing on offense, and you have Alabama. In other words, this Crimson Tide team, as loathe as I am to say it, is really good.
    • Utah State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (ESPNU): Utah State.
    • Colorado @ Washington (Pac12): Washington.

    10:00: California-Los Angeles @ Arizona (ESPN): Arizona’s been quietly putting together a good season. Sure, they OOC schedule was a joke and they’ve pretty much only beaten the dregs of the Pac-12 (and Utah), but still, 6-2 is pretty good. But if they lose this, they’re not in good shape for the Pac-12. And, well, they’re probably going to lose.

    10:15: Fresno State @ Wyoming (ESPN2): The most compelling thing here will probably be how ugly Wyoming’s uniforms are on this evening. And as I’ve said in the past, I mean that in an entirely good way, as making ugly uniforms was always my objective in the Create-A-School feature of the NCAA Football games.

    10:30: San Diego State @ San Jose State (CBSS): And here’s your Mountain West nightcap. Two mediocre offense, but two awful defenses, should make for some occasionally fun viewing in this Aztech vs. Spartan battle. I like the Greeks here.

    This Weekend in College Football: Week 10

    As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

    Noon:

    • Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ABC/ESPN2): Once again, I’m going to say that the main goal for VPI here is to somehow, some way, figure out how to score 17 points, because that’s probably all they need to win.
    • Wisconsin @ Iowa (ABC/ESPN2): Both these teams posses good defenses, but only one has a competent offense. I’ll favor the Badgers in this one.
    • Illinois @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): I’m going to lean very slightly toward Penn State in this one, but only very.
    • Army @ Air Force (ESPNU): Air Force looks awful this year. I think I’m actually picking Army.
    • Ohio State @ Purdue (BTN): Well, Ohio State forever reason has trouble against the Boilermakers. They actually lost to Purdue two years ago and needed overtime to win last year. Of course, that doesn’t really have any bearing on this Ohio State team, but then again, on paper the Buckeyes should pretty much always be favored, right?
    • Southern Mississippi @ Marshall (CBSS): I’m sure when this game was picked for TV, no one was really expecting Southern Miss to be the worth team in college football for the second straight year.
    • Mississippi State @ South Carolina (SEC): There’s some good teams in the SEC, and some really bad ones. Miss State somehow is just mediocre. Should be a win for the Gamecocks.

    12:30:

    • North Carolina @ North Carolina State (ACC): NC State, ‘cause why not?
    • Wake Forest @ Syracuse (ACC/FSN): If Wake isn’t too bummed out about their lost opportunity against Miami last week, I think they could actually have some success up in the Carrier Dome.

    3:30:

    • Florida vs. Georgia (@Jacksonville, FL; CBS): This game is going to be ugly, and probably not even in the entertaining way. At least Florida plays defense. While UGA did play offense earlier this season, last week’s loss to Vandy was mostly due to almost all their skill players other than Aaron Murray being hurt. The Gators could well win this one 6-3 or something.
    • Navy @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame.
    • Michigan @ Michigan State (ABC): Very cautiously going with Michigan in this one, but with these teams having wildly opposite strengths I also expect this one to be close. But Michigan can get to 17 or 21 points it’s hard to see how Michigan State is going to score enough to win.
    • Clemson @ Virginia (ESPN): UVA is awful, Clemson rolls.
    • Iowa State @ Kansas State (FS1): Iowa State is also awful, but K-State may not be good enough to completely roll them.
    • West Virginia @ Texas Christian (ESPNU): TCU can’t score, but somewhat surprisingly, neither can WVU. I’m not sure which way to roll on this one, so I’m going with the Horned Frogs.
    • Northwestern @ Nebraska (BTN): Northwestern has lost five straight Big Ten games, and I have a feeling it’s about to be five.
    • Arizona @ California (Pac12): Arizona.

    4:00: Hawaii @ Utah State (CBSS): Utah State.

    6:00: Auburn @ Arkansas (ESPN2): Arkansas has lost its last two games by a combined score of 104-7. That’s… not good. Meanwhile, Auburn has only scored less than 30 points once this season. This could get ugly.

    7:00:

    • Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech (FOX): That loss to West Virginia is looking more and more inexplicable as the season goes on, but that said, these teams otherwise appear to be pretty even, so I’ll give an edge to the home team.
    • Tennessee @ Missouri (ESPN): I’ve seen some bad losses in my time, but I’m not sure I’ve ever felt the impact of a gut wrenching loss for a team that isn’t my own than I did when I saw that ball clang off the uprights. That said, I don’t expect the transitive property to hold up (South Carolina lost to Tennessee two weeks ago), as Mizzou is just categorically better than the Volunteers.
    • Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech (ESPNU): Last week’s win in Charlottesville may be the ugliest win I’ve ever seen by a Georgia Tech team. I’m still not sure how you can turn the ball over 5 times and escape with a victory, but we managed. So now our attentions turn to Pitt.
      So last weekend, Pitt lost at Navy. So there’s a couple ways this can go, and if you pay attention to GT sports, you can probably already guess the narratives. Quickly, they are something along these lines. Since Pitt played Navy last weekend, they’ve had an extra week to practice against our offense, and especially at full-speed. The retort is, of course, that hopefully our guys are a little more athletic and skilled than Navy’s. And, of course, we do have some shotgun/pistol looks in our pocket as well.
      Pitt is pretty middle-of-the-road statistically, though maybe slightly better than their 4-3 record. They’re definitely a better team than Virginia, and I can guarantee that we will not beat them if we turn the ball over five times again.

    7:30: Colorado @ California-Los Angeles (FS1): So far, Colorado has not scored more than 20 or given up less than 40 in their Pac-12 games. This is not what one would call a formula for success, and indeed, success will likely remain elusive against the Bruins.

    8:00:

    • Miami @ Florida State (ABC): I figure the line for this game is mostly due to FSU’s pummeling of Clemson and Miami barely beating Wake Forest last weekend. I understand that, okay? And I still think FSU is going to win. But probably not by 3+ touchdowns.
    • Boise State @ Colorado State (CBSS): It’s definitely a down year for the Broncos, but they should still be good enough to win this one.

    9:00: Texas-El Paso @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (ESPN2): Oh, what I would give to have this game be at UTEP. Alas, in the safe confines of Kyle Stadium even TAMU’s awful defense should be able to contain the 1-6 Miners. (Also, UTEP’s defense is actually worse than TAMU’s, so… yeah.)

    10:30: Nevada @ Fresno State (ESPNU): Nevada just isn’t that good this year, unfortunately. They probably won’t provide that much of an impediment to Fresno’s BCS quest.