It’s week 6! Doesn’t feel like it, does it?

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Indiana @ Ohio State (ESPN): Here’s the thing about Indiana. They’re Indiana. With Ohio State’s newfound penchant for beating up on less opponents, they should win easily.
• Illinois @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN2): The Zook Era is probably over at Illinois anyway. But this game probably isn’t going to help things.
• Texas Tech vs. Baylor (@Dallas, TX; FSN): Texas Tech was on the receiving end of an upset beatdown, while Baylor was on the giving end. College football blogger types have been waiting for Baylor QB Robert Griffin, who finally had his breakout game against Kansas, where Baylor rolled 55-7. Also fun is the fact that this game is being held at and during the Texas State fair, though unlike last week’s Red River Shootout I’m not aware of any good nickname for this game between two other Big 12 South rivals. At any rate, I’m going against all my college football instincts and picking Baylor to win.
• Central Michigan @ Virginia Tech (ESPNU): VPI, unless they confuse CMU for JMU or something.
• Minnesota @ Wisconsin (BTN): Wisconsin.
• Tennessee @ Georgia (SEC): UGA is not running good right now, as they ended being trampled (ha-ha!) by a late Buffalo comeback last week. Tennessee, of course, lost as only a team can lose to LSU: in the most chaotic and crazy way possible. Presumably, the Vols have learned their lesson and probably will have no more than 11 folks on the field at any given time to secure the win.
• Boston College @ North Carolina State (ACC): BC is always a decent team, but this year they seem to lack any decent quarterbacks. Russell Wilson should be able to get back on track in this one.

3:30:

• Alabama @ South Carolina (CBS): I feel pretty good about saying this is Alabama’s last major challenge until Auburn. Yes, I know LSU and Auburn are both higher ranked than South Carolina, but the mere idea of a Nick Saban team losing to Les Miles is almost enough to make my head explode. While South Carolina is a legit threat, I suspect the Tide will dispose of them the same way they do all their threats. As EDSBS’s Orson Swindle put it last week, Alabama plays football like they hate it, as though they’re bored with it. That ruthless efficiency will allow them to win again in Columbia, most likely.
• Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame (NBC): The most recent image in my head for either of these teams is Pitt getting mercilessly pounded by Miami, so I’m going to take ND here.
• Michigan State @ Michigan (ABC/ESPN): Two undefeated teams will enter, but only one will leave! This is shaping up to be the best iteration of this rivalry in years, and is fully worth your support. As a Tech fan, it’s hard not to sympathize with Michigan State, which along with GT and teams like Texas A&M have an arch-nemesis who doesn’t really reciprocate. Both these teams appear good from the available data. Michigan has one of the most electric quarterbacks in the country, and Michigan State has a coach who is back only a few weeks after a heart attack. Of course, as Doc Saturday points out, this undefeated starts bears a resemblance to last year’s 4-0 start for Michigan, a streak which was broken by the Spartans. That said, being the home team and possessing the superior offense, I have to pick Michigan.
• Clemson @ North Carolina (ABC/ESPN/Gameplan): Clemson ended up losing by 9 to Miami last week, but there’s no real shame in that. UNC has rebounded from an 0-2 start to pull up to 2-2, with wins over moribund Rutgers and East Carolina. Against quality competition, I basically consider both these teams 0-2, and with all the drama surrounding Carolina right now I have to pick the Tigers.
• Arkansas vs. Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (@Arlington, TX; ABC/Gameplan): Dallas is basically the capital of the college football world for the day, with the early game up at the Cotton Bowl and this game down at Jerry Jones’s Intergalactic Space Palace. Do not be fooled by TAMU’s 3-1 record, for the “3” part of that comes against teams like Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, and Florida International (whom they only beat by a touchdown). Arkansas has also had a bye week to recover from their last minute collapse against Alabama, and should be on the right track here to beat the Aggies.
• California-Los Angeles @ California (FSN): Hey, remember that time Cal lost by three touchdowns to Nevada as the Wolfpack ran all over them for 316 yards? Hey, remember that time UCLA beat Texas by three touchdowns while rushing for 264 yards? Now recall that UCLA installed Nevada’s offense and, well, I’ll be taking the Bruins over the Bears.
• Virginia @ Georgia Tech (ESPNU): It’s homecoming. I’m generally against scheduling homecoming against conference foes (especially we play MTSU at home next week), but I’m not in charge of these things. As for the football game? Well, we basically played like crap again until sometime around the 8-minute mark in the 4th quarter the offensive collectively woke up and realized, “hey wait, we’re losing to Wake Forest”. From there, GT went on a tear as it methodically came back. Dropped passes and missed blocks – two of GT’s main problems – are mostly issues of execution, not talent. This team has the talent to succeed if it plays four quarters of football. They just need to play like it if they want to beat UVA two years in a row for the first time since 1990 and 1991.
• Wyoming @ Texas Christian (CBSCS): This is an away game for the Cowboys, so definite no brown tops. Boise beat these guys 51-6, so I figure that’s about where the bar is for TCU.

7:00:

• Colorado @ Missouri (FSN): We’ve talked plenty about 5th down. These Tigers are undefeated, but against, well, terrible teams. Fortunately for them, this edition of Colorado is pretty bad. I’ll take Mizzou.
• Oregon State @ Arizona (Versus): I think Oregon State’s got what it takes to take down Arizona. Arizona is 4-0, which is all well and good, but I just can’t figure out what they’ve done to deserved to be ranked 9th in the country. Which is a major part of why I’m taking the Beavers.
• Eastern Michigan @ Vanderbilt (ESPNU): I’m pretty sure Vandy can win this one against one of, if not the worst, Division I-A football team in the country.

7:30:

• Louisiana State @ Florida (ESPN): Don’t let Florida fans fool you, they’re still pretty good and undefeated against teams that aren’t Alabama over the past two seasons. I think they’ll beat LSU.
• Auburn @ Kentucky (ESPN2): The Cam Newton Experience is back in action in Lexington, where Auburn should be able to beat Kentucky pretty thoroughly.
• Purdue @ Northwestern (BTN): Purdue just lost to Toledo by 11. Toledo. I’ll take Northwestern to run it to a not really that improbable 6-0, considering the schedule they’ve played.

8:00:

• Southern California @ Stanford (ABC/Gameplan): If you’d told me even two years ago that Stanford would ever be a double-digit favorite over USC I’d have thought you were crazy. And yet, here we are. Andrew Luck and Co. should be ready to exploit USC’s entirely too forgiving defense while avenging their loss to Oregon.
• Florida State @ Miami (ABC/Gameplan): FSU and Miami are ranked again! It’s everything the ACC ever wanted! Well, except that each of these teams lost to superior teams from other conferences already, so not so much. Also, FSU’s pass defense still seems to be somewhat terribly, giving nice, soft and juicy coverages for Jacory Harris to exploit mercilessly. Miami should win pretty easily, unless Harris has one of his “bad days”.
• Mississippi State @ Houston (CBSCS): With their all-everything QB, Houston would have a very good chance to win this game, but since he isn’t have to take Miss State.

10:30: San Jose State @ Nevada (ESPNU): Last year’s edition of this game is what led to one of the quotes down at the bottom of this page. Oh, and last weekend SJSU let DI-AA UC-Davis score two unanswered touchdowns to rally and win 14-13. (I was eating dinner with some friends when I overheard someone else in the restaurant ask someone how SJSU did. They just said, “well, we lost” and left out the part about losing to Davis.) I would expect something similar to last year’s 62-7 route, but hey there’s nothing else on this late and watching Nevada run their offense can be pretty entertaining.

That’s all for now. Bowl predictions are almost here! They’ll debut after the BCS comes out next week (as in, after Week 7).

Before we dive in, I’d like to go tell the SID at Colorado who wrote the blurb quoted in this UGA blog (of all places) to go die in a fire. To save you from having to click that link, I’ll reproduce it here:

Now apparently, our use of the word “consensus” upsets a few folks around the country. It’s not to slam the others, but rather to strengthen CU’s case for that season since many point to the Fifth Down game or the clip on Raghib Ismail’s punt return in the Orange Bowl and say our title is tainted. But fact is fact; at the time nine (*) basic postseason polls were recognized as determining a unanimous or consensus national champion; Colorado topped six of those: *Associated Press, *FWAA (Football Writers Association of America), *National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame (MacArthur Trophy), *USA Today-CNN, *Sporting News and *Football News; Georgia Tech won the *United Press International poll (by 1 point) and Miami, Fla., the *Sagarin and *New York Times computer ratings. In the NCAA Record book listing for 1990, it shows 19 different groups that declared a national champion; 11 voted outright for Colorado and three each for Georgia Tech and Miami; one (National Championship Foundation) split it between CU and Tech, and another (FACT, a computer ranking) voted for four, including Washington.

I wish I were as funny as the Fire Joe Morgan guys so I could tear this apart the way it deserves, but alas, they’re actually people who are paid to be funny while I’m a programmer who doesn’t update his own site more than once a week, if that. (By the way, those guys posted a whole bunch of stuff on Deadspin last week. It was pretty awesome.) So here are my criticisms, in order:

• Well, I’m upset because you apparently don’t know what the word “consensus” means. Generally, you only get to say you’re the “consensus” national champion in college football if you were ranked first the most important polls of the day. (This is true even in the BCS era, with the AP poll still having significant clout.) 
• If it’s not to slam “the others”, then why do you keep saying this? I’m from the South. This is like when someone says, “well, bless their heart, but…” You’re trying to insult someone without saying you’re insulting them.
• The anniversary of the 5th down game is this coming Wednesday, by the way. October 6, 1990, never forget. Well, at least if you’re a Georgia Tech or Missouri fan.
• I’m going to say your title is tainted, because it is. Had you not had the most incompetent officials in the world against Mizzou you would’ve had two losses.
• Widely regarded by whom? At the time, the UPI poll was the Coaches Poll, so that and the AP Poll are generally recognized by most sources are the two most important.
• The NCAA record book is irrelevant for determining Division I-A national titles. In case you haven’t noticed, the NCAA is sort of bitter about the fact it doesn’t control the I-A national championship (hence why the divisions are “Bowl Subdivision” and “Championship Subdivision” and not I-A and I-AA anymore). So in an effort to undermine the current system they award a championship anytime anyone ranks you number one.

Anyway, I just wanted to rant about that. Let’s move on.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Northwestern @ Minnesota (ESPN): The best thing, by far, to come out of this game is this entry from what has to be the world’s only Northwestern sports blog. (If there are others, I’m not sure I want to know about them.) Also, Minnesota is, like, really bad.
• Miami @ Clemson (ESPN2): Things we know about Miami: Boy, Jacory Harris can sure throw some interceptions! Things we know about Clemson: man, they barely lost to Auburn! In other words, we don’t know much either way. I’ll take the non-Dabo coached team, which is Miami.
• Kansas @ Baylor (FSN): Well, this has to be one of the games the Bears circled on their schedule as a “winnable Big 12 game”. Them being Baylor, though, I’ll see it when I believe it.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Auburn (ESPNU): Auburn.
• Temple @ Army (CBSCS): Army’s 3-1! Of course, it comes mostly from beating up on teams like… Temple. Well, Temple of a few years ago, not the Temple that gave Penn State all it wanted and beat UConn. (You know that had to feel good around the Temple athletics offices.) I’ll still take Army here though.
• Ohio State @ Illinois (BTN): In the past, I would’ve said the Sweatervest would take his 31 points and call it a day. Apparently someone released him from his chains, though. This one could be ugly.
• Kentucky @ Mississippi (SEC): Ole Miss went and beat Fresno last weekend, which I think says more about Fresno than it does Ole Miss. Unfortunately, all we know about Kentucky is that they got pounded by Florida last weekend, which I’m pretty sure was a given. So this is a tossup, and I’ll give the edge to the team that didn’t lose to Jacksonville State.
• Florida State @ Virginia (ACC): FSU.

2:30: Navy @ Air Force (Versus): It’s the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, and with Navy off to a relatively so start this may be Air Force’s year. I’ll take them.

3:30:

• Tennessee @ Louisiana State (CBS): As has been thoroughly established by now, LSU is the most precarious 4-0 team in the country after last week’s… “game” against West Virginia. That said, Tennessee needed overtime to beat UAB, so I’ll take LSU to become the most precarious 5-0 team in the country. (By the way, check out Les Miles’s zen koan down at the bottom of the page. Also, how does he know what the word “scotoma” means?)
• Wisconsin @ Michigan State (ABC/ESPN): Given Wisconsin’s out-of-conference schedule, you’d expect them to be 4-0 at this point so I have no idea what to make of them. Meanwhile, Mark Dantonio returns after his heart attack. That should give Sparty the early edge, at least. I’ll take them for the game.
• Texas vs. Oklahoma (@Dallas, TX; ABC/ESPN): It’s the Red River Shootout! All that stuff about Texans willing to fry anything, by the way? It’s totally true. I was in Austin earlier this year and I had Dr Pepper flavored chicken wings. (They also love their Dr Pepper, which was great for my taste buds but terrible for my arteries. Actually, that’s a good description for that entire trip.) Getting back to the game, well, neither of these teams play much defense, but Texas doesn’t really play much offense either. Oh, and they got torn apart by UCLA last weekend. It probably won’t be a blowout, but I like the Sooners here.
• Virginia Tech @ North Carolina State (ABC/Gameplan): Russell Wilson’s pretty good, especially when your defense admits it has no idea what it’s doing. Not that I’m bitter. All I’m going to say is that NCSU better win this game.
• Michigan @ Indiana (ESPNU): Michigan.

 7:00:

• Georgia @ Colorado (FSN): Here’s a mixed feelings game. The reason for the press release at the top of this post is because CU will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their share of the 1990 national title today. Now, the timing seems pretty odd to me. I don’t know why you’d do this against an out-of-conference opponent, unless they figured UGA was the closest they were going to get to scheduling us or something. It’s also one of the two weekends they could’ve picked that are closest to the 5th down game, which I’m not sure is something I’d want to celebrate. Whatever. This is a “hope for the meteor” game for me.
• Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest (ESPNU): My favorite thing about this game is the fact it isn’t at noon eastern, or 9 AM my time. Kansas is just as bad as these guys, so GT really needs to actually come out for this game. We just looked completely out-of-sorts against NC State and it showed on both sides of the ball. Turnovers are up on offense, while the defense is seemingly helpless on third downs. I honestly have no idea what to expect from GT this year from week-to-week, but I just hope it starts improving. Going back to the above for a second: GT is saving the 20th anniversary celebration for its biggest home game of the year, November 13th against Miami.

8:00:

• Florida @ Alabama (CBS): GAME OF THE WEEK OF THE YEAR OF THE CENTURY. It’s the well-anticipated rematch of last year’s SEC title game, which I never saw (I was too busy standing in a parking lot in an entirely too cold Tampa) but as far as I can tell was pretty lackluster. Anyway, this game features 100% less Tim Tebow but ESPN’s already hyping “Tebow-Lite” so I’m sure the CBS guys (who I actually like!) will mention him approximately 1000 times. That said, I’ll take the chalk and take Bama, but root for the other superpower. Watching these two teams as a neutral fan must be like what it felt like to be in the “Third World” during the Cold War (when that term meant something).
• Stanford @ Oregon (ABC/ESPN2): In my mind, this could actually be a better game. This should be the first opponent to challenge either team, and should be a good game to watch. I have to give the Ducks the slight edge up in Eugene, though.
• Notre Dame @ Boston College (ABC/Gameplan): I’ll take the team that has an actual quarterback. I’m not sure BC would’ve worse off last week just snapping it to no one, that’s how bad they were.
• Pennsylvania State @ Iowa (ESPN): Look, I think Arizona’s an okay team and all, but Iowa was one of my Big Ten favorites for the first time in forever, and once again in the grand tradition of this site, they let me down. So I’ll take Penn State.
• Washington @ Southern California (ESPN2): USC.
• Marshall @ Southern Mississippi (CBSCS): USM.

And with that I’m done. By the way, if you want to see a team try to reach 100, Boise’s playing New Mexico State on espn3.com. 

Let’s get down to business, shall we? As usual, all predictions wrong and all times Eastern.

Noon:

• North Carolina State @ Georgia Tech (ESPN): Bright and early once again this week, as GT takes on the conference’s best traditional QB by far in Russell Wilson. NC State has looked solid so far this year, though knowing what we know now about this year’s edition of Cincinnati there’s not a particularly solid win on the resume. The same can be said of GT, of course, and the Jackets feature a bad loss as well. Overall, there are probably worries from all corners except for NC State’s offense. While GT’s defense got itself together for the 2nd half last week against UNC, it still need to execute better, especially against a quarterback who actually knows what he’s doing. The GT offense versus the NCSU defense goes both ways, though. NCSU’s defense this year has received an infusion of “TA NOO TA BLITZ” by bringing the man himself onto staff. So GT has to be worried about a crazy, blitzing defenses, while NCSU fans have to be worried because the same defense got torched for like a billion yards at Notre Dame last year when they played Navy.
• Bowling Green @ Michigan (ESPN2): Michigan…. well, probably.
• Florida International @ Maryland (ESPNU): Maryland.
• Austin Peay @ Wisconsin (BTN): Wisconsin.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Tennessee (SEC/Gameplan): Tennessee.
• Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ACC/Gameplan): Well, this appears to be the only other game on this morning. A very moribund Virginia Tech squad rolls into Boston, who has managed to at least win their patsy games. We don’t otherwise know much else, though. VPI should win, but, I mean, how can you pick them here?

12:30: Central Florida @ Kansas State (FSN): K-State had to rally against… Iowa State. (Fun fact: when ISU was in the lead, I IMed a friend of mine “wow, that’ll be the first conference win in a long time!” And then I remembered that disaster of a game last year against Nebraska that they won 10-9.) So anyway, I think KSU should still win this one.

3:30:

• Alabama @ Arkansas (CBS): This is probably the biggest game of the day. Well, not probably. After an easy 3-0 start, this is probably the most legit threat to Alabama so far this yea. Can Ryan Mallet throw it over the vaunted Alabama D while not getting himself killed? Probably, but I’m not sure it’s going to be enough.
• Stanford @ Notre Dame (NBC): I actually went to the Stanford-Wake Forest game last weekend. (It was really cheap.) Other than the weirdness of going to a football game somewhere that still has free parking within two miles of the stadium (which I think says a lot about Stanford football), I have to say that: a) their offense is terrifying, b) Jim Harbaugh gives no quarter, and c) Wake Forest is not very good this year. Notre Dame is pretty decent, but I think the Cardinal will prevail in this one.
• Wake Forest @ Florida State (ABC/Gameplan): Oh, yeah, speaking of Wake… yeah, FSU.
• California-Los Angeles @ Texas (ABC/ESPN/Gameplan): Folks keep referencing the late-90’s contest that UCLA won 66-3 in Austin, but as UCLA fans can tell you this isn’t the 90’s anymore. Texas all the way.
• Eastern Michigan @ Ohio State (ABC/ESPN): Ohio State.
• North Carolina @ Rutgers (ESPNU): When I lived in Alabama, we had a saying: “Thank God for Mississippi.” Well, as a fan of an ACC school, I can safely say “Thank God for the Big East.” UNC should roll.
• Tulane @ Houston (CBSCS): Houston is missing Case Keenum. That will probably hurt them later in the year. It will not hurt them against Tulane.
• Temple @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Penn State is a tad better than UConn, I’m pretty sure.

6:00: Oklahoma @ Cincinnati (ESPN2): Based on the way Cincy has played so far this year, I think the Sooners can pretty much name their own score in this one.

7:00:

• Kentucky @ Florida (ESPNU): Florida hasn’t lost to Kentucky since 1986. I don’t think is going to change this year.
• Akron @ Indiana (BTN): Thanks Big Ten network! I think Indiana will win this though.
• Georgia @ Mississippi State (SEC/Gameplan): Last week we had Tigers vs. Tigers, so this week we naturally get Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs. Both these sides are coming off two straight losses to other SEC teams, so it’s hard to entirely predict what will transpire. I’ll have to (very) reluctantly take UGA here.

7:45: South Carolina @ Auburn (ESPN): I would consider these two teams solidly in the “second tier” of the SEC this year, where the first is occupied by Alabama, Florida, and for now, Arkansas. South Carolina is hoping that it finally has the chops to break through and get a big SEC win. The problem is that they’re at Auburn, who managed to pull out a tense, overtime win over a decent Clemson squad last weekend. I’ll take South Carolina here, but barely.

8:00:

• Oregon State @ Boise State (ABC): Seems to be a fair amount of hype around this game, but to be completely honest I don’t really foresee any issues for the Broncos.
• Baylor @ Rice (CBSCS): Rice is pretty awful this year. I realize that’s not saying much in comparison to their recent history but still, Baylor should be able to get halfway to bowl eligibility against them.

8:30: Northern Illinois @ Minnesota (BTN): Why am I even listing all these BTN games? Minnesota.

9:15: West Virginia @ Louisiana State (ESPN2): College football’s two craziest fanbases meet in one liquored up brawl down in Baton Rouge. Again, that was the fans. The game itself is likely to be marked by Les Miles’s insanity versus Bill Stewart’s incompetence. This game will only end in one of two ways: LSU loses due to poor clock management, or WVU loses due to some bizarre coaching decision. Either way, it should be entertaining, in a trainwreck sort of way.

10:30: Oregon @ Arizona State (FSN): And here’s your Pac-10 nightcap. It doesn’t get any easier this week for the Sun Devils, coming off a close loss at Wisconsin determined by a blocked extra point. Good news for QB Steven Threet is that all his body parts seem to be intact, unlike most of ASU’s other recent quarterbacks. Nonetheless, the Ducks should prove too much for ASU in fairly typical “close in the first half, pull away in the second half” fashion.

Unfortunately, I was correct last week when I was afraid that Tech would come out a little flat. So, for once, not only were all the times below Eastern, a prediction was, unfortunately, right. So let’s hope things get back on course here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Arkansas @ Georgia (ESPN): Georgia’s got problems. Mainly, they can’t score points and last week their defense couldn’t stop the runaway locomotive that is that Lattimore kid at South Carolina. These days, Arkansas likes to throw it over the top, though, and I suspect that’s what we’ll see here.
• Kent State @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN2): I’m not even going to dignify most cupcake games with a summary this week. So Penn State and let’s move on.
• Iowa State vs. Kansas State (@Kansas City, MO; FSN): Well, unless a cupcake plays a cupcake I guess. K-State should still win easily though.
• Maryland @ West Virginia (ESPNU): I have no idea how WVU almost loses to Marshall, but they almost did last week. Maryland won based mostly off Navy shooting themselves in the foot last week, which is probably what it would take for them to beat WVU. In Morgantown they should be able to take care of themselves, though.
• North Texas @ Army (CBSCS): Army lost to Hawaii last week, largely for the reasons you’d suspect. North Texas is pretty awful, though, so I think Army stands a fair chance of pulling this off.
• Massachusetts @ Michigan (BTN): Michigan.
• Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (SEC/Gameplan): Vandy gets a double-dose of the SEC’s two craziest coaches back-to-back, after going through the Les Miles Experience last weekend. Vandy did what they usually did though, which is somehow keep the game close in the first half, and then gradually slip away in the third quarter as your opponent beats you down with their superior size, depth, and speed. That said, Vandy is technically the best team Ole Miss has seen so far this season, and then you remember that the Rebels have already lost once. They should still win, of course, but it could be close until the end.
• Georgia Tech @ North Carolina (ACC/Gameplan): What the hell is there even to say? I haven’t really even fully comprehended the loss last weekend and I’m not sure I want to. We were, simply, bad. Even if UNC’s defense is still suspended, if we play like we did last week it won’t matter. Oh, and the defense still looks awful, and neither unit was helped by stupid and untimely penalties. Without significant improvement in all phases of the game, this will be a long year for us.

3:30:

• Florida @ Tennessee (CBS): You know football season has really arrive when Uncle Vern is back, and this game certainly fits the bill. UF should roll though.
• Nebraska @ Washington (ABC/ESPN2/Gameplan): Nebraska.
• Arizona State @ Wisconsin (ESPN2/ABC/Gameplan): Arizona State has, to this point, literally played no one as they’ve played two DI-AA teams. Neither has Wisconsin, really. So this game is pretty much a toss up to me, but I’ll take Wisconsin.
• Alabama @ Duke (ABC/Gameplan): When I first started thinking about how I would approach this writeup, I was thinking about it along the lines of many old Southern rivalries now broken up by conference affiliation. That doesn’t really apply here, though. Because for all the history, these teams have only met three times. Duke won the first meeting, on New Year’s Day in the 1945 Sugar Bowl, but it’s been all downhill from there, as Bama won the encounters in 1972 and 2006. This the return trip from the latter game. Suffice it to say, Alabama should have a pretty easy go of it. Oh, as for the rootability index of this game, I have to disagree with Orson and say this one is pretty easy: Duke. The Duke fans everyone hates are Duke basketball fans. Since Duke football is such a nonentity they don’t really have any fans, and the ones they do have are pretty loyal and definitely not bandwagon fans. Meanwhile, I can’t think of anything positive at all to say about Alabama fans.
• Southern California @ Minnesota (ESPN): As bad USC looks this year, Minnesota is a truly awful team and the Trojans should roll easily.
• Air Force @ Oklahoma (FSN): This game will probably be fun to watch, but the Sooners should come out ahead in the end.
• Brigham Young @ Florida State (ESPNU): Remember last year, when no one was talking about FSU after they lost to GT and BYU was one of the major mid-major teams? And then FSU went to Provo and shallacked the Cougars 54-28? Well, this year FSU again has the deflating defeat, but so does BYU with a 35-14 loss to Air Force. While I don’t expect a repeat of last year’s utter blowout, I do like FSU again.
• Washington State @ Southern Methodist (CBSCS): A lot of awful major conference teams are on TV today, huh? I have to take SMU here. Yes, I am aware they lost 28-7 to UAB. I think either team is better than Wazzou.

4:30: Baylor @ Texas Christian (Versus): I think TCU is a pretty good team. This isn’t your usual truly awaful edition of Baylor, but TCU is still a superior team that would love to show the Texas legislature who should’ve been muscled into the Big 12 back in the day.

5:00: Indiana @ Western Kentucky (BTN): Indiana, well, at least I hope so.

7:00:

• Clemson @ Auburn (ESPN): I won’t make a joke about the Tigers winning here, and just come straight and say that Auburn is going to win this game. Why? It’s at home, and Clemson probably just isn’t ready after facing North Texas and Presbyterian.
• Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): LSU, but hey, with Les Miles at the helm you never know.

8:00:

(AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean)

• Texas @ Texas Tech (ABC/ESPN2): Okay, there’s a lot of hype around this game, but in reality, Texas should win. Tuberville has done a fine job in Lubbock so far (and is still throwing it a lot, surprisingly enough) but Texas is just better.
• Notre Dame @ Michigan State (ESPN2/ABC): Notre Dame did everything but win last week against Michigan, but without really putting any thought into it the Domers should still win.
• Boise State @ Wyoming (CBSCS): Unless Boise is just utterly disgusted by Wyoming’s home brown unis they should be able to win here. (As someone who always sought to create the ugliest uniforms possible in the NCAA Football games, the Wyoming unis have a special place in my heart, though.)

10:30:

• Iowa @ Arizona (ESPN): Begrudgingly, the years of hate towards Iowa on this site have now turned to a sort-of respect. Which means that it’s probably about to be betrayed, but whatever, I like the Hawkeys a lot here.
• Houston @ California-Los Angeles (FSN): Honestly, I’ll take Houston here. UCLA looked terrible last weekend against Stanford and there’s no reason to think they’ve suddenly gotten better.
• Nevada-Las Vegas @ Idaho (ESPNU): The main reason I can recommend watching this game is because KIBBIE DOME. That said, these teams both have the records would expect at this point but what the hell I’m taking Idaho because KIBBIE DOME.

11:15: Wake Forest @ Stanford (ESPN2): I’m half tempted to hop the train and go to this game, because, hey, it’s not like there won’t be tickets or anything, and it’s pretty well after most of the other games will have been decided most likely. Also, I always like Wake to make it tough, but The Cardinal should take care of business in the end.

Well, that’s that. Have a great Saturday, folks.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• San Jose State @ Wisconsin (ESPN): San Jose State continues their fundraising tour, this time making an appearance in Madison, WI. Badgers win easily.
• Georgia @ South Carolina (ESPN2): As usual, the good doctor talked about this game much better than I possibly could. But for the heck of it, and the fact I didn’t see either of these two teams play last week, I’ll take South Carolina.
• Georgia Tech @ Kansas (FSN): Okay, you’re a GT fan. You’re psyched up about your team’s first regular season game west of the Mississippi for the first time in awhile (since the 2003 BYU game, if I recall correctly). It’s also Tech’s first game against a current Big 12 school since playing Baylor in 1993. And then your opponent loses 6-3 in its first game to… North Dakota State. So now you doubts. Oh, sure, most outside observers think this is an easy win for you (the line seems to be 13.5 to 14 points at press time), but you’re a fan. And not just a normal fan, but a Georgia Tech fan, who within your ability to recall have dropped plenty of games they were supposed to win. (Also, you’re probably an engineer of some sort, which is a profession that doesn’t generally lend itself to optimists.) For instance, losing to Virginia in Charlottesville every year from 1992 to 2007. Losing to Duke in 2003. Sure, the past two years it hasn’t been as bad (the only truly terrible loss of the Paul Johnson era was probably the home game with UVA in 2008), but still, you just can’t shake that feeling of dread when you play a supposedly overmatched opponent.
• Michigan State vs. Florida Atlanta (@Detroit, MI; ESPNU): Sparty rolls. Howard Schellenberger is unfazed.
• Hawaii @ Army (CBSCS): Tune into this game for some good, old fashioned cognitive dissonance theater. Army may not throw a pass, while Hawaii may not run 10 times. It should be fun and high scoring, provided Hawaii can’t stop the option attack. Since that’s the only part I’m not sure about, I’ll take the figurative warriors over the guys who are more likely to be real ones.
• Illinois State @ Northwestern (BTN): NU.
• South Florida @ Florida (SEC/Gameplan): I have to say, as a fan of a school which is not a football powerhouse, it’s funny watching fans of said schools fret over their supposed shortcomings. Florida rolls.
• Duke @ Wake Forest (ACC/Gameplan): It used to be pretty automatic that I would take Wake here, but the past couple of years have seen Wake trending down and Duke trending up, so at this point it’s difficult to say which side as superior athletes, especially since Wake lost their 500th-year senior finally. (Seriously, it seemed like Riley Skinner was there forever.) Is this the year Duke’s first win over the Demen Deacons since 1999? Sure, why not.

 3:30:

• Michigan @ Notre Dame (NBC): Honestly, I think Michigan can (and will) take this game. But as with the past few years, I think in the end it’ll matter as much as it has the past few years – which is to say, it won’t.
• Florida State @ Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2): Okay, FSU played Samford last weekend so that doesn’t really tell us much. But Oklahoma sure tried mighty hard to lose to Utah State, didn’t they? Nonetheless, it’s hard to pick against them in this situation, at home against the relatively green Seminoles.
• Iowa State @ Iowa (ESPN2/ABC): Last year, Iowa finally did what they were supposed to against the Cyclones, which negates my usual post about how surprisingly competitive this rivalry has been since 1998, during which time the Hawkeyes have gone 5-7. Thing is, now most people would just say that Iowa has gone 5-2 since 2003. I have a pretty good feeling they’ll get to 6-2.
• University of Miami @ Ohio State (ESPN): it’s a matchup of two schools that like to use the article “the” when referring to themselves. Oh, I guess it’s also a rematch of some national title game? Well, if this were those Hurricanes, I would probably like them here, but Tressel seems to have taken the sweatervest reins off of Terrelle Pryor. It may be close, but I think OSU will win in the end.
• Colorado @ California (FSN): You know what’s great about week 2? Despite the fact I missed most of week 1 I still didn’t really miss anything because despite the fact these two teams are 1-0 I still have no idea what to make of them. Oh, right, CU is still coached by Dan Hawkins because they couldn’t afford to fire him. Bears all the way then.
• Kent State @ Boston College (ESPNU): BC rolls.
• Georgia Southern @ Navy (CBCS): Aw, we miss you Jaybo Shaw! While this is one of the rare times you’ll get to see the Paul Johnson offense play itself, Navy still has the edge here.

4:00: Brigham Young @ Air Force (Versus): I don’t know why people complain about Versus being hard to find. It’s right next to the ESPN channels, at least here. Geez. Anyway, I like BYU here.

7:00:

• Pennsylvania State @ Alabama (ESPN): As we slide on into primetime, we’re first greeted with Penn State and Alabama, possibly the most anticipated OOC matchup of the season. That said, I’m not really sure how Penn State wins this game.
• Oregon @ Tennessee (ESPN2): Tennessee travels west once again. Too bad by the time I wrote this every conceivable joke about their hygiene has already been made, because otherwise Oregon should win easily.
• Wyoming @ Texas (FSN): Okay, I’m running out of time here. I’m just going to say I wish Wyoming could wear their brown home duds as Texas rolls.
• Louisiana State @ Vanderbilt (ESPNU): LSU.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas (SEC/Gameplan): Ar-kansas.

7:30:

• North Carolina State @ Central Florida (CBSCS): Okay, NCSU should win this game, but you never know those guys.
• Southern Illinois @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois.
• Western Kentucky @ Kentucky (SEC/Gameplan): Kentucky.

9:00: Mississippi @ Tulane (ESPNC->ESPN2): Ole…. wait. Didn’t they lose to Jacksonville State last weekend? Even Tulane managed to beat their DI-AA patsy last week. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Rebels should still win, but that certainly adds another dimension to this thing, doesn’t it?

10:30:

• Stanford @ California-Los Angeles (ESPN): Am I seriously picking Stanford to beat UCLA? You betcha. This time last year that would’ve been unthinkable, but here we are.
• Virginia @ Southern California (FSN): Okay, USC will still win, but the way their defense played last weekend this could be a lot more interesting than many anticipated.
• Colorado State @ Nevada (ESPNU): Well, provided the ol’ Nevada pistol is still humming a long, they should win rather comfortably, I would think.

All right, time to get some sleep before the 9am kickoff.