As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Michigan @ Minnesota (ESPN): After their thrilling loss to the Fightin’ Kafkas last week, I expect a pedestrian beatdown of the Wolverines, whose season, and bowl streak, is shot.
• Ohio State @ Northwestern (ESPN2): Just how good is this Northwestern team? We’re about to find out for sure. Considering the losses to Michigan State and Indiana, my guess is “not very good”. OSU by a few field goals.
• Baylor @ Texas (FSN): I’m looking forward to seeing what Baylor can do next year. Tomorrow? Not so much. Texas by 30 or so.
• Purdue @ Michigan State (BTN): Michigan State continues their pleasure cruise through the Big Ten and a probably Capital One Bowl berth.
• Georgia Tech @ North Carolina (Raycom/Gameplan): Huge game for both teams, though neither currently controls their own destiny in the ACC Coastal. Both teams are still in it, but need VPI and Virginia to lose. The loser of this game is more than likely out of it, period. GT is ahead of every other ACC team in the conference schedule at the moment, with 6 games down and 2 to go. They have an off week which is desperately needed.
  And that’s going to be Tech’s biggest problem in this game.
  UNC is probably the most competent passing team in the ACC, which is probably not saying much but still. This is bad news for Tech’s banged up secondary. They performed well last week, with freshman safety Cooper Taylor coming up with the now-famous fumble. But he also made a big freshman mistake earlier, where he never turned around and saw the ball on the pass that put FSU within 3. Luckily, we got Dominique Reese back for this game, but we’re still missing senior Jahi Word-Daniels at corner. Expect to see Morgan Burnett (who is Tech’s best defensive back, period) occasionally slide over to corner.
  Where Tech is really hurting is on the offensive line. This unit was already thin, but starting left tackle and captain Andrew Gardner is out for the year after surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. The only Tech player from my high school, RT David Brown (also a senior), is out for a second consecutive game with a spinal condition. Underclassmen are now starting at RG and RT, and freshman stud Nick Claytor is going to start at LT. They are all capable but also young, and the depth behind them is iffy.
  Anyway, I cannot stress enough how badly Tech needs a win here, especially going into the bye week. The last visit to Chapel Hill was the 7-0 debacle back in 2006 – while we did clinch a Coastal Division title in that game, it also was a clear signal that perhaps all was not well with that 2006 team. At least it was the beginning of the end of Patrick Nix as OC.

12:30: Georgia @ Kentucky (Raycom/Gameplan): UGA was absolute savaged down in Jacksonville last weekend, much to my delight. While I would love Kentucky to do the same, I’m not holding my breath.

1:30: Iowa State @ Colorado (Versus): CU continues their epic march towards a huge showdown with Nebraska to see who will go 6-6, barring any major upsets.

3:30:

• Alabama @ Louisiana State (CBS): This really should be a night game. The fact that it is not works very much in Bama’s favor. Also in Alabama’s favor is the fact LSU has wilted in their two games against the other two most competent teams in the SEC so far this year, losing by 30 to Florida and 14 to Georgia. I may regret saying this, but looking over LSU’s schedule gives me no realy indication why they are ranked or perceived as highly as they are this season. So I’m picking Alabama.
• Oklahoma @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (ABC/Gameplan): OU hasn’t suffered any apparently ill effects from the Texas game, aside from perhaps a somewhat leaky defense. Is TAMU competent enough to exploit this? Not particularly. OU by a few scores.
• Pennsylvania State @ Iowa (ESPN/ABC): There has been many a drop of ink and bytes of disk space wasted on why Penn State should not be #3 in the BCS right now. If they’re one of 2 undefeated teams from a BCS conference, then sure, they are deserving. But right now, Texas Tech is, from any measure that I can tell, a better football team. I could probably also make arguments for several 1-loss teams, but still.
• Clemson @ Florida State (Gameplan/ESPN/ABC): I tried not to want to rant about this but I guess I failed. GT-UNC is the only matchup this week of two ranked ACC teams, and they’re also the highest ranked ACC teams. Nonetheless, ESPN/ABC decided they wanted Notre Dame-Boston College and this game instead. Clemson is 4-4, has no head coach, and will probably miss a bowl, especially if they lose in Tallahassee. Which they probably will.
• Stanford @ Oregon (FSN): I…I…I have no idea what to make of this game. None. Since it’s at Oregon, I’ll take the Ducks.
• Marshall @ East Carolina (CBSCS): These teams are actually tied for the lead in the C-USA East division. I watched the UCF-ECU game last Sunday and while ECU won, they didn’t really look good doing it. That said, it’s at ECU and Marshall isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, so Pirates in a close one.

7:00: Kansas State @ Missouri (FSN): Kansas State is coachless and, as much as I hate to say it, things look pretty bad out there. Mizzou can probably name their own score for this one.

8:00:

• California @ Southern California (ABC/Gameplan): It’s Cal! It’s USC! And I don’t care! I’d rather watch OSU-TTU and since Tech was on Raycom this weekend I went ahead and ordered Gameplan for the weekend. Stupid west coast. Oh, and USC by at least a few scores, unless they’ve spent more time moaning about the BCS this week than, you know, on actually playing football. (Dear USC: Maybe you should’ve beaten Oregon State? And perhaps also you realize that unless OSU loses again they will go to the Rose Bowl instead of y’all?)
• Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech (Gameplan/ABC): GAME OF THE DAY. Both these teams love scoring points. But Texas Tech has shown not only do they have the usual bombing-it-out passing game they can run the ball, too. Oh, and play defense, though both these teams do that at least somewhat well. In fact, OSU has the stingiest defense in the Big 12, allowing 102 points in 5 games, to TTU’s 138. Sure, that’s over 20 points per game, but when you’re putting up 40-50 PPG it doesn’t really matter if you give up the occasional 24-spot. At any rate, with another crazy night in Lubbock I expect TTU to emerge victorious again, but I also expect a contest as equally dramatic as last week’s.
• Notre Dame @ Boston College (ESPN): The only common opponent for these two teams is North Carolina, which beat both. BC does lack an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh, though. In fact, looking at ND’s schedule doesn’t really make me think any of their 5 wins are all that much to write home about. Probably the best team they’ve beaten is Stanford. BC should prevail here.
• Florida @ Vanderbilt (ESPN2): Do I want Vandy to win? Sure. I like rooting for them, and hey, choas is fun. Do I think they will win? No, not so much. Florida by 10-20 points.
• Tulane @ Houston (CBSCS): Tulane: At Least We’re Not SMU. Houston rolls.

Anyway, see y’all Sunday for bowl predictions. And if I get around to it, a basketball preview! See ya then.

Boo! In a hurry tonight, so let’s get this over with.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Wisconsin @ Michigan State (ESPN): I still can’t get over the virtual implosion of this Wisconsin team. MSU is coming off a huge win over Michigan and should (repeat, should) have no problem with the Badgers.
• Northwestern @ Minnesota (ESPN2): The Big Ten’s two most resurgent programs face off in an epic battle! Well, I don’t know about “epic”, but they are basically playing for 3rd place (along with Michigan State) behind Penn State and Ohio State. That said, NU suffered a really bad loss to a really bad Indiana team last weekend, so I have to go with the Gilded Gophers here.
• Michigan @ Purdue (BTN): Michgian is bad this year, but unfortunately not as bad as Purdue. Wolverines should pick up a win.
• Miami @ Virginia (Raycom/Gameplan): I don’t know how this happened, but it turns out that Virginia is a decently good football team. Of course, they also got the SMQ Dr. Saturday kiss-of-death this week, but rational thought (insofar as it applies to the ACC this year) has to favor the Cavs. Also, it makes us look better, even if we do need them to lose.

12:30:

• Kansas State @ Kansas (FSN): Kansas isn’t as good as everyone thought, but they are unfortunately good enough to beat KSU.
• Auburn @ Mississippi (Raycom/Gameplan): I miss the days, of, oh, say, the last 4 years or so where this was an automatic pick. (Actually, it’s probably more than that, but still.) Things look pretty bleak for the Tigers, losers of 3 straight, but the only pin of the cap of Ole Miss is the freak upset for Florida. Given this is probably about even, I’ll take the home team here.

2:30: Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame (NBC): With South Florida’s loss yesterday, suddenly Pitt’s 5 game winning streak prior to losing to Rutgers last week is making me re-evaluate the Big East frontrunner. I think ND’s got this one in the bag.

3:30:

• Georgia vs. Florida (@Jacksonville, FL; CBS): The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party name may not really make any sense (it assumes fans of either school can afford cocktails, baffling when you consider how much cheaper PBR, Steel Reserve, or Bud Light is) but it’s still better than nothing, which is what it officially is now. This game is hideously difficult to pick. Though UGA’s loss may be better, UF has really put things together and both sport blowouts against LSU in which they scored 50 points. Therefore, I will pick who I want to win (UF) and just say this game will be on my TV while I’m Slingboxin’ the GT game.
• Oregon @ California (ABC/Gameplan): Cal, I guess? Man I don’t care about this game, but it probably could go either way.
• Oklahoma State @ Iowa State (Gameplan/ABC): This game will end sometime Monday morning because Oklahoma State will not stop scoring until then. Seriously.
• Florida State @ Georgia Tech (Gameplan/ESPN/ABC): “Fun” fact: since FSU joined the ACC in 1992, only two ACC teams have failed to beat them at least once. They, of course, Georgia Tech and Duke. Duke you can understand, but while GT hasn’t exactly had a sustained run of success since then (see: 1993-1997), they also couldn’t beat them with Joe Hamilton. GT’s second best player in this time period, Calvin Johnson, never actually got to play the Seminoles because in their infinite wisdom the ACC put FSU and GT in seperate divisions, so they have not met since 2003. 2003 was, of course, my freshman year. Tech played FSU the week after the Auburn upset and led 13-0 going into the 4th quarter. FSU then scored 14 points and came back, winning 14-13. That is basically the series in a nutshell. Next to beating UGA, I cannot think of a sweeter win we could get this season.
• Iowa @ Illinois (ESPN/ABC): Illinois, I guess? I’m in a hurry here.
• Temple @ Navy (CBSCS): Navy, by a few touchdowns. Over/under on the number of pass attempts by the Midshipmen is about 3.

6:30: Washington @ Southern California (FSN): The line is something absurd, like 40 points or something? If I were a betting man, I still might take USC to cover.

7:00: Tennessee @ South Carolina (ESPN2): The other USC is less formidiable, and their opponent is slightly better. That isn’t really saying much, though, for Tennessee. Spurrier-ball should prevail.

8:00:

• Texas @ Texas Tech (ABC): I don’t need to tell you how big this game is, thanks to ESPN. Both these teams are really good. I can’t really even think of any positives or negatives here except that Texas’s schedule to this point has been superior. So for absolutely no rational reason, I like the Longhorns here.
• Nebraska @ Oklahoma (ESPN): I don’t have time to go link it, but as Dr. Saturday said this game sure isn’t what it used to be. Especailly since Oklahoma should dominate here.
• Texas Christian @ Nevada-Las Vegas (CBSCS): I think TCU is pretty legit, and so I’ll take them here in this MWC road contest.

10:00: Arizona State @ Oregon State (FSN): Finally. ASU has been a disappointment, to say the least. I’d go into why, but I need to go so I’m taking the Beavers.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong. And probably a little more hasty than usual.

Noon:

• Texas Tech @ Kansas (ESPN): I don’t think it’ll be terribly relevant if TTU misses all of their extra points, they should still win by a few scores.
• Illinois @ Wisconsin (ESPN2): Wisconsin has been losing everywhere, and I doubt the skid will stop here. Though it’s definitely hard to tell because UIUC lost at home to UMN last week, but I’ll stick with them anyway.
• Minnesota @ Purdue (ESPN Classic): I feel sorry for Joe Tiller. I’ve also heard there’s some internal discord up in West Lafayette. Minnesota should roll.
• Northwestern @ Indiana (BTN): Wooooo, another Big Ten game. Anyone notice that Northwestern is 6-1? It sufficies to say that they weill be 7-1 on Sunday.
• Boston College @ North Carolina (Raycom/Gameplan): Big game for both teams. Can UNC recover from their loss last week and the loss of their key offensive player? Can BC stay afloat in the ACC Atlantic? No and yes, respectively.

12:30:

• Oklahoma @ Kansas State (FSN): Oklahoma is setting up nicely for a BCS run. Their next three games (this one, Nebraksa, TAMU) are very winnable, but at the end of the schedule be dragons in the form of TTU and Oklahoma State. I guess it goes without saying I like OU here.
• Baylor @ Nebraska (Versus): Baylor showed some initial promise at the beginning of the year, but they’ve lately faltered. Then again, many teams will falter against the two schools with “Oklahoma” in their name. That said, this game is up in Lincoln and I’ve picked a lot of read teams so far so I’m going with the Huskers here.
• Kentucky @ Florida (Raycom/Gameplan): Florida’s already had a bad home loss this year. Hopefully for them they learned their lesson and take care of business going into the Cocktail Party next week.

3:30:

• Georgia @ Louisiana State (CBS): On paper, UGA should probably win this game. But there are several tangible factors, namely, 90,000 very drunk Cajuns. I’m going with the (admittedly) slight upset here and picking LSU.
• California-Los Angeles @ California (ABC/Gameplan): Outside of USC and maybe Arizona (can’t believe I just said that) this rest of the Pac-10 has been very unprediactable this year. That said, this is UCLA’s 3rd road game of the year and they got blown out in their previous two. This might not be a blowout, but I will still take Cal.
• Oklahoma State @ Texas (Gameplan/ABC): I don’t really need to tell you how huge this game is, nationally and in the Big 12. Definitely no doubt that the Big 12 South is back after a couple years of the North domination. Now, as for the game, both these teams are good but Texas has some semblance of a defense, so I like them here.
• Michigan State @ Michigan (ESPN2/ABC): MSU has not won in this series since 2001. A series of blowout and heartbreaks have followed, but if any year is going to be the year for the Spartans, I have to say this is it.
• Virginia Tech @ Florida State (Gameplan/ESPN2/ABC): We (as in GT) badly need FSU to win here, even with FSU coming into Atlanta next week. That said, I’m not sure how confident I am picking either team. VPI has been winning their games with some combination of buggle gum and duct tape. FSU’s rise to 5-1 hasn’t been much better and they don’t have a win significantly better than any of VPI’s. There’s not really any logical reason VPI should win here, but since I want FSU to win I’ll take VPI.
• Southern Methodist @ Navy (CBSCS): I was baffled when June Jones took the SMU job. I am even slightly more baffled now. Sure, SMU has more money, but in terms of college football prestige it’s almost a lateral move. Needless to say, I’m picking Navy.
• Virginia @ Georgia Tech (ESPNU): It’s homecoming in the ATL, so naturally I went to the away game last week. Huge wins for both these teams last week. GT still looked disorganized on offense. Early in the 3rd quarter, they had a few chance to really salt the game away but failed, letting Clemson come all the back. But Tech did not fold (something that I saw pletny of the previous 4 seasons) and put together the winning drive. Will Tech be more consistent tomorrow against a resurgent UVA team? We shall see. Well, I probably won’t since it’s on das U but still.

6:30: Colorado @ Missouri (FSN): 1990 nevar forget!!! That said, despitre recent sturggle Mizzou should be heavy favorites here, and if hey are, I agree.

7:45: Alabama @ Tennessee (ESPN): Technically, tomorrow is the fourth Saturday in October, but nonetheless these two meet once again. A drubbing of Miss State last week has done little to reassure the orange-clad Volunteers, and for good reason. While I am not sure Alabama will finish undefeated, they should pull it out in Knoxville.

8:00:

• Pennsylvania State @ Ohio State (ABC): It’s Penn State! It’s Ohio State! It’s Big Ten Primetime football! With that out of the way, I think OSU has a real chance here, especially with the game in Columbus. In my mind, this game is about a push. But if OSU falls behind early they are boned, in my opinion. That said, I think they have a real chance but I am picking PSU by the slimmest of margins.
• Notre Dame @ Washington (ESPN2): I don’t know if y’all noticed, but Washington is really bad this year. ND should have no trouble.
• Southern Mississippi @ Memphis (CBSCS): Why does CBSCS show games like this? Can’t they feature Tulsa or ECU or something? Seriously. Because I know nothing about these teams, I am taking Memphis.

10:15: Southern California @ Arizona (FSN): Is Arizona legitimite? They’re certainly not terrible, though they feature losses to New Mexico and Stanford. Are they good enough to beat a USC that seems to have gotten their, er, stuff together? Probably not.

Bowl predictions should be on time this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday!

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Georgia Tech @ Clemson (ESPN): I will actually be at this game. Not really sure what to expect here. Will Clemson be rejuvenated with a new coach and, presumably, a new offensive philosophy? Will the mobility of Willy Korn make up for the huge deficiencies in their offensive line? (Also note that GT has one of, if not the best defensive lines in the ACC.) Too many variables here, and I just hope that GT will play through a surely re-energized fanbase and get the job done.
• Purdue @ Northwestern (ESPN2): NU got their first loss of the season last weekend against Michigan State. Meanwhile, Purdue has lost 3 straight and has failed to beat a single BCS opponent. Have to go with Northwestern here.
• Wisconsin @ Iowa (BTN): Wisconsin. Next!
• Texas Tech @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (FSN): Anyone noticed how bad TAMU is this year? Seriosuly. TTU rolls.
• Wake Forest @ Maryland (Raycom/Gameplan): Which Maryland is going to show up this week? Beats me! For the sake of my sanity, I’m picking Wake and moving on.

12:30:

• Nebraska @ Iowa State (Versus): Bad Big 12 matchup of the day! Both these teams are winless in the conference and Nebraska has lost 3 straight. Nebraksa has a narrow overtime loss to Texas Tech last week, while ISU lost by 28 to Baylor. I like the Huskers here.
• Vanderbilt @ Georgia (Raycom/Gameplan): My brain says UGA but my heart is hoping for a repeat of 2006.

3:30:

• Mississippi @ Alabama (CBS):
  
  This game will be close, for awhile. Then, eventually, Houston Nutt will find a way. A way to lose.
• North Carolina @ Virginia (Gameplan/ABC/ESPN2): I’m not buying into the UVA hype just yet. They may have themselves a QB, and UNC is missing some crucial parts. I still think they pull it out in Charlottesville, though.
• Ohio State @ Michigan State (ESPN/ABC): Important game for OSU on the come back trail, yet again. But to be completely honest I don’t know who can beat them on their remaining schedule except for Penn State. Which, notably, is next week. So the only way OSU loses is if they overlook MSU and are preparing for Penn State.
• Kansas @ Oklahoma (ABC/Gameplan): Is Kansas a good football team? Yes. But are they as good as Oklahoma? No.
• Southern California @ Washington State (FSN): Wazzou is really, really, really bad. USC should be able to beat these guys with their backups.
• Pittsburgh @ Navy (CBSCS): Despite, you know, the entire season I am not really sold on Pitt at all. So I’ll take Navy and the upset.

4:30: Michigan @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): As you can tell, I’m tired and writing these previews with even less analysis than usual. My apologies. At any rate, has Michigan looked bad these past two weeks or what? Penn State rolls into their huge game against OSU next week.

7:00: Oregon State @ Washington (Versus): Does OSU hang 66 like they did on Wazzou last week? Maybe, but it will probably be more in the 40-50 range.

8:00:

• Missouri @ Texas (ABC): Is this game as significant as it looked to be last week? Probably not. But is it still important? Yes. However, with the game in Austin I have to favor the Longhorns.
• Louisiana State @ South Carolina (ESPN): Don’t look, but USC has won 4 straight. The reason why you shouldn’t look is because they haven’t beaten anyone of note. In fact, I won’t even say who, that’s how unnoteworthy they are. LSU should roll.
• Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ESPN2): GT badly, badly needs VPI to lose this game. For reasons I can’t quite figure out, VPI is actually a slight underdog here, but I’m not buying. I think VPI will win, though I’ll be rooting for BC.
• Indiana @ Illinois (BTN): Hey, it’s exactly kind of game that should be on the Big Ten Network! And that’s why I’m not going to watch it. Illinois wins.
• Texas-El Pas @ Tulsa (CBSCS): Tulsa scores 60 and wins.

That’s all for now. Bowl predictions probably won’t be up until Monday evening, but I’m looking forward to getting back on that old horse.

Busy again, so let’s get down to business.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Texas vs. Oklahoma (@Dallas, TX; ABC): It’s still the Red River Shootout to me. With more fans for each side than ever (the Cotton Bowl just finished renovations to expand capacity to 90,000) this will hopefully be a close game. Neither of these teams has been even remotely challenged this year, but I am going to go ahead and drink the Sooner Kool-Aid.
• Minnesota @ Illinois (ESPN): How does Minnesota not suck this year? Granted, they’ve only played 2 opponents worth talking about (and went 1-1) but still. At any rate, Illinois is still better than Indiana and should have no problems with the Gophers.
• Iowa @ Indiana (BTN): Now this was the kind of game the Big Ten Network was made for! Iowa has 3 straight losses to heavyweights like Pitt, Northwestern, and Michigan State. Indiana also has 3 straight losses, but to Ball State, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Hard to tell who will suck less here. My general policy is to avoid picking Iowa as much as possible, so I’ll go with the Hoosiers. And yes, I know Ball State is 6-0, but their best win is a tossup between Indiana and Navy, so…
• East Carolina @ Virginia (Raycom/Gameplan): Virginia scored 13 points (combined) against UConn and Duke. Then they hung a 31 spot on Maryland. The ECU bandwagon is officially sunk, so this sounds like a good time for UVA to start losing again. Yarr.

12:30:

• Colorado @ Kansas (ESPN2): It’s your other entirely too early Big 12 game! CU is coming off two straight dismantlings admistered by FSU and Texas. (By the way, Monday was the 18-year anniverisary of the 5th down.) KU rolls.
• South Carolina @ Kentucky (Raycom/Gameplan): If you’ve never had the opportunity to experience the, er, magic of the Daves, all these games are streamed online. Kentucky very quietly go to 4-0, but they didn’t play anyone and couldn’t quite top Alabama last week. The Visor has reeled off 3 striaght, but against Wofford, UAB, and Ole Miss. (At some point this season, it’ll be nice to not have to say “they haven’t played anyone yet.”) Anyway, Kentucky looked fairly competent last week and it’s at home, so why not? (That’s some hard hitting analysis right there, folks.)

1:00: East Michigan @ Army (ESPN Classic): Not only did Army actually win last week, they beat a DI-A opponent, and pretty badly at that. (The victim was Tulane, and the score was 44-13.) Tulane may or may not be better than New Hampshire, but that’s beside the point. Eastern Michigan lost 4 straight, getting drubbed by even the two MAC teams they played. However, a last minute touchdown put them past Bowling Green, so here we are. They’re probably the better team, but this is enough of a toss-up (I hope), so I’ll pick the sentimental favorite, Army.

3:00: Nebraska @ Texas Tech (FSN): Over/under on points scored by Texas Tech alone should be around 50 or so. I’d still take the over.

3:30:

• Arizona State @ Southern California (ABC/Gameplan): Gee, thanks, ABC for still showing football games in standard definition in 2008! This is one of the most messed up coverage maps I’ve ever seen, too. See that blue patch in southern Tennessee and northern Alabama? That’s where I’d be if I were back at home. I can gauruntee that, no matter what, no one in the South gives a damn about Arizona State or Southern Cal, at least in terms of wanting to watch them as opposed to the two other games that are actually in HD. Oh, and USC wins by a few touchdowns. They’re baaack!
• Ohio State @ Purdue (ESPN/ABC): Purdue still doesn’t really trust this “defense” thing. Ohio State should take care of business here.
• Notre Dame @ North Carolina (Gameplan/ESPN/ABC): A-C-C! Well, maybe. I think UNC’s schedule has actually been slightly tougher, but they’re still lacking their starting QB. Then again, they seem to have found a new one. Both these teams have pretty sudden turnarounds from last year, both programs being labeled as sleeping giants, needing only the right coaching to spring forth. So they’re both 4-1, and just to spite Lou Holtz, I will pick UNC.
• Michigan State @ Northwestern (ESPN2): I think NU’s luck runs out against the Spartans.
• Texas Christian @ Colorado State (CBSCS): Against teams that aren’t currently ranked #1 in the country, TCU has been putting up a lot of points, and I don’t see that stopping here.
• Gardner-Webb @ Georgia Tech (No TV): So Tech will probably start its 3rd string QB here. (Also, for the final time, this game was supposed to be up in West Point. Army backed out right before last year’s game.) Those actually attending the game will be in for a treat – this game will not be on live TV anywhere, which means no fat dude in a red jacket stopping play after turnovers and punts. As for the QB thing, well, I’m not worried. Nesbitt’s hamstring still hurts, but I suspect he will see some game action, even if for a drive or two. Clavin Booker will probably get the start, and he’s certainly earned for being a team player if nothing else. (Rumor is Jaybo Shaw got a minor concussion last week against Duke.) As for Mr. Demaryius “BeBe” Thomas, he doesn’t quite have Calvin’s height (6’3″ versus 6’5″) but he still towers over many corners. Calvin also never had a 200 yard game at Tech, or an 88-yard reception. Is BeBe as good as Calvin? Of course not, but he’s darn close which provides a huge asset in this offense. Most teams can’t afford to leave him one-on-one, but because of the run game they will often have little choice.

8:00:

• Louisiana State @ Florida (CBS): A rare evening game with Uncle Verne, and I’m looking foward to it. (Of course, it’s at 5:00 here, which is hardly the evening, but still.) Like many matchups of elite SEC teams, this should feature precious little offense. The problem for UF at the moment is that they are totally lost on offense and defense. (Yes, I am aware that they beat Arkansas 38-7. Arkansas is that bad this year.) That said, LSU hasn’t looked bad all year, even though they almost lost to now OC-less Auburn. Will the SEC eat its own children this year, or will LSU go on to the Game of Destiny against Alabama? I say the latter will probably occur, just so Alabama can beat them to spite me.
• Pennsylvania State @ Wisconsin (ESPN): My opinion on this game is this. Wisconsin is not as good as everyone thought they were before they lost 2 straight. Penn State is 6-0. I’ll take the safe pick.
• Oklahoma State @ Missouri (ESPN2): I don’t know what the over/under on this game is, but take the over. And also take Mizzou, though I have a gut feeling it might come down to who gets the ball last.
• Boise State @ Southern Mississippi (CBSCS): Unless they are jetlagged, Boise State should come out on top here. USM might keep it close, so if you can take your eyes off LSU-Florida or OSU-Mizzou for a second (though I would be afraid of blinking during the latter game), give this a shot….

10:15: California-Los Angeles @ Oregon (FSN): …because it’ll probably be better than this game, at any rate. Both these teams found some mojo against hapless Washington State (enroll now, try out for QB tomorrow!) but Oregon then went and had the unfortunate chance of playing a USC that actually showed up for the game. I’ll still take the Ducks here, though.