As usual, all time Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Purdue @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): The list of teams Purdue has lost to (Ohio State, Michigan) is far more impressive than the list of teams they’ve actually beaten. Their OOC consisted of 3 MAC schools and Notre Dame, and in-conference their best win is probably against Northwestern. I’m going with Penn State here.
• Iowa @ Northwestern (ESPN2): Speaking of bad teams that have lost to Purdue… anyway, I’m going with Northwestern here.
• Wake Forest @ Virginia (Raycom/Gameplan): ACC implications! More for Virginia than Wake, though, as with a UVA loss Virginia Tech will have first all to themselves in the division. I still don’t really think Virginia is all that good, so I’ll take Wake here.

12:30:

• Nebraska @ Kansas (FSN): Yes, I know Nebraska showed up for 3 quarters against Texas last week. I still think they’re pretty bad and have a lame duck coach. The Fightin’ Manginos survive another week.
• Kansas State @ Iowa State (Versus): Meanwhile, K-State rolls.
• Vanderbilt @ Florida (LF/Gameplan): Unless Florida pulls its best South Carolina impression, I don’t really see how the Commodores will escape the swamp with a win. Provided they pull it off somehow, they will be bowl eligible for the first time since 1982.

2:30: Navy @ Notre Dame (NBC): We all know the story here. And I was supremely confident in a Navy victory until they lost in a 59-52 shootout to Delaware last week. That said, I highly doubt Notre Dame’s offense is capable of generating 21 points, much less 59. I think the Midshipmen pull it out.

3:30:

• Michigan @ Michigan State (ESPN/ABC): I don’t think either of these teams are particularly good, but the Wolverines have done a better job of feasting on their weak Big Ten foes. And I have to preserve my crackpot prediction that they’ll beat Ohio State and go to the Rose Bowl, so they win here.
• Texas @ Oklahoma State (Gameplan/ABC): Despite losing at Texas A&M, Oklahoma State is still in the thick of the Big 12 South race with Oklahoma. Texas needs a ton of help (if it’s still even possible for them to pull it off) and they’d need a win here. The Cowboys did a much better job of dispatching Nebraska than the boys from Austin did. With the game in Stillwater and OSU knowing that control of their own destiny still on the line I think they win here.
• California-Los Angeles @ Arizona (ABC/Gameplan): Why is this on TV anywhere, much less ABC? Arizona probably won’t even make a bowl game and UCLA is not a very good team, and just inconsistent enough to possibly lose this game. Will they? Probably not.
• Cincinnati @ South Florida (Gameplan/ABC): Remember when these teams were relevant? You know, like a month ago? No? Well, then. Both are actually 6-2 but sport 1-2 conference records, with the main difference being that Cincy is reeling after consecutive losses to Louisville and Pitt. USF is reeling as well, but losses to Rutgers and UConn look slightly better at this point. I’ll say the Bulls will probably win.

5:00: Louisiana State @ Alabama (CBS): So Saban has saved his job for the time being from fickle Alabama fans by beating Tennessee in Knoxville and doing so with some gusto. LSU is missing some key guys due to injury and shady off-week shenanigans involving nightclubs and guns, but I still feel pretty confident LSU will prevail.

6:30: Missouri @ Colorado (FSN): 17 years! Never forget! Also, Mizzou wins.

6:45: Arizona State @ Oregon (ESPN/FSN Arizona/FSN West): While some bunch of idiots at ABC/ESPN Central Command decided that UCLA-Arizona would be worth broadcasting this got stuck on two regional FSNs. Fortunately for the rest of us, ESPN managed to get the national rights to the game. I expect a pretty good game, but the Oregon crowd is pretty loud and though uniforms would be enough to dispirit any opposition before the game. Arizona State passed their first test last week, but I think this Oregon team is just too good to lose to them.

8:00:

• Florida State @ Boston College (Gameplan/ABC): Here’s what I know about this game. 1) FSU isn’t very good. 2) Matt Ryan is pretty darn good. Eagles cruise.
• Oregon State @ Southern California (ABC/Gameplan): Once again, ABC subjects us to crap. Recent losses notwithstanding, Trojans win.
• Texas Agricultural & Mechanical @ Oklahoma (Gameplan/ABC): TAMU is slightly less dispirited than Nebraska is despite also having a lame duck coach. But it will be rockin’ in Norman on this Saturday night and I think they’re better anyway. Sooners win.
• South Carolina @ Arkansas (ESPN2): Despite their consecutive losses, South Carolina is probably still a better than Arkansas. The Razorbacks have spent the past two week drubbing lesser opponents (Ole Miss and FIU, both worse than Vandy) while South Carolina is coming off a close overtime loss to Tennessee. Provided they show up, they have an edge I think and I’ll take them here.

10:00: Washington State @ California (FSN): Cal gets back on track by blowing out the Cougars.

That’s all I got folks. Look for bowl predictions sometime Sunday or Monday.

Before our predictions, let me misquote the best Tom Clancy-based movie, Hunt for Red October: “This season will get out of control. This season will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.”

With USF losing Thursday night in New Jersey, things could open up for the 1-loss teams if there’s some shenanigans down in Baton Rouge tonight. By the way, I think that USF should stay in the top ten – USC didn’t fall that far after suffering a far, far worse loss. But I suspect the humans will put then in the 12-15 range. Whatever.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Pennsylvania State @ Indiana (ESPN): Surprising Indiana squad gets a home date with a somewhat disappointing Penn State team. (Note, however, that both are 5-2. Pre-season expectations for the win!) That said, Indiana got blown out last week by the green Spartans, meanwhile Penn State is coming off a huge victory over Wisconsin. Should be interesting, as far as Big Ten games go, tough to tell who’s going to come out on top in this one. I go against my usual instinct to pick the home team in this situation and go with Penn State.
• Iowa @ Purdue (ESPN2): Don’t let their victory over Illinois fool you – Iowa is still terrible. While Purdue has wilted against actual teams, Iowa doesn’t really count. Look for the Boilermakers re-discover how to play offense.
• Army @ Georgia Tech (Raycom/Gameplan): I wouldn’t usually list a game like this, but it’s Tech so it’s going here. This is homecoming for the Jackets, and it was hoped when this game was scheduled it’d be a homecoming for Bobby Ross, but he resigned earlier this year and got inducted into the GT Hall of Fame anyway. I hope we can get up early and practice passing a little, but Army made Boston College leave their starters well into the second half, and as the cliche goes the guys from the military academies usually don’t quit easily.

12:30:

• Oklahoma @ Iowa State (FSN): Why is this on TV? Really? OU rolls.
• Texas @ Baylor (Versus): (see above, replace “OU” with “Texas”)
• Tennessee @ Alabama (LF/Gameplan): Whoops. The Third Saturday in October rivalry is relegated to the dregs of the SEC TV deal. At the beginning of the year, I would’ve said this’d be on ESPN at the worst, but who knew that Florida-Kentucky would have not only SEC implications, but national ones? Both these teams have multi-game winning streaks, but only Tennessee’s victory over Georgia looks any good. Also, I hate ‘Bama, so I’ll wish I was on “old Rocky Top” and pick the Vols.
• Vanderbilt @ South Carolina (Gameplan): What would upset the machinations of a SEC title game contender more than a loss to Vandy? Unfortunately for the Commodores, South Carolina seems to be winning the games it’s supposed to this year. So I’ll take the Gamecocks. (But go ‘Dores!)

1:00: Wake Forest @ Navy (CSTV): Over/under on pass attempts for this game should be around 30. While Navy is formidable, in the end Wake should win.

3:30:

• Southern California @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame seeks to go 2-0 against teams from Los Angeles. Will they succeed? Probably not. Then again, winning by a touchdown against Arizona isn’t really much of a triumph to come off of. But, still, I see little reason to pick ND here.
• Florida @ Kentucky (CBS): CBS returns to Lexington for the second weekend in a row, again with national title implications on the line. Loser here is removed from the picture completely. I don’t even know where to begin to analyze this game. Both these teams are good, good, good. I feel UF brings a slightly better offense than LSU but also a worse defense. All I know is that this will probably make for good TV, considering how evenly matched these two teams were against LSU. Possibly in Florida’s favor is that they’re coming off a bye week, giving them time to re-focus off the LSU loss. If they knock off Kentucky, that puts them in the driver’s seat for the SEC East and a possible (probable) re-match against LSU. So, just to continue the bizarreness of this season, I’ll go with the Gators here.
• Michigan State @ Ohio State (ESPN2/ABC): Of all the bizarre things that have happened this year, this is the most normal. OSU was not highly regarded going into the year but has so far run the table on what has turned out to be a really soft schedule. Much like USC, I don’t really see where they will stumble on their schedule, though, except for maybe their two remaining road tests: @Penn State and @Michigan. Honestly, for Bizarro Year to be truly complete they need to go into the Michigan game undefeated (and then losing, thus making the whole thing come full circle), so I’m going with the Buckeyes here.
• California @ California-Los Angeles (ABC/Gameplan): While I didn’t see Cal’s dumb, dumb loss last week (seriously, what I read about the play at the end makes it sound downright Reggie-esque), I do know that UCLA has two bad losses at this point, including the sole Notre Dame victory. Cal gets back on their feet down in the Rose Bowl.
• Miami @ Florida State (Gameplan/ABC/ESPN2): Ahahahahaha. Ahahahahahahahaha. Thank god this isn’t the special season-opener Monday night game anymore. But, yeah, gotta pick FSU to win here. For starters, we need Miami to pick up more conference losses. But also Miami is just terrible. If FSU can put up a few touchdowns early Miami will be unable to catch up – we caught several breaks last week where Kyle Wright’s “quarterbacking” bailed us out.
• Texas Tech @ Missouri (Gameplan/ABC): Texas Tech – Missouri, now with Fiesta Bowl implications! Both teams need to avoid a second conference loss to stay in the race for their respective divisions. If Mizzou can stop the Texas Tech aerial assault, even a little, they may stand a chance. But I don’t like their chances.

5:45: Kansas @ Colorado (ESPN): I am still trying to comprehend the part of the season where Kansas is a serious contender. USF, I could believe, because I mean, it’s the Big East, Florida is a fertile recruiting ground, etc. Still, Colorado already ruined Oklahoma’s perfect season, can they strike twice? After losing to Kansas State last week, I’m going to say no.

7:30: Oregon @ Washington (FCS Pacific/FSN NW): So, uh, Washington was a little overrated to start the year. Meanwhile, Oregon is still scoring a lot of points, as they come off a 52-7 shellacking of Wazzou last week. I expect more of the same here, though maybe only 30-7 because it’s in Seattle.

8:00:

• Michigan @ Illinois (ABC): Ugh. I still have a hard time believing that Michigan is a decent football team at all, and Illinois just proved to us that Ron Zook is still, in fact, their coach after losing to probably the 2nd-worst team in the Big Ten last week, scoring only two field goals. The Juice will apparently be back at QB this week. Also, don’t look, but Michigan is 3-0 in conference play. 3-0. Yes, that’s right folks, a trip to the Rose Bowl could be on the line in Ann Arbor next month, the very place where all this craziness began. So, as rationalized above, I think this matchup will be preserved an I’ll take the Wolverines.
• Virginia @ Maryland (ESPN2): Both of Tech’s terrible losses face off in College Park. I’m still not sold on UVA, while Maryland is actually kind-of decent. Also, we need UVA to lose. So go Terps.

9:00: Auburn @ Louisiana State (ESPN): Tigers win! (Sorry.) Anyway, Auburn played down to Arkansas’s level last week and eeked out a 9-7 victory. LSU is coming off a not-exactly debilitating loss last week. I think this will be a great game if Auburn shows up with any semblance of an offense. We know both coaches are willing to take risks, though (and perhaps Tito can correct me on this) it seems to me Tuberville has gotten more conservative in the past few years. (As much as people love to talk about LSU’s fake FG earlier this year, Auburn ran wonderful fakes and play-actions 4 years ago or so.) Meanwhile, Auburn is sitting at one conference loss and still in the SEC West race and could control their own destiny with a win. Will they win, though? I have my doubts. I think LSU is probably the better team here, and playing in Baton Rouge, at night, gives them an edge. (Hopefully Tito scored some tickets and can let us know first hand, also EDSBS’s account of their trip there indicates that it’s just as crazy as you’d think.) So I’m going to pick LSU.

That wraps it up for me, I need to get to bed so I can watch the early games. BCS comes out on Monday until the final week, so except the final version of the bowl predictions then. (Though I may post a sort-of “beta” version late Sunday, we’ll see.)

As usual, all times Eastern and most predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Georgia Tech @ Miami (ESPN): I don’t know what to say about GT anymore. Hopefully Tenuta gets the last laugh over Patrick Nix.
• Illinois @ Iowa (ESPN2): The chance of me watching this game is pretty much somewhere around 0%. Illinois should win handily, but with the Zookinator at the helm anything can happen.
• Virginia Tech @ Duke (Raycom/Gameplan): Duke will be a soothing salve for VPI’s offensive woes.

12:30:

• Texas @ Iowa State (FSN): Stranger things have happened. And not in the distant past, either, but this very year. That said, Texas would have to be really reeling to lose to this throughly terrible Cyclone bunch.
• Alabama @ Mississippi (LF/Gameplan): I’ll give you two reasons to watch this game. The first is because since it starts 30 minutes later, this game will be going on while the noon games are still in half time. The other is always the outside chance someone interview The Orgeron, which is a treat in and of itself. As for the game, ‘Bama should (unfortunately) win.

3:30:

• Boston College @ Notre Dame (NBC): Perhaps ND got it together last week at UCLA. However, Boston College is a seriously good team, and although it would fit into the calculus of this season there is really no way they should lose to Notre Dame.
• Louisiana State @ Kentucky (CBS): I can’t help but think Kentucky has been feasting on a diet of delicious cupcakes. LSU meanwhile, has pretty much the best defense in the country hands-down. South Carolina held them to 23, and I expect LSU to do worse. That said, I also don’t expect LSU to score a whole bunch, so it’ll be a tight game that the Tigers win in the end.
• Wisconsin @ Penn State (ESPN/ABC): Woo? Wisconsin isn’t nearly as good as their 5-1 record might lead you to believe, but Penn State has lost to Illinois as well. Let’s just take the home team and move on.
• South Carolina @ North Carolina (Gameplan/ABC/ESPN): Okay, moving on to this may not have been such a good idea. South Carolina is pretty darn good, UNC is not. From an OOC scheduling standpoint, I like the game, but otherwise not so much.
• Arizona @ Southern California (ABC/Gameplan): I cannot fathom a way USC loses this game. Then again, I would have said the same last week as well. If I had a hat, I’d put it on the line here, because if USC loses to another crappy team I would eat my hat. If I had one.
• Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Texas Tech (Gameplan/ABC): This is a pretty important Big 12 South title – not too often schools not named “Texas” or “Oklahoma” get to say that. It’s hard to say who’s better here, both have what I consider to be not-so-great losses (Miami for TAMU, Oklahoma St. for TTU). I think if Tech can pile up the points early, and they probably should, they will win. Of course, if it’s a shootout, that also favors TTU. So I guess what I’m trying to say here is that Texas Tech should win.

6:00: Georgia @ Vanderbilt (ESPN2): I am desperately rooting for two in a row here. Vandy got torched at Auburn last week, however, and may have a hard time picking themselves back up. Also, UGA probably isn’t too happy about losing their homecoming game last year. Take the mutts, but root for the Commodores.

6:30: Missouri @ Oklahoma (FSN): By playing absolutely no one, Mizzou is 5-0. OU has already lost to a Big 12 North team – can the Tigers tilt the balance completely in favor of the north this year? I don’t really think Missouri is better than Texas, to be completely honest, and I also think the Sooners should win.

7:00: Oregon State @ California (Versus): Thanks to last week, the Versus game will now get a mention here. That said, Cal shouldn’t really have any issues here.

7:45: Auburn @ Arkansas (ESPN): After losing to Miss. State, Auburn has really gotten its act together. Rediscovering the concept of “offense” against NMSU, they beat Florida and whipped Vandy. After their initial two SEC losses, Arkansas has played absolutely no one, putting the screws on North Texas and UTC. I look for the revitalized Auburn offense to put Arkansas in a hole, a position they have a really had time recovering from with their anemic passing game. Look for the Tigers to get up early, and then Arkansas to attempt a rally but never quite pass Auburn.

9:15: Colorado @ Kansas State (ESPN2): Just another day at the office for the crazy-as-hell Big 12. Despite two losses, CU is 2-0 in the conference and K-State has a loss after a hard fought game with their rival last week. So, once again, a game you might not expect to have a great deal of importance does. Being from Kansas and angered by the fact that despite needing 5-downs to beat Missouri and having a loss the Colorado sports publicist claimed this week they were the “true” champions of 1990, I’m going to go with KSU. (Sorry for the run-on sentence there.)

10:15: Washington @ Arizona State (FSN): Washington is, unfortunately, not as good as many of us thought early in the season. Saddled with 3 losses now and 0-2 in the Pac-10, UW is one the ropes. This is sort of a trap game for the Sun Devils, though – they have a bye next week before facing Cal. At 6-0 and 3-0 in the Pac-10, they can hardly afford to trip up against the Huskies. That said, the 6-0 is barely legitimate, I would say their best victory is probably the one over Colorado. Then again, there’s something to be said this year about actually being about to beat patsies (that’s pretty sad, if you ask me, but hey). The Sun Devils win, and will get to 7-0 (4-0), which will hopefully set up a pretty epic clash with against Cal in two weeks.

That’s all, folks. Also, the first BCS standings of the year come out on Sunday, so look for my initial bowl predictions then!

As usual, all times Eastern and almost all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Wisconsin at Illinois (ESPN): The 4-1 Fightin’ Zooks will see one of the tamest 5-0 teams in the country roll into Urbana-Champaign this weekend. I recall seeing somewhere Illinois was favored here, thus reflecting my perceptions of the Badgers. In the end, I have a hard time picking the Zookinator, so I’ll go with the Badgers here.
• Miami (FL) at North Carolina (ESPN2): Hot, hot ACC Coastal action. (Note: I still don’t remember who’s in which division, I just know who’s not in a division with the other. Damn screwy ACC divisions.) I’m not entirely sure why this is more worthy of being televised nationally than our game, but whatever. I don’t think Miami is really that much better than UNC is this year, even after the recovery victory against TAMU. I will say it’s a good bet the Patrick Nix Experience will put up more points in Chapel Hill this time around than it did last year, and will probably also still escape with a victory.
• Kansas at Kansas State (FSN): Sure, KU is 4-0, but they’ve beaten nobody. Meanwhile, Kansas State just beat Texas. I’m going with KSU here.
• Georgia Tech at Maryland (Raycom/Gameplan): Hopefully no 4th-quarter heroics will be necessary here. (Also, I really want to finish the feature I’m doing on Micheal Johnson’s performance in the clutch tonight.) There are questions in College Park of who the starting quarterback will be, and I think either answer is okay for us. My main worry is concentrated in the straight-up-the-middle rushing attack Maryland, a key component in their “upset” over Rutgers last week.
  Once again, Tech really needs to win the remainder of its ACC schedule. They brought the focus and the pain against Clemson last week, and I don’t think this Maryland team is significantly better than Clemson is. (Of course, I don’t think Virginia is, either.) While the defense was spectacular against Clemson, the offense was not. Bennett put up some Reggie-esque numbers, including a bad interception. Outside of the interception, though, he seemed more comfortable than he has in past weeks in the pocket. The problem is, our receivers couldn’t catch a cold last week – there were at least 4 easy passes dropped. We need at least a 50% passing day from Taylor and another 100+ yard day from Choice, who is hopefully more healthy than he was last week. (He admitted after the game last week he’d been lying about his condition all week and was probably about 80%.) That said, Grant looked good in his limited carries, so we have options if Tashard is still not 100%.
  Once again, we need a lot of things to go right for us again. At the very least, I’m reasonably sure Maryland won’t be returning any kickoffs for touchdowns this year. Tech’s special team are downright great this year – we all know Brooks as well, but Travis Bell is showing the kind of promise he did early in his career. But the kickoff coverage is a breath of fresh air this year.
  As the article mentions, they also want to work in our freshman QB into the offense a little more this week. They tried last week, but Nesbitt fumbled a shotgun snap and that was that. I’m in favor of this – it’s obvious Nesbitt is the QB of the future for us, and this also helps deflect criticism in the past of the backup QB not seeing enough playing time.
  Anyway, I’m going to have to get up early once again for this thing. So hopefully it’ll turn out better than the UVA game.

12:30: Vanderbilt at Auburn (LF/Gameplan): Oh, Auburn. People love to give Tech crap about inconsistency but how many teams lose to Mississippi State and beat Florida in the same season? I feel your pain, Auburn fans. Anyway, AU should win here, though Vandy will probably make it exciting for awhile.

3:30:

• Georgia at Tennessee (CBS): (Hums “Rocky Top”) I’m not a huge fan of Tennessee or anything. But I do really hate Georgia. It’s tough to get a read on the Vols, though. At 2-2, they’ve lost to to two really good teams and beat two really bad ones. However, both those losses were away. Georgia’s resume does precious little to impress me as well. Since it’s in Knoxville, I have to give a slight edge to the Vols here.
• Oklahoma vs. Texas (ABC/Gameplan): After the events of last weekend (whoops!), this is now more of a pillow-fight than a shootout. The winner still has a shot at getting to the Big 12 title game, and I have to say I kinda like Texas here. They have better victories and their loss is arguably better, whereas Oklahoma’s resume is just bleak, despite all the points.
• Iowa at Penn State (ESPN2/ABC): Iowa is terrible. Penn State isn’t great, but they have home field advantage. I’m not sure why this is worthy of a national telecast. Anyway, let’s move one.
• North Carolina State at Florida State (Gameplan/ESPN2/ABC): Battle in the ACC Atlantic! Well, more a cripple fight. FSU still isn’t great or anything, but NCSU is downright terrible. FSU should easily pick up their first conference win.

6:00: Virginia Tech at Clemson (ESPN): I read somewhere (forgot where) that Clemson is going to let Virginia Tech run down their hill. First, I think the whole “running down the hill and touching the rock” thing is pretty silly. I think it’s even sillier to let Virginia Tech do it because of what happened earlier this year. At any rate, Clemson wants to avoid the dreaded second conference loss and Virginia Tech wants to stay in a position to control their own destiny in the Coastal. The real Tech (i.e., us) really needs Clemson to win here, and I don’t think they’re as terrible as they showed last week. The key here is: can Clemson get their two-headed monster rushing attack back on the tracks? That would be a stunning reversal of what happened last year when they played the two Techs back-to-back. (They ran for over 300 on us last year, and then went to Blacksburg and lost big.) If VPI can contain them like we did, then look for another low scoring contest like last week, which will hinge on whether or not Clemson can kick their field goals. Since it’s at Clemson, I’ll give them a slight edge here and say that it’s unlikely Davis and Spiller will be contained for a second week in a row.

7:30: Oklahoma State at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (FSN): Why is this on TV? Because there’s a lack of decent Big 12 games to broadcast, I guess. TAMU should win, despite their bad loss to Da U last week – OSU is just bad, even at 3-2.

8:00:

• Florida at Louisiana State (CBS): This game is somewhat reduced in stature after Florida’s loss last week. It is still immensely important. If LSU wins, that’s one more obstacle out of their path to the national title game. If UF wins, it’s the sort of thing that can catapult them back into the nebulous area near the top. But with the game in Baton Rouge and LSU just that good, I have to take the Tigers here.
• Notre Dame at California-Los Angeles (ABC/Gameplan): Screw you, ABC. Let’s pick up the national broadcast of a 4-1 team that lost to Utah against a, frankly, terrible, Notre Dame team that UCLA should beat by at least a few touchdowns. Ugh.
• Ohio State at Purdue (Gameplan/ABC): This the game I actually want to be national and in beautiful HD as we figure out if the Boilermakers are for real or not in this clash of 5-0 teams. Purdue has been scoring a ton of points this year, but Ohio State is far and away the best team they’ve played so far. I’ll have to give an edge to the Buckeyes here, even though I want Purdue to win.
• Cincinnati at Rutgers (ESPN2): Rutgers had their first real test and failed last week, and now Cincy has theirs. Neither team has beaten anyone competent, but I still think the State University of New Jersey is a little better and hands Cincy their first loss of the year.

9:15: Nebraska at Missouri (ESPN): Finally. I don’t know what to think about this game, and frankly I don’t care. Neither team has beaten anyone, so I’m going to go with the home team and get some lunch.

Have a good Saturday, everyone!