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Cowdog, what does pedigree have to do with anything? They were supposed to find the four best teams. If pedigree has something to do with it, take the best 16 teams in terms of pedigree and say forget the other 50 Power 5 teams. Bye Bye Wolfpack. Bye Bye Gamecocks.
Anyone who loses to a 6-6 team shouldn’t be in the playoff. The committee fell in love with the Buckeyes and their demolition of a Wisconsin team whose only decent win was over #25 Minnesota.
If you are an ESPN conspiracy theorist, this one goes right to the top. Move out small fanbases TCU and Baylor, bring in Ohio State and all of their Wal-Mart fans. Big ratings for both games, especially the Sugar Bowl.
I hate that Ohio State is in. Ridiculous. This is very easy in my opinion as all 3 teams for the 4th spot are about identical.
Look for the biggest warts:
1. Ohio State lost to a 6-6 Va Tech team. TCU lost at Baylor and Baylor lost at WVU. Bye bye Ohio State.
2. TCU lost to Baylor. TCU eliminated.Baylor is the 4th team.
Did ESPN have any input into this? Hmmmm….
I have stunk it up for the past month. Let’s continue the trend.
Boise State (-22) vs. Fresno State – Boise State wants to be in a big boy bowl. To make that happen, they need to keep winning big.
Florida State (-4.5) vs. Georgia Tech – A lot of experts, and I think the committee want this game to be the one that Winston loses. Then they don’t have to take into consideration what the honor board or whatever his disciplinary meeting is called could do to him between now and January. Sorry, isn’t going to happen. FSU by 9.
Oklahoma (-21) vs. Oklahoma State – The Bedlam Series used to be must watch football a couple of years ago. Now, I wonder what Boone Pickens is thinking. OSU isn’t bad, but I didn’t think they may not go to a bowl game. The Sooners need a big win to keep a faint flicker of hope to get in one of the Big 6 bowl games.
Alabama (-14.5) vs. Missouri – Bama beat Auburn by 11. Auburn has a much better offense and much worse defense than this set of Tigers. Therefore, as much as I hate to say it, Bama by 17. My only goal for college football now that State whooped up on UNC-CHeat is that Bama doesn’t win the title.
Cincinnati (-7) vs. Houston – I like Tuberville, who is a good coach. Go Bearcats.
NC State (+8) at UNC-CHeat – Screw the cheaters. Go PACK!
Tennessee (-17) at Vanderbilt – Vols need a win to get bowl eligible for the first time in 4 years. They get it against a really crappy Vandy team who is coming off an impressive 51-0 loss to Mississippi State. AstroDobbs leads the Vols to a bowl game…and maybe against the Pack.
Georgia Southern (-14) vs. Louisiana-Monroe – The Eagles are coming off a bye week to face Pete Thomas and the Warhawks. The Eagles have been my go to team all year. That continues on Saturday.
Marshall (-21) vs. Western Kentucky – Raheem Cato’s last home game. He goes out in style and the Herd make a push to be the non-Power 5 team in a big boy bowl. Herd wins big.
UCLA (-4.5) vs. Stanford – UCLA needs another impressive victory to move up in the playoff rankings. This line scares me as I wonder what am I missing? UCLA is rolling and the Cardinal have been up and down all year. The line makes me think people are thinking of Stanford over the last couple of years, not this year’s 6-5 version. Bruins big.
Serious question. How is UNC paying $25K for damages not an illegal benefit? If my friends and I had done the same thing, I guarantee you my university would not have paid for the restoration. I would have to repay whomever’s property I destroyed.
So, is this another NCAA rule that UNC has broken?
Tennessee (-3.5) vs. Missouri – AstroDobbs (QB Josh Dobbs – sophomore aerospace engineering major) has injected the Tennessee offense with a running game that opens up everything. Even with Missouri leading the division, I sense the Vols have turned the corner. A win here and they are bowl eligible. Next season, they are preseason SEC East favorites (that is like choosing a favorite in the ACC Coastal).
Wisconsin (-9.5) at Iowa – Iowa may be the worst 7-3 team in America. They do not have any victories over FBS teams that have a .500 or better record. Melvin Gordon rushed for a NCAA record 408 yards last week…and didn’t play the last quarter. Badgers will roll.
Washington (-6.5) vs. Oregon State – The Huskies are 6-0 against unranked teams and 0-5 against ranked teams. Oregon State, coming off a huge upset victory over Arizona State, is unranked. Take the Huskies by a touchdown.
Miami (-6) at Virginia – Miami, who had a great opportunity to beat FSU – can’t have turnovers or missed opportunities against the king of the ACC, tries to rebound against the struggling Cavaliers. 2 teams going in different directions. The U takes Charlottesville as easy as they took Blacksburg. Al Golden shows off his “Best Program in the Commonwealth of Virginia” t-shirt after the game.
UCLA (-3.5) vs. USC – The battle for Hollywood. QB Brett Hundley will be the difference in this game as the Bruins continue to own the city…at least for another year.
Wake Forest (+14.5) at NC State – State will win and become bowl eligible, however I don’t see them cover. However, with my State game picks being 1-8 I think this year (no Presbyterian game) you should never use me as your guide.
Florida State (-1.5) at Miami – If I only understood why so many big money professional gamblers are picking Miami, then I wouldn’t be here. But this game is simple to me. QB play. Miami has a true freshman who has been decent and has a great running back. FSU has Winston, and no matter what you think of him personally or what he does off the field, when on the field, he is only 22-0. He just wins. He has “it.”
Alabama (-7.5) vs. Mississippi State – The Bulldogs have only scored 34 points against the Tide in their last 5 meetings. They are poor against the pass. Those two facts make me believe that unfortunately (I can’t stand Bama and their 85% of fans — envision crazier UNC-Wal Mart fans) that Bama will roll.
TCU (-27) at Kansas – TCU will want to show that their #4 playoff ranking is not a fluke. They know they have win and win big. No better place to do that than in Lawrence, Kansas.
Notre Dame (-17.5) vs. Northwestern – Granted, the Irish looked REALLY bad last week. However, it is a new week and Northwestern played Michigan last week in a game that sent modern football back to the 1950s. The Wildcats won’t be able to handle good Golson.
NC State (+5) vs. Georgia Tech – The monkey is off the team’s back now after beating Syracuse last week. They can relax and just play football now. Georgia Tech and their run offense is hard to simulate in just 7 days of practice. Good thing they have practiced it by scheduling Georgia Southern this year (and that win is even more impressive now).
Duke (-3.5) at Syracuse – AJ Long, the Orange’s 3rd string QB who passed for over 300 yards against State last week, is doubtful for the game tomorrow. That puts another freshman, 4th stringer, in as the starting QB. Duke certainly has had their share of breaks over the past two years, especially from a schedule perspective, but they are a vastly improved program that has also made some of their own breaks. Cutcliffe should get Coach of the Year again if he gets back to Charlotte. He gets one step closer tomorrow.
Oregon State (-8) vs. Washington State – The Cougars lost their all everything QB last week against USC. Now they go on the road to face a struggling Beavers team that is better than their record. Mike Riley’s team will jump on Mike Leach’s team early and coast to an easy win.
Auburn (-21) vs, Texas A&M – The Aggies, who are struggling, are going to the Plains to take on Auburn with their 2nd string true freshman QB, Kyle allen. Allen struggled against Pete Thomas’s Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks last week at home. Now, even with Auburn coming off of a tough, physical win at Ole Miss, will be able to cover against the Aggies.
Georgia Southern (-11.5) at Texas State – The Eagles continue to make mincemeat of the Sun Belt in their first year in FBS. Their two losses are by 1 in Raleigh and 4 in Atlanta. They have dominated everyone else. That continues this weekend.
Quick question. How is our team punting this:
Punting: 40.36 (3, 16)
and Will Baumann have these stats:
Wil Baumann: 42 punts, 46.5 avg, long of 67
I don’t remember anyone else punting.
I think the crowd will be in a much more relaxed mood as well. It will be good that they are coming off a win. The team now believes and the crowd does too. Scoring early will be imperative to keep the positive vibes going.
On the field, we will give up a few chunk plays, that happens when you play Georgia Tech. But State should be able to score as well. It will come down to turnovers, 3rd downs, and possible the timing and location of penalties.
Another key is to make sure Tech has to drive long fields. Our punter needs to continue his best play of his career.
Any win is a good win. Loved the 3rd down call to Thornton at the end of the game. The albatross is off and the team can relax and play well next week.
NC State (+3.5) at Syracuse – The bye week was SO needed by anyone associated with the team…and the fanbase. I really think the team comes out, has a couple of trick plays, and beats up a 3rd string QB…now starter. Pack 27-23.
Georgia Southern (-25.5) vs. Troy – Georgia Southern has been my go to team this year. Not jumping off the bandwagon now.
Tennessee (+7) at South Carolina – Spurrier and his underachieving Gamecocks really blew their last chance for a big victory last week in Auburn. The hangover will continue against the Vols, who beat the Chickens last year. #BrickbyBrick.
Baylor (-36) vs. Kansas – A week off and still smarting from a beatdown in the rain at Mountaineer Field, Baylor returns home and plays the Jayhawks, whose only chance at cover is to play defense as well as ex-coach Roy’s Sergeant Schultz defense.
Florida State (-3.5) at Louisville – I don’t think that Louisville, while ready for this game on Thursday night ESPN audience, has enough offense to slow down Winston. If Louisville can stop the run, they have a chance to keep it close for a while. FSU pulls away late and wins by 10.
I tried my picks last week in Vegas on a 4 game parlay (don’t ever pick a State game in Vegas). Went 3-1. Thanks a lot Washington. Can’t only lose by 20 at Oregon. Ugh.
Let’s try some new games this week:
UNC-“Shadow Curriculum” (+6.5) at Virginia – Just a feeling that Virginia will win but the Holes will keep it close.
Arizona (-2.5) at Washington State – Arizona is coming off a bye. They are not happy after their last game. The freshman QB Solomon will out play the Cougars QB Holliday, even though Mike Leach may call 95 passes.
Ohio State (-13.5) at Penn State – Is JT Barnett better than Braxton Miller? I think so. He definitely is a better thrower. Penn State and James Franklin will probably have a white out but it won’t stop Barnett from throwing touchdowns.
Georgia Southern (-16) at Georgia State – Georgia Southern fans traveled well to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech game. They probably will have more fans than Georgia State will when this is played in the Georgia Dome. The Eagles will run like crazy and pound out an easy win.
TCU (-23) vs. Texas Tech – TCU is for real (outside of a horrible last 11 minutes at Baylor). Texas Tech can’t stop any body. This one gets ugly fast, just like last week vs. Oklahoma State.
NC State @ Louisville (-16.5)
Kansas State (+8) @ Oklahoma
Virginia @ Duke (-3)
Rutgers @ Ohio State (-19)
Washington (+21) @ OregonNC State (-4) vs. Boston College – The rest of the year State will play teams not in contention for big bowls. Good for the building of the program. This is a must win game for the team. Doeren needs a conference win. He gets it.
Alabama (-10.5) at Arkansas – Bama is 4-3 in their last 7 games. All 3 losses have been against the hurry up spread offense. Arkansas, while improved, isn’t that. Darth Saban rolls.
Texas A&M (-2) vs. Mississippi – Ole Miss winning this weekend is much more impressive than beating Alabama. Not because A&M is better (they’re not) but winning on the road in college football is so hard nowadays.
Clemson (-9.5) vs. Louisville – When you can sit your true freshman in the first half because his performance has been that great, then the offense must be pretty good. Louisville is overrated and has already lost at Virginia. If they lose in Hooville, what will they do in Death Valley? Nothing.
Georgia Southern (-21.5) vs. Idaho – Idaho is one of the worst FBS teams. We all know the Eagles are solid. Add flying across the country for this game and you have the recipe for a complete beat down. Sorry Vandals.
ECU (-40) vs. SMU – SMU’s only touchdown in 4 games was a hail mary on the last play of the game against North Texas. June Jones is no longer their coach. If Carden plays 3 quarters, it should be 84-0. So, I think Carden and Hardy play the first half, leave up 42-0 and then the second team keeps the score big enough for another cover.
Tennessee (-2.5) vs. Florida – Florida has won the last 9 games of a rivalry that used to be the biggest game not only in the SEC but maybe the nation. Now, one team is about to lose a coach (Florida) and the other team hit rock bottom and is working #BrickByBrick to make the Vols prominent again. This game is simple. The winning team has rushed for more yards each of the last 11 years. It doesn’t hurt either that Worley is a much better QB than Driskel. How did Driskel beat out Brissett????
BYU (-21) vs. Utah State – Utah State lost its best player, QB Chuckie Keeton this week for the rest of the year. They were struggling with him. Now, going to Provo with a backup QB, this game is now over before it began. The only question is by how much will BYU win?
Stanford (-2) at Notre Dame – One of, if not, the best defense in the country invades South Bend. Golson has been really good this year, but this team is overrated. Their best win is Michigan. We all know the dumpster fire there. I just don’t see the luck of the Irish or the Gipper or Rudy pulling out a victory on Saturday. Plus, I went to a Stanford at Notre Dame game 14 years ago. It is time for Stanford to exact some revenge for that loss.
NC State (+14.5) at Clemson – Last week was not a fluke, although the road crowd will be slightly louder than it was at South Florida for the offense to deal with. Watson is going to be good, but so far he played against FSU and was a freshman QB. He played well against UNC, but who hasn’t. This game will be decided by which defense, both of which can improve, tackles better in the open field.
The Kansas job is viewed currently by the coaching community as a career killer. It is not well looked on by either solid coaches nor up and comers. For a valid comparison, see Duke before they hired Cutcliffe. The best case scenario is getting some coach who is out of coaching and maybe doing broadcasting or a former head coach now assistant. Mark my words… No Power 5 conference school will lose their head coach to Kansas.
First, BJD – I think I went 4-1 last week, not 3-2.
Here are my 5 picks for the week:
Florida State (-19.5) at NC State – While I have seen vast improvement in the first four games for the Pack, unless Jameis goes Jameis before Saturday and gets suspended again, I think the Pack will stay close for a long time but the overall elite talent and depth will win out.
Baylor (-21) at Iowa State. – Baylor’s offense. Need I say more.
Texas (-13.5) at Kansas – Kansas may be the worst Power 5 school. They are Duke, circa the pre-Cutcliffe years.
Wisconsin (-33) vs. South Florida – Another no brainer. Unless Coach Anderson gives Gordon the week off from running the ball.
Auburn (-33) vs. Louisiana Tech – For an analysis, see Baylor’s analysis.
Don’t forget now that these jobs, with benefits are being paid for in large part with taxpayer dollars. So you North Carolina citizens, every time you go out to eat and pay taxes, part of that could be going to help fund these jobs to make sure UNC-CHeats players go to class.
And yet real teachers in public schools can’t get the pay they deserve.
Pathetic.
Wake Forest (PK) vs. Army – I subscribe to the physical football rule. If you play game the previous week against an extremely physical opponent, you will struggle the next weekend. Example A: USC. They beat Stanford, a physical team, then went on the road and surprisingly lost to Boston COllege. Last weekend Stanford played Army. This weekend, Army loses at Wake Forest.
South Carolina (-21.5) at Vanderbilt – For those of you who wanted James Franklin as our coach, see what he and his staff did at Vandy the past 2 years (9 win seasons) and now look at how far and how quickly the team has fallen without him. They are one of the four worst Power 5 schools, along with Wake Forest, Purdue, and Colorado. Even coming back to earth after beating Georgia, the Gamecocks should have no problem beating Vanderbilt easily.
Boise State (-16.5) vs. Louisiana Lafayette – The Broncos are in a new era after Chris Peterson left to Washington last year, but they still have plenty of offense to beat any team from the Bayou not named LSU.
Duke (-17.5) vs. Tulane – The Green Wave have Nico Marley, Bob’s grandson, but they don’t have David Cutcliffe. The Blue Devils haven’t really been tested yet so we don’t know how good they are. But one thing is for sure, “The Sun is Shining” in Durham as Duke will deliver a beatdown of Tulane.
Alabama (-14.5) vs. Florida – This is as much as an anti-Florida pick than anything else. An improved Kentucky team should have beaten the Gators, but incompetent officiating helped the home team. No such luck this weekend for Florida. This game should have more luster than it does, but Bama (pushed by the 85% of their fan base known as Wal-Mart fans— sound familiar?) will dispatch Florida with ease.
NC State will continue their good play this weekend against the Blue Hose, winning 52-13.
One extra note. South Florida is a 2 point favorite on Friday hosting Connecticut. How bad is UConn?
Another good game again in terms of discipline. There was the first holding call of the year in the 2nd half and the first pass interference of the year was called late in the 4th quarter.
This was as complete a win as I have seen on the road in a long time. The last time State won by 32 points on the road against anyone was 2002 when the Pack destroyed Clemson on Thursday night 38-6 to go 9-0.
