As the leaves begin to turn, fall in certainly in the air. With conference play hitting its stride, some teams have risen to the top, while some early darlings now look like step-children. Which games should we all pay attention to this weekend? Let's take our weekly spin around the country and find out.
Big Ten
While MSU (-17) and OSU (-28.5) continue on their warm up lap of conference bottom feeders, the other five games all may bring some drama. Illinois travels to Iowa (-10) in a game I don't expect to be that close, while in contrast Indiana (+8) travels to Happy Valley in a game that I think could come down to the wire. Minnesota travels to Purdue and is only a 1.5 point favorite. Considering the Gophers only beat Colorado State, Kent, and Ohio by a combined 9 points, I actually wonder if the Boilers might pull off an upset here. Similarly, Wisconsin travels to Nebraska and somehow opened as a 1-point underdog, proving once again that Vegas doesn't seem to get BTN. But, let's be honest, we are all curious to see what happens in Ann Arbor this weekend when Northwestern comes to town opening as a 12-point dog, which is odd since NW has only given up over 10 points once so far this season (oddly, not to Stanford, Duke, or Minnesota... but to Ball State) and Michigan needed a garbage time TD to exceed 10 points against their only opponent this year so far with a pulse. While I am certainly of the opinion that it is better for UofM to lose every game in which they compete, in all sports, in perpetuity, you can certainly make the argument that a win by Team Harbaugh would help MSU in that hypothetical "11-1 with a loss to OSU scenario." That being said... Go Wildcats!
ACC
The ACC once again features five conference games all with opening Vegas spreads below 10 points. It is pretty hard to care about NC State at VA Tech (-2), and Wake Forest at BC (-9.5), but we can all certainly get behind Pitt in their home battle with Virginia (+8). Per usual, the teams to watch are Florida State (who hosts Miami [+8.5]) and Clemson (who hosts GA Tech [+7.5]). Since both teams are at home, I would not bet against them, but the GA Tech - Clemson game is especially interesting. A home loss by either team would certainly benefit MSU
Big 12
The Big 12 only has ten teams, and we can all now basically ignore any game involving Kansas or Iowa St, so there really are only ever going to be three B12 games to worry about per week from here on out. Oklahoma (-13) is likely to cause the river to run red with the tears of Texas fans, so that just leaves two fairly interesting match-ups of OK State at WVU (-6) and TCU at Kansas State (+6.5). OK State does have a good home schedule this year, so getting a win in Morgantown is crucial to them hanging near the top of the standings. Meanwhile, beware the home dogs, TCU. Their luck is bound to run out eventually, right?
Pac 12
At the beginning of the year if you would have made the prediction that an early October match-up would feature a clash of the conference's only undefeated teams, I am relatively sure that you would not have picked that game to be Cal at Utah (-6). (We can be honest here, we all want Cal to roll in this one. It's OK.) Other than that, the Pac 12 match-ups kind of suck with the possible exception of Washington at USC (-17). Fortunately, MSU-Rutgers is a night game.
SEC
It also appears to be a slow week down south as half the conference is either on a bye week or snacking on some cupcakes. I don't expect Arkansas at Alabama (-16) to be entertaining outside of the Saban-Bielema hand shake, and LSU (-11.5) vs. South Carolina is likely going to be less interesting than storm coverage. That leaves us with Florida at Missouri (+3.5) and Georgia at Tennessee (+2), both with curiously tight spreads. An upset in either of these games would certainly add to the beautiful, beautiful chaos. Cry Havok!
AAC
The AAC still has 4 unbeatens, and 3 are likely to stay that way as Memphis has a bye, and Houston and Temple are both double digit favorites. The 4th team, Navy, has a tough match-up at Notre Dame (-16), but I have a good feeling about the Midshipmen catching the Irish with a hangover. Also, if East Carolina could get an upset at BYU (-8), it would be greatly appreciated (hint, hint).
MAC
Central visits Western (-5) this week in a game that will somehow hurt MSU's strength of schedule, but I am not sure how. My money is on Central here. Toledo (-15.5) looks to stay unbeaten as they host Kent, and I am somehow intrigued by Ball State at Northern Illinois (-14). Upset alert?
Mountain West
Only three teams matter in the MWest: Boise State (-11.5 at Colorado State), as they are in the hunt for a New Year's Six Bowl, Air Force (-23.5 vs. Wyoming) because it affects MSU's strength of schedule, and whoever wins the West Division, as they could knock Boise out of a New Year's Six Bowl. As I said, maybe it is good MSU has a night game.
C-USA and the Sun Belt
These conferences still exist, apparently.
Enjoy!
Big Ten
While MSU (-17) and OSU (-28.5) continue on their warm up lap of conference bottom feeders, the other five games all may bring some drama. Illinois travels to Iowa (-10) in a game I don't expect to be that close, while in contrast Indiana (+8) travels to Happy Valley in a game that I think could come down to the wire. Minnesota travels to Purdue and is only a 1.5 point favorite. Considering the Gophers only beat Colorado State, Kent, and Ohio by a combined 9 points, I actually wonder if the Boilers might pull off an upset here. Similarly, Wisconsin travels to Nebraska and somehow opened as a 1-point underdog, proving once again that Vegas doesn't seem to get BTN. But, let's be honest, we are all curious to see what happens in Ann Arbor this weekend when Northwestern comes to town opening as a 12-point dog, which is odd since NW has only given up over 10 points once so far this season (oddly, not to Stanford, Duke, or Minnesota... but to Ball State) and Michigan needed a garbage time TD to exceed 10 points against their only opponent this year so far with a pulse. While I am certainly of the opinion that it is better for UofM to lose every game in which they compete, in all sports, in perpetuity, you can certainly make the argument that a win by Team Harbaugh would help MSU in that hypothetical "11-1 with a loss to OSU scenario." That being said... Go Wildcats!
ACC
The ACC once again features five conference games all with opening Vegas spreads below 10 points. It is pretty hard to care about NC State at VA Tech (-2), and Wake Forest at BC (-9.5), but we can all certainly get behind Pitt in their home battle with Virginia (+8). Per usual, the teams to watch are Florida State (who hosts Miami [+8.5]) and Clemson (who hosts GA Tech [+7.5]). Since both teams are at home, I would not bet against them, but the GA Tech - Clemson game is especially interesting. A home loss by either team would certainly benefit MSU
Big 12
The Big 12 only has ten teams, and we can all now basically ignore any game involving Kansas or Iowa St, so there really are only ever going to be three B12 games to worry about per week from here on out. Oklahoma (-13) is likely to cause the river to run red with the tears of Texas fans, so that just leaves two fairly interesting match-ups of OK State at WVU (-6) and TCU at Kansas State (+6.5). OK State does have a good home schedule this year, so getting a win in Morgantown is crucial to them hanging near the top of the standings. Meanwhile, beware the home dogs, TCU. Their luck is bound to run out eventually, right?
Pac 12
At the beginning of the year if you would have made the prediction that an early October match-up would feature a clash of the conference's only undefeated teams, I am relatively sure that you would not have picked that game to be Cal at Utah (-6). (We can be honest here, we all want Cal to roll in this one. It's OK.) Other than that, the Pac 12 match-ups kind of suck with the possible exception of Washington at USC (-17). Fortunately, MSU-Rutgers is a night game.
SEC
It also appears to be a slow week down south as half the conference is either on a bye week or snacking on some cupcakes. I don't expect Arkansas at Alabama (-16) to be entertaining outside of the Saban-Bielema hand shake, and LSU (-11.5) vs. South Carolina is likely going to be less interesting than storm coverage. That leaves us with Florida at Missouri (+3.5) and Georgia at Tennessee (+2), both with curiously tight spreads. An upset in either of these games would certainly add to the beautiful, beautiful chaos. Cry Havok!
AAC
The AAC still has 4 unbeatens, and 3 are likely to stay that way as Memphis has a bye, and Houston and Temple are both double digit favorites. The 4th team, Navy, has a tough match-up at Notre Dame (-16), but I have a good feeling about the Midshipmen catching the Irish with a hangover. Also, if East Carolina could get an upset at BYU (-8), it would be greatly appreciated (hint, hint).
MAC
Central visits Western (-5) this week in a game that will somehow hurt MSU's strength of schedule, but I am not sure how. My money is on Central here. Toledo (-15.5) looks to stay unbeaten as they host Kent, and I am somehow intrigued by Ball State at Northern Illinois (-14). Upset alert?
Mountain West
Only three teams matter in the MWest: Boise State (-11.5 at Colorado State), as they are in the hunt for a New Year's Six Bowl, Air Force (-23.5 vs. Wyoming) because it affects MSU's strength of schedule, and whoever wins the West Division, as they could knock Boise out of a New Year's Six Bowl. As I said, maybe it is good MSU has a night game.
C-USA and the Sun Belt
These conferences still exist, apparently.
Enjoy!
