The Big Game this week is in East Lansing, obviously, but how about the rest of the country? Here is my take on what to look for:
ACC
It is a really slow week for the ACC, as 5 teams are playing FCS schools, 5 teams are playing FBS bottom feeders (no offense, South Florida), and two ACC bottom feeders (Syracuse and Wake Forest) are playing each other. Notre Dame (-11) at Virginia is not likely to be very competitive, so it the most interesting game might be… Houston at Louisville? Next, please!
American
I normally would not be too worried about the American Athletic Conference, but the Temple at Cincinnati (-6.5) game is intriguing. Temple is coming off a confidence-building win over Penn State and in all honestly, @ Cincinnati is by far their toughest conference game. If the Owls can pull the upset, I think 11-1 would be a real possibility. (I would expect Notre Dame would still destroy them on Halloween). At 11-1, with wins over PSU and Cincy, would they be a candidate for the group of five representative in a Power 6 Bowl? Perhaps they would.
Big Ten
Oregon at MSU (-3.5) is the obvious headliner, but there are several other interesting match-ups. Unlike last week, the Big Ten is actually favored in all 14 games, which is nice, but in reality, it is most likely just an opportunity for someone to really embarrass the conference again. The only question is who is going to screw the pooch this week? Oregon State at Michigan (-14.5)? Bowling Green at Maryland (-7.5)? Washington State at Rutgers (-3.5)? Minnesota (-5) at Colorado State? Iowa (-3) at Iowa State? FIU at Indiana (-8)? It seems unlikely that all 6 of those teams will win, and home dogs are always scary, so I am going to go with it being Iowa’s turn to once again be the goat.
Big 12
Lots of bad games here too, but Oklahoma (-1.5) at Tennessee is clearly a key cross-league game. It sure would be nice for the favored Sooners to give the $EC a loss, but I don’t call them Chokelahoma for nothing. Sadly, this is exactly the type of game that the SEC always seem to win in September. Other than that, I am curious to see Rice at Texas (-14) in order to answer the question: Is Texas really that bad, or is Notre Dame just really that good?
Mountain West
Outside of East Lansing, the game with the biggest potential impact on MSU this week will take place in Provo, UT when Boise State (-2.5) visits BYU. On paper, this appears to be the Bronco’s toughest games and if they win here, 12-0 is a very real possibility (assuming they can survive mild tests at Utah State and at Virginia). The problem is that if Boise wins out and it sitting at 13-0 in early December, would the committee consider putting them in the playoffs? For those keeping track of the “can MSU make the playoffs with a loss to OSU” scenarios, Go Cougars!
Pac 12
Outside of the three Big Ten – Pac 12 match-ups mentioned above, there is nothing much to see here. But, tonight’s Utah State at Utah (-12) game should be fun, right? I suppose the UCF-Stanford (-19) match-up is a clash of teams that crapped the bed last week, but it is hard to care.
SEC
Other than OK-TN, the non-conference games here are also a bit of a yawner. But, it would be cool if Toledo (at Arkansas, -21.5) or Ball State (at Texas A&M, -30.5) could stay close, at least for a little while, to show some Midwest pride. There are a couple of no-so important SEC conference games (like Georgia [-21] at Vandy and Kentucky at South Carolina [-7.5]), but the big game down south this week is clearly LSU (-4) at Mississippi State in the first of many key SEC West clashes. In general, it is probably best if the home teams win all SEC West games and the whole lot of them finishes at 4-4. I like the home (bull)dogs here as well.
Enjoy!
ACC
It is a really slow week for the ACC, as 5 teams are playing FCS schools, 5 teams are playing FBS bottom feeders (no offense, South Florida), and two ACC bottom feeders (Syracuse and Wake Forest) are playing each other. Notre Dame (-11) at Virginia is not likely to be very competitive, so it the most interesting game might be… Houston at Louisville? Next, please!
American
I normally would not be too worried about the American Athletic Conference, but the Temple at Cincinnati (-6.5) game is intriguing. Temple is coming off a confidence-building win over Penn State and in all honestly, @ Cincinnati is by far their toughest conference game. If the Owls can pull the upset, I think 11-1 would be a real possibility. (I would expect Notre Dame would still destroy them on Halloween). At 11-1, with wins over PSU and Cincy, would they be a candidate for the group of five representative in a Power 6 Bowl? Perhaps they would.
Big Ten
Oregon at MSU (-3.5) is the obvious headliner, but there are several other interesting match-ups. Unlike last week, the Big Ten is actually favored in all 14 games, which is nice, but in reality, it is most likely just an opportunity for someone to really embarrass the conference again. The only question is who is going to screw the pooch this week? Oregon State at Michigan (-14.5)? Bowling Green at Maryland (-7.5)? Washington State at Rutgers (-3.5)? Minnesota (-5) at Colorado State? Iowa (-3) at Iowa State? FIU at Indiana (-8)? It seems unlikely that all 6 of those teams will win, and home dogs are always scary, so I am going to go with it being Iowa’s turn to once again be the goat.
Big 12
Lots of bad games here too, but Oklahoma (-1.5) at Tennessee is clearly a key cross-league game. It sure would be nice for the favored Sooners to give the $EC a loss, but I don’t call them Chokelahoma for nothing. Sadly, this is exactly the type of game that the SEC always seem to win in September. Other than that, I am curious to see Rice at Texas (-14) in order to answer the question: Is Texas really that bad, or is Notre Dame just really that good?
Mountain West
Outside of East Lansing, the game with the biggest potential impact on MSU this week will take place in Provo, UT when Boise State (-2.5) visits BYU. On paper, this appears to be the Bronco’s toughest games and if they win here, 12-0 is a very real possibility (assuming they can survive mild tests at Utah State and at Virginia). The problem is that if Boise wins out and it sitting at 13-0 in early December, would the committee consider putting them in the playoffs? For those keeping track of the “can MSU make the playoffs with a loss to OSU” scenarios, Go Cougars!
Pac 12
Outside of the three Big Ten – Pac 12 match-ups mentioned above, there is nothing much to see here. But, tonight’s Utah State at Utah (-12) game should be fun, right? I suppose the UCF-Stanford (-19) match-up is a clash of teams that crapped the bed last week, but it is hard to care.
SEC
Other than OK-TN, the non-conference games here are also a bit of a yawner. But, it would be cool if Toledo (at Arkansas, -21.5) or Ball State (at Texas A&M, -30.5) could stay close, at least for a little while, to show some Midwest pride. There are a couple of no-so important SEC conference games (like Georgia [-21] at Vandy and Kentucky at South Carolina [-7.5]), but the big game down south this week is clearly LSU (-4) at Mississippi State in the first of many key SEC West clashes. In general, it is probably best if the home teams win all SEC West games and the whole lot of them finishes at 4-4. I like the home (bull)dogs here as well.
Enjoy!
