The final week of the “non-conference” season is upon us and it is time once again to take spin around the country to see which games to keep an eye on.
Big Ten
While the big boys in each division (MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Iowa, and Nebraska) are once again 20+ point favorites, there are some interesting match-ups amongst the pretenders, I mean, other conference teams. The most competitive game of the weekend could be in Ann Arbor as BYU comes to town to face Team Harbaugh. Despite the fact that the Cougars are already 2-1 against three teams that are all likely better than Michigan, BYU is still a 4-6 point underdog. Weird, right? In any event the result will be further evidence for the maize and blue faithful that UofM will either definitely be good enough to beat both MSU and OSU this year… or maybe in 3 years… yeah, definitely by then. Meanwhile Minnesota (-13) vs. Ohio and Penn State (-15) vs. San Diego State seem like tenuous double digit favorites, and maybe Rutgers (-13) has even found a Power 5 team that they can beat when Kansas comes to town. As for Illinois (-6.5) vs. Middle Tenn, Indiana (-3.5) at Wake Forest, BGSU (-1) at Purdue, and Maryland at WVU (-16.5), just don’t embarrass the conference too bad, boys. I think we all are also curious to see how the Buckeyes fair against Western Michigan.
ACC
Half of the conference is either taking the week off or finishing off their final cupcake snack of the season. Georgia Tech (-10.5) travels to Duke this week in a conference game that may be closer than you would expect. Vegas seems to also be smiling a bit on the ACC this week as Boston College is actually a 4.5-point favorite against Northern Illinois (maybe they don’t get BTN), and Virginia is only a 3-point underdog vs. Boise State. Does that seem optimistic to anyone else? As for Syracuse (+23) vs. LSU, the ‘Cuse are probably just praying that they don’t need any more stretchers this week.
Big 12
The main highlights in Big 12 country are the two conference clashes of Oklahoma State at Texas (+4), and TCU at Texas Tech (+13). My gut feeling on these is that only being a 4-point underdog at home to a borderline ranked team almost feels like victory in Austin these days while in Lubbock, I gotta a feeling the Horned Frogs need to be on upset alert.
Pac 12
Conference play begins in earnest out West this week as the city of LA travels en-mass to Arizona. UCLA at Arizona (+4.5) and USC at Arizona State (+6) look interesting on paper, but I predict some sad cactuses come Sunday morning. Cal (-4.5) travels to Seattle this week to decide who is the 3rd best team in the Pac-12 West, and Utah travels to Oregon (-14) as the first schedule proxy battle between MSU and UofM this year. I am sure that if Utah can keep the score within 21 point at the half it will be clear evidence that UofM is bound for the Final Four… somehow.
SEC
I guess it is kind of a slow week in the SEC this week. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss are all 20+ point favorites and Texas A&M (-7) seems likely to remind the world that Brett Bielema is still a loser. Oddly, Mississippi State is a 4-point underdog at Auburn. I don't know what that means, but it confuses me. The real action might be in East as Tennessee travels to Florida (-3) and Missouri travels to Kentucky (-2.5). That’s right; Kentucky is currently favored to beat the 2-time defending SEC East Champs… in football. SEC! SEC! SEC!
Group of Five Round Up
On my Group of Five watch list for this week is Cincinnati at Memphis (-10). My gut tells me that the American Athletic Conference Champ is going to edge out Boise State for the slot in a New Year’s Six Bowl Game this year, and currently 3-0 Memphis is a contender. Cinci stumbled a few weeks ago against Temple. Can they redeem themselves this week? (Probably not.)
Enjoy!
Big Ten
While the big boys in each division (MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Iowa, and Nebraska) are once again 20+ point favorites, there are some interesting match-ups amongst the pretenders, I mean, other conference teams. The most competitive game of the weekend could be in Ann Arbor as BYU comes to town to face Team Harbaugh. Despite the fact that the Cougars are already 2-1 against three teams that are all likely better than Michigan, BYU is still a 4-6 point underdog. Weird, right? In any event the result will be further evidence for the maize and blue faithful that UofM will either definitely be good enough to beat both MSU and OSU this year… or maybe in 3 years… yeah, definitely by then. Meanwhile Minnesota (-13) vs. Ohio and Penn State (-15) vs. San Diego State seem like tenuous double digit favorites, and maybe Rutgers (-13) has even found a Power 5 team that they can beat when Kansas comes to town. As for Illinois (-6.5) vs. Middle Tenn, Indiana (-3.5) at Wake Forest, BGSU (-1) at Purdue, and Maryland at WVU (-16.5), just don’t embarrass the conference too bad, boys. I think we all are also curious to see how the Buckeyes fair against Western Michigan.
ACC
Half of the conference is either taking the week off or finishing off their final cupcake snack of the season. Georgia Tech (-10.5) travels to Duke this week in a conference game that may be closer than you would expect. Vegas seems to also be smiling a bit on the ACC this week as Boston College is actually a 4.5-point favorite against Northern Illinois (maybe they don’t get BTN), and Virginia is only a 3-point underdog vs. Boise State. Does that seem optimistic to anyone else? As for Syracuse (+23) vs. LSU, the ‘Cuse are probably just praying that they don’t need any more stretchers this week.
Big 12
The main highlights in Big 12 country are the two conference clashes of Oklahoma State at Texas (+4), and TCU at Texas Tech (+13). My gut feeling on these is that only being a 4-point underdog at home to a borderline ranked team almost feels like victory in Austin these days while in Lubbock, I gotta a feeling the Horned Frogs need to be on upset alert.
Pac 12
Conference play begins in earnest out West this week as the city of LA travels en-mass to Arizona. UCLA at Arizona (+4.5) and USC at Arizona State (+6) look interesting on paper, but I predict some sad cactuses come Sunday morning. Cal (-4.5) travels to Seattle this week to decide who is the 3rd best team in the Pac-12 West, and Utah travels to Oregon (-14) as the first schedule proxy battle between MSU and UofM this year. I am sure that if Utah can keep the score within 21 point at the half it will be clear evidence that UofM is bound for the Final Four… somehow.
SEC
I guess it is kind of a slow week in the SEC this week. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss are all 20+ point favorites and Texas A&M (-7) seems likely to remind the world that Brett Bielema is still a loser. Oddly, Mississippi State is a 4-point underdog at Auburn. I don't know what that means, but it confuses me. The real action might be in East as Tennessee travels to Florida (-3) and Missouri travels to Kentucky (-2.5). That’s right; Kentucky is currently favored to beat the 2-time defending SEC East Champs… in football. SEC! SEC! SEC!
Group of Five Round Up
On my Group of Five watch list for this week is Cincinnati at Memphis (-10). My gut tells me that the American Athletic Conference Champ is going to edge out Boise State for the slot in a New Year’s Six Bowl Game this year, and currently 3-0 Memphis is a contender. Cinci stumbled a few weeks ago against Temple. Can they redeem themselves this week? (Probably not.)
Enjoy!
