As boring as last week was, the best weekend we’ve seen in a while is finally here. Multiple top 15 match-ups that will help decide the fate of championship contenders. But first, a look at last week.
Florida State was business as usual, and no one actually expected Miami to win, including me. 1-0
Georgia flat out embarrassed Florida in the first half of the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party, but Florida tried to make a run that fell a little short in the end. Both of these teams are still disappointing this year, but it ended up being an ok, close game. 2-0
I actually picked Oklahoma State in my ESPN pick’em, but went with Texas Tech here. Tech couldn’t do much all game to try and catch up, and I missed out on an opportunity to go 5-1 this week. 2-1
Michigan continues to be extremely overrated, and there was no doubt in my mind that Michigan State wouldn’t end up on top here. 3-1
Poor Northwestern is still struggling after their loss to Ohio State. Five straight losses and counting. Lucky for them they play Michigan next week after a bye this Saturday, but I’m not even sure if they can win that now. 4-1
UAB is such a disaster, and was a terrible upset pick. I tried really hard to be nice to them and their new coach and new attitude towards the program. But my point still stands – they should move to 1-AA. They are a basketball school, and find success in other programs, but they can still have that success if they were to move somewhere else like the Ohio Valley or Southern Conference. It just makes more sense. There is no argument you can make against UAB moving to FBS/1-AA that I can’t squash and prove otherwise. The reason I bring this up is that they choked away a lead to Middle Tennessee and lost 24-21 and Garrick McGee is 5-15 in his first 20 games. So much for turning the program around. 4-2
Week 1: 4-2
Week 2: 2-4
Week 3: 4-2
Week 4: 4-2
Week 5: 4-2
Week 6: 4-2
Week 7: 2-4
Week 8: 4-2
Week 9: 4-2
Week 10: 4-2
Total: 36-24
Now, time for the super weekend…
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Week Ten
#2 Oregon (-10.5) #5 Stanford – Thursday
As much as I would love Stanford to win this game, I don’t see it happening. Stanford has shown weakness, but Oregon has not. Even in their 14-14 tie heading into the 4th against UCLA, they showed what kind of team they were in the 4th quarter. I see the same happening here, and Oregon continues on to the BCS title game.
#6 Baylor (-15) #10 Oklahoma – Thursday
I’m still not sure about Oklahoma, and I still can’t get over that game against Texas. Baylor might have one of the best offenses ever, but they will finally meet a decent defense. But still, Baylor should handle this one easy enough.
#1 Alabama (-12) #13 LSU
LSU has had their struggles this year, but I still expect them to play well against Alabama. This has become Alabama’s toughest rivalry game over the last few years, and it’s always a classic. Well, except the championship match-up. Every (regular season) game is a classic. I think Alabama pulls out a win, but only by around 10 points or so.
#19 UCLA (-1.5) Arizona
This game is an important one to help decide who will be a player in the Pac-12 South. Arizona State sits at the top now, but still has games against both of these teams who are only one game behind right now. The winner will face Arizona State for a conference championship berth. Pretty close line here, but I think UCLA takes it.
#11 Miami (-6.5) Virginia Tech
Surprised to see the line this low, although Miami does have the world’s worst home field advantage. Games in the city of Miami are probably the only ones that Vegas doesn’t take into account the -3 point home field swing. Virginia Tech has had a couple of bad losses lately, and Miami’s only one is to Florida State, which is understandable. I think Miami gets mad and rolls in this game to prove their dominance in the Coastal division and get set up for their rematch with the Seminoles.
Michigan (-7) Nebraska
Didn’t I just talk about Michigan being severely overrated? Let’s hope that stays true this week in my upset pick. I’m actually kind of shocked the line is this high for the Wolverines. Maybe Vegas knows something I don’t.