College Predictions, Top 25 Heading into Week Four

College Predictions

Yeah, so I slacked off a bit this week. Got busy messing with my new studio and totally forgot to keep up with my writing and predictions and such. So I’ll throw together one quick post and put it all together.

First, let’s take a look at last week’s predictions where I went 4-2 both straight up and against the spread.

The top game was obviously Alabama vs. Texas A&M in the rematch of last year’s great game in Tuscaloosa. Now that they were in College Station, Alabama was able to grab the win and get another revenge game for Nick Saban. I knew the -8 line was going to be too much, even it was only one point higher. 1-0

Next up was Texas and Ole Miss. Texas was severely disappointing in their loss to BYU, and Ole Miss is looking like a true contender after their great start. They showed that home field advantage didn’t matter and that Texas being up -2.5 when I made my picks was stupid. Good job Rebels. 2-0

Third, I had another SEC match-up with South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Despite their loss to Ole Miss, and now SC, Vandy is still a good and much improved team. However, they weren’t able to do anything about the Gamecocks and SC bounces back from their UGA loss. 3-0

I finally got my first loss with Nebraska choking away a nice lead to UCLA and giving up 38 unanswered points. In picking Nebraska, I wasn’t trying to say UCLA is a bad team, I think they are the best in their division and probably third best in the Pac-12 and deserving of where they were ranked. With that said, I did think Nebraska would hold it together better than that, but apparently the team reflects the coach since Bo Pelini can’t hold it together either. 3-1

I got back in the win column for my picks with Auburn over Mississippi State. I have to admit, I didn’t think the game would come down to the wire. It raises some very small questions about Auburn, but it does show that they can win when they need to. 4-1

Finally my upset pick, which was…well…not an upset. USC took care of Boston College down in LA, so I got that one wrong. 4-2

Week 1: 4-2
Week 2: 2-4
Week 3: 4-2

Total: 10-8

Here’s to a good week this week. There are some tough games to predict.

Week Four

#5 Stanford (-7.5) #23 Arizona State

Stanford hasn’t really shown me much this year so far to be ranked that high, but rankings are goofy this early anyway. Arizona State was in my top 25 before last week, and they proved they belonged there, even if it was by the skin of their teeth and they got lucky with a bad call. Either way, I think Stanford can pull this out, but watch out for Arizona State. They aren’t to be taken lightly.

#6 LSU (-17.5) Auburn

Auburn is looking much better than last year, and last year they played their best against LSU, only losing by 2. However, that was at Auburn, and now they are down in Baton Rouge. I expect Auburn to do a little better than this line says, but not by much. LSU should win straight up easy.

Arkansas (PK) Rutgers

This game might not mean much to other people, but having gone to school at Rutgers for a short time, and with Arkansas being of interest to an Alabama fan, it’s a slightly intriguing match-up that 4-5 years ago with Bobby Petrino vs. Greg Schiano would have been an epic non-conference game. I have to go with Arkansas here in their “bounce-back” year.

#19 Florida (-17) Tennessee

I’m going to pick Florida here, but I don’t feel good about it. Tennessee showed me a lot in their first couple of games before getting destroyed by Oregon last week. However, that was Oregon, who is the best team in the country right now in my opinion and not many teams can do much about the Ducks. Florida has looked so weak this season for where they are ranked, but I’m going to go with Florida to win this one in the Swamp.

Texas (-5) Kansas State

In a battle for relevancy in the Big 12, we see two teams who are way down on their luck. While everyone is talking about Alabama and their great run over the last four years, let’s not forget that their closest championship game in that span was against Texas. And Kansas State was one upset removed from playing in the championship last year, which let Alabama sneak in. Both teams have losses they aren’t proud of this year, with Kansas State losing to NDSU and Texas losing to BYU and Ole Miss. I think Texas will win this one as a “Save Mack Brown’s job for at least one more week” game.

Mississippi State (-14.5) Troy

I have faith in the Trojans this year against the Bulldogs. Last year Troy lost by 6 to MSU, so I’m looking for a revenge game here. Don’t count out Troy against lesser SEC opponents. I actually liked Troy to at least beat the spread, and win the game before I decided to make this my upset pick.

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Top 25 – Week 3

A really shortened version of the top 25 since I’m late on it. I will make a note that I left Oregon at #1, despite Alabama beating Texas A&M. I still think Oregon is the superior team, despite Alabama’s two wins being better than Oregon’s three wins. I rank on what I see on the field, and who I think would beat who in a match-up, and as an Alabama fan, Oregon scares me.

1. Oregon (3-0)
2. Alabama (2-0)
3. Louisville (3-0)
4. Clemson (3-0)
5. Florida State (3-0)
6. LSU (3-0)
7. Ohio State (3-0)
8. Stanford (2-0)
9. Georgia (1-1)
10. Texas A&M (2-1)
11. Oklahoma State (3-0)
12. South Carolina (2-1)
13. UCLA (3-0)
14. Northwestern (3-0)
15. Oklahoma (3-0)
16. Miami (2-0)
17. Washington (2-0)
18. Ole Miss (3-0)
19. Baylor (2-0)
20. Arizona State (2-0)
21. Texas Tech (3-0)
22. Nebraska (2-1)
23. Florida (1-1)
24. Wisconsin (2-1)
25. Fresno State (2-0)

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