How great has the last year of college football been? Not only did we get to see one of the greatest games of all time in the Rose Bowl earlier this year, but we also get one of the biggest regular season games ever when Michigan and Ohio State square off in a couple of weeks.
I say this because those two games are rare cases of teams living up to the hype and actually giving us the matchups we had anticipated long before they actually happened (and I do realize that OSU and Michigan haven’t quite yet run the table). Well, we get another tonight in Louisville, when the No. 5 Cardinals play host to the No. 3 West Virginia Mountaineers. To be honest, I really thought one of these teams would slip up before this week, thus depriving us of the excitement surrounding one of the biggest Thursday night games I can remember.
This was pretty cool, too.Now, let’s try and figure out who’s gonna win this thing.
#3 West Virginia (+1.5) at #5 LouisvilleThough neither team’s schedule has been anything to write home about, if these two offenses are on, and they usually are, they can keep them in the game against anyone in the country. And that’s why, like it or not, the national title implications here are huge. There will be points, no question, but I don’t think Louisville, the way they’ve played recently, are capable of winning this game by more than one score. West Virginia, though, has the ability to run away with this if the Cardinals waste any time getting the offense on track. But Louisville will be sky high, and I think this game will live up to the hype.
West Virginia - 38, Louisville - 35
#7 Florida (-15) at VanderbiltThe Commodores go for the Big Three hat trick, having already beaten Tennessee and Georgia the last time they played them. Fortunately for Vanderbilt, this Gator team just doesn’t seem to blow anybody out. Thanks to penalties and turnovers, Florida has allowed the Kentuckys, Georgias, and Alabamas of the world to hang around when, talent-wise, they probably had no business being on the same field as the mighty Gators. Florida wins again, and it’s a bit easier than the score indicates.
Florida - 27, Vanderbilt - 17
Mississippi State (+14) at AlabamaAfter coming up short at Georgia a couple of weeks ago, Sylvester Croom again looks for a win that could prove to the Mississippi State higher-ups that he does have this program on the right track. And things do seem to be setting up for a possible Mississippi State upset. Alabama has struggled in recent weeks and the Bulldogs finally seem to have found a little offense. But, there are few teams better in coming away with ugly wins than the Crimson Tide.
Alabama - 24, Mississippi State - 13
Arkansas State (+31) at #6 AuburnI really hope Auburn defends their out of conference scheduling if they end up getting left out of the BCS title game.
Auburn - 38, Arkansas State - 14
Northwestern State (OFF) at MississippiLet’s see if I can go two for two picking scores when the line is off. Let’s say…
Mississippi - 34, Northwestern State - 7
#12 Arkansas (-2) at South CarolinaIsn’t this the sixth time South Carolina has kicked off at 7:45 this season? Are they LSU now? As always, the Gamecocks will leave it all on the field as they try to come away with a season-defining upset. I see a lot of people calling for this upset, too, but I just can’t see it. Syvelle Newton will continue to keep South Carolina in games, but the Razorbacks should be able to run the football at will.
Arkansas - 24, South Carolina - 20
Will they ever get the chance to do this again?#13 LSU (-2) at #8 TennesseeI’ve made it a rule not to pick Les Miles to win a big game, particularly on the road, and it’s served me well so far. But for various reasons, I’m really feeling LSU this week. Tennessee has flirted with disaster the last couple of weeks (take away the second half turnovers, and the Georgia game would’ve gone to the wire as well) and the Tigers are coming off a bye week. So, although I still have very little faith in Miles, I just can’t see a team this talented not winning on the road at some point this year.
LSU - 16, Tennessee - 13
Boston College (-4) at Wake ForestIf Maryland loses to Clemson, and they should, the winner of this game will represent whatever division they’re in at the ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville. And though the idea of either one of these teams playing for the ACC title is kind of funny to me, Wake is even funnier, so I take them for the outright win.
Wake Forest - 27, Boston College - 21
Oklahoma (-2.5) at Texas A&MWith everyone counting them out, the Sooners have rebounded from the loss of Adrian Peterson to play some pretty good football the last couple of weeks. In holding Missouri to 10 points, the Oklahoma defense is finally starting to live up to its potential. Texas A&M, meanwhile, has quietly lost only one game this year and has actually developed a passing attack the opposing defense has to respect in recent weeks. It’s so hard to win back-to-back games on the road, so I’ll take the Aggies in a mild, mild upset.
Texas A&M - 20, Oklahoma - 17
#2 Carrollton at #5 CartersvilleI don’t know anything about these teams, so I’ll take Carrollton because they’re playing at home.
Carrollton - 20, Cartersville - 17
#6 Mays vs. #10 MaristMays has to be the prohibitive favorite following a huge win over St. Pius last week. I picked the Golden Lions to pick up their second big win in a row last week, and it came back to bite me. Mays may be the better team, but it’s just too difficult to get up for the second consecutive week in high school.
Marist - 17, Mays - 14
Jenkins at GrovesFive years ago, Jenkins and Groves were probably competing for the honor of having the worst football program in the state of Georgia, and now they’re playing for a postseason berth on Friday night. They’ve gotten better, sure, but that’s more of a testament to the fact that Region 3-AAAAA has managed to get exponentially worse over the last several years. Groves has been here before, so they get it done at home.
Groves - 31, Jenkins - 25
Georgia (-7) at KentuckyThis is a scary, scary game for the Bulldogs, and the reason why I gave this post the name I did. They’ve been looking for a reason to rip those goalposts down ever since Devery Henderson hauled in that miracle pass in Lexington a couple of years ago. Kentucky can score some points, and if they’re ever going to get it done against Georgia, this is probably the Georgia team to do it against.
However, I think the Bulldogs come out motivated and avoid the upset. Georgia plays much better on the road and, though they’re beat up, they started to get it together in the second half last week. The offense should move the ball against a bad Kentucky defense, and I really think the defense can bring some momentum from last week’s second half performance with them. But don’t get me wrong, it won’t be easy.
Georgia - 30, Kentucky - 17
