That’s what it seems like in predicting college football this year because it’s so wide open. The final four for this week is Mississippi State, FSU, Auburn and Ole Miss. AU and Ole Miss in a potential elimination game Saturday in Oxford though with the way this season is going, two losses may not eliminate you completely. Still a huge game on the Grove, Saturday night @ 6 PM CT/7 ET on ESPN. Alabama, Oregon, TCU and an underrated Georgia team are the teams to me that are right on the edge of being in that top four when all is said and done. The Tide is off Saturday and is in preparations for a trip to Death Valley to face the Bayou Bengals of LSU next Saturday (Nov.8th) @ 7 PM CT/8 ET on CBS. Oregon plays host to their annual Achilles Heel, the Stanford Cardinal, and while Stanford may not have the usual stellar record that they have year in and year out, they have the number two total defense and number two scoring defense in the country. The Cardinal have upset the Ducks the last two years and dashed their hopes of playing for it all in January. So the Ducks, with their high powered offense, have their work cut out for them in Autzen Stadium in Eugene on Saturday @ 6:3o PM CT/7:30 ET on FOX. Oregon is on upset alert. TCU heads to Morgantown to face a very good West Virginia team that would love nothing more than to end the Horned Frogs hopes of getting to the playoff. If TCU wins, in what will be a cold, rainy Saturday in Morgantown, they are right in the thick of things for the playoff. If West Virginia wins, they will become a factor nationally. They defeated Baylor at home, played Alabama tough, and had a convincing win over @ Oklahoma State last Saturday. They’re playing very well. The Georgia Bulldogs play the Gators in the Cocktail Party game. The Dawgs will get Todd Gurley back for the Auburn game in two weeks, so Nick Chubb and company will hold down the fort in the meantime. The Dawgs are playing well, but this is a rivalry game and Will Muschamp is probably battling for his job at this point, so it could be a test for the Dawgs, which have hopes of playing in Atlanta on December 6th. Mississippi State hosts Arkansas in what could be a pretty tough game for the Bulldogs against a stellar rushing attack. Very interesting one tonight at Louisville as the No.2 ranked and defending national champion Florida State Seminoles head into Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to face the upset minded Cardinals. There are some other key matchups in the Pac-12 as No.18 Utah travels to No.15 ‘Zona State and No.14 Arizona is at No.25 UCLA. Here’s a look at this week’s games. The rankings are from the AP Poll.
Last week: 16-3
Overall: 95-39 (71%)
No.4 Auburn (6-1, 3-1) @ No. 7 Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1)
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford (60,580)
6 PM CT/7 PM ET
ESPN
Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe
Weather: 45 at kickoff, 0 % rain, wind North 10 MPH
Line: Ole Miss by 2
Ole Miss leads the country in scoring defense giving up just 10.5 points per game, but they did give up 264 yards rushing to LSU last Saturday night at Death Valley. Auburn gained 395 yards on the ground last week against a pretty weak South Carolina defense, but Cameron Artis-Payne ran for 167 and a score, Nick Marshall ran for 89 and three TDs, and Ricardo Louis ran for 102 yards with one of them being a house call from 75 yards. And the question I always have for Ole Miss is: do you trust Bo Wallace? The defense is good, without a doubt, but can Wallace make the plays when you have to have them? I don’t think he does against the Tigers, and Auburn comes out of Oxford with a huge win as they matriculate in the SEC west and in the national picture.
AU 21, Ole Miss 17
Arkansas (4-4, 0-4) @ No.1 Mississippi State (7-0, 4-0)
Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville (55,082)
6:15 PM CT/7:15 PM ET
ESPN2
Tess, Brock, Shannon Spake
Weather: 45, 0 % rain, wind NNW @ 12 MPH
Line: State by 10 1/2
Tricky game for State. Arkansas trying to get their first SEC win under Brett Beilema. Arkansas has that explosive running game behind the biggest line in all of football, college or pro. That could cause State problems. State may get out of this with a victory, but it won’t be easy.
State 35, Arkansas 31
Florida (3-3, 2-3) vs. No.9 Georgia (6-1, 4-1)
EverBank Field, Jacksonville (67, 164)
2:30 PM CT/ 3:30 PM ET
CBS
Verne, Gary, Allie LaForce
Weather: 58, 0 % rain, wind: 22 MPH
Line: Georgia by 13
Florida and Will Muschamp are in desperate straights. Georgia is playing very well. Their defense has gotten it together and their running game hasn’t missed a beat with Nick Chubb playing in place of Todd Gurley. The Dawgs are going to play as old school as possible with the wind being such a factor at 22 MPH. Florida’s best hope is to stop Chubb and make Hutson Mason beat them through the air. That could happen, but the Gators offense is not too swift, even though they can run the ball some. I like the Dawgs to get the job done here. Florida just can’t get enough done on offense.
Dawgs 24, Gators 10
Stanford (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12) @ Oregon (7-1, 4-1)
Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon (54,000)
6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET
FOX
Gus Johnson, Charles Davis
Weather: 55, Showers, 60%, wind SW 7 MPH
Line: Oregon by 8
Stanford will keep this close on defense and with the weather the way it is expected to be, this should be a dogfight to the end. And I like the Cardinal to pull off the upset.
Stanford 21, Oregon 20
No.10 TCU (6-1, 3-1) @ No.20 West Virginia (6-2, 4-1)
Mountaineer Field @ Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West Va. (60,000)
2:30 PM CT/ 3:30 PM ET
ABC
Chris, Herbie, Heather
Weather: 47, 70% showers, wind , north 13 MPH
Line: TCU by 5 1/2
The weather makes the game really interesting. West Virginia knocked off Baylor two weeks ago at home, 41-27. TCU can run it pretty well and the Mountaineers throw it well with quarterback Clint Trickett and wide out Kevin White. West Virginia can run it decently, too. This is a tough place to play, and I’ve had trouble figuring this one out. But the Horned Frogs play better defense and run the ball better, so I have them surviving. Should be a classic though.
TCU 24, West Virginia 21
Tonight:
No.2 Florida State (7-0, 4-0 ACC) @ Louisville ( 6-2, 4-2 ACC)
Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville (55,000)
6:30 PM CT/ 7:30 PM ET
ESPN
Rece, Jess, Dave, Sam
Weather: 52, 0% wind E 3 MPH
Line: FSU by 3 1/2
Louisville has the number four scoring defense in the country, the number one rushing defense, the number one total defense, the number two passing efficiency defense and they are second in the country in interceptions with 15, behind Ole Miss, which has 17. Free safety Gerod Holliman is tied for the national lead in interceptions with Ole Miss cornerback Senquez Golson at 8. The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece last night citing that 13 teams have played top five total defenses in the last three years and 10 of them have lost. It’s happened twice this year with No.4 Oklahoma (at the time) losing to TCU, and No.3 Alabama losing to Ole Miss. That tells me that the Noles are going down tonight.
Louisville 28, FSU 24
Other scores
South Carolina 38, Tennessee 30
6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET, SEC Network
Missouri 28, Kentucky 24
3 PM CT/ 4 PM ET on SEC Network
Vanderbilt 24, Old Dominion 21
6 PM CT/ 7 PM ET on ESPNU
Texas A&M 45, Lousiana-Monroe 10
11 AM CT/ Noon ET on SEC Network
Duke 35, Pittsburgh 31
11 AM CT/ 12 PM ET on ESPNU
East Carolina 38, Temple 28
11 AM CT/ 12 PM ET on ESPN News
Oklahoma 34, Iowa State 30
11 AM CT/ 12 PM ET on FOX Sports 1
Miami (Fl) 42, North Carolina 24
11:30 AM CT/12:30 PM ET on ESPN3, ESPN Gameplan
Penn State 31, Maryland 27
11 AM CT/ 12 PM ET on ESPN2
UAB 35, Florida Atlantic 31
6 PM CT/7 PM ET on WABM channel 68 in Birmingham
Texas 37, Texas Tech 35
6:30 PM CT/ 7:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 1
Kansas State 35, Oklahoma State 27
7 PM CT/8 PM ET on ABC
UCLA 35, Arizona 31
9:30 PM CT/10:30 PM ET on ESPN
Arizona State 30, Utah 23
10 PM CT/11 PM ET on FOX Sports 1
NFL tonight
New Ahlins (3-4) @ Carolina Panthers (3-4-1)
7:25 PM CT/8:25 PM ET
NFL Network
Jim, Phil, Wolf
Line: Saints by 3
Drew and Saints get it done over Cam–barely. Should be an excellent game. Key game in NFC South.
Saints 28, Panthers 24
World Series
That’s all world good as well.
