College Football 2016-2017

Due to the SEC scheduling an early season conference game every year, this week is cupcake week for most of the league, including A&M. We're playing UTSA this weekend and, while I wouldn't call them a cupcake, they are a team we should be beating. After the last 2 disappointing weeks, I'm looking for the Ags to show me something before LSU.

Joe, I think you're right about Bama. The joke in SEC country is that their 1st and 2nd teams should play in the SEC Championship game to determine playing time in the playoffs. It hasn't been a stellar year for the league.

I didn't know that fumbling stat about Louisville either. If I had to guess, I'd have bet the Hoosiers are high on that list.

Oklahoma @ West Virginia - OU is built to win the B12 and I think they take care of business here. The question is, should there be another 2 loss conference champ, will the committee realize what fool's gold winning the B12 is? OU has gotten smashed when they've had to play good teams out of conference and in bowls in recent years.

Washington State @ Colorado - Wazzu hasn't "Couged it" in 9 weeks, so they're long overdue. That said, I think they pull the upset and save the implosion for the Apple Cup.

Northwestern @ Minnesota - there doesn't appear to be much separating these 2, but the Gopher qb has more picks than tds and that concerns me. I'll take the Cats.

Florida @ LSU - this game looks a lot different than it did when they rescheduled it. Aside from the Bama game, the Tigers have found some offense to go with a strong d. Florida hasn't. So I'll take the Bayou Bengals at home. Hopefully this one is a rough defensive slugfest since we get LSU on a short week on Thanksgiving.

USC @ UCLA - as Joe said, we've got two teams going in opposite directions. The Trojans could be prone to a letdown after last week but with no Rosen and no run game, I just don't see it from the Bruins, rivalry game or not.

Stanford @ Cal - the Cardinal have quietly turned it around and sit at 7-3. McCaffrey should have a field day against the Bears porous defense.

Upset:

Florida State (-21.5) @ Syracuse - ride her til she bucks you. I can't think of one other reason to pick the Cuse other than the 17 curse. I'll be shocked if it holds up again this week, but why not try it one more time.

 

As I was watching OSU / MSU it occurred to me that game would be a good pick for upset. Didn't happen but Bucs sure didnt seem too sharp. Stop looking ahead, boys.
Oh, wait... has anyone ever said that before?

 

First time I've seen Folsom packed in probably 10+ years. The atmosphere if finally starting to match the talent of the team. This saturday SHOULD be just as exciting. A little nervous since most students will still be out of town.

 

Glad to see the Buffs back among the relevant.

Didn't see what I wanted from A&M this weekend. In fact, we had another OL leave with an injury. We're not running on LSU, so we're probably not winning either. Miles Garrett is back to 100% healthy though and we'll have the rest of our injured defenders back except for one safety. So there's a chance. That's what I'm trying to convince myself of, at least.

 

That was a rough first quarter in Morgantown last Saturday night! Muffed punt, two fumbles inside the 5, bad, bad, bad. 2 more games and a respectable 10-2 record. Probably gets WVU the Russell Athletic bowl.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Some big ones all around the country. Not much time, so might have to break this up w/multiple posts:

The Turkey Day Special ala AggieMatt:

LSU at Texas A&M; Got to go with Matt's boys to give him something extra to smile at.

Friday Game of the Day:

#5 Washington at #23 Washington State: The Apple Cup with the Pac 12 North on the line and another chance for the Huskies to prove they belong in the playoffs. Going with the Wazzu to upset the Dawg's apple cart.

Saturday Game of the Day:

Plenty of other Biggies (Iron Bowl, Colorado-Utah, etc) that I'll get to tomorrow, but there is a Monster of a game in Columbus:

#3 Michigan at #2 Ohio State: This one as it all; ultra intense coaches, evenly matched teams. From recent games you'd have to think it'll be a fairly low scoring game. If Michigan wasn't using the backup I'd pick them, but will go with JT Barrett making just enough plays to win it.

 

Part II:

#13 Auburn at #1 Alabama; Until proven otherwise it's simply impossible to pick against the Tide. No one is invincible, but it's going take winning the turnover margin by at least 2, a special teams td or block or huge play, and then hit a couple long plays since long drives rarely happen against Bama.

#22 Utah at #9 Colorado; Utah got caught looking ahead last week with a disastrous home loss to Oregon and now look to play spoilers against the Buffs. The Pac 12 South is there for the taking for CU and really hope that it happens.

Kentucky at #11 Louisville; It will be interesting to see what that loss does to the Cards psyche. Bottom line is they can't treat the ball like a hand grenade and win all the time. They take care of it and they'll beat Kentucky.

@LaxAttack, @encorespanish Can one of you guys tell us who wins the Big 10 West if both Iowa beats #16 Nebraska at home (that's my upset pick of the week) and Minnesota goes to Camp Randall and upsets #6 Wisconsin (going Badgers here, but the Gophers are capable)?? If those 2 things happen it will be a 4 way tie.

#15 Florida at #14 Florida State; Gators riding high after winning the SEC East in a very impressive manner (their home game against LSU had to be rescheduled because of Hurricane Matthew, and it ended up having to be in Baton Rouge) with a win in Death Valley. FSU has played better as the season has gone on. A true coin-flip rivalry game that will be decided by a play or two, will take the Gators to spring a mild upset.

 

Joe, Iowa is a 3 pt favorite in that game, but you've got the underdog covered with Wazzu, who is a 6.5 pt dog at home.

I'll get the rest in tonight but wanted to get in for the Apple Cup and my upset.

Washington @ Washington St - I haven't liked Browning in the Pups' 2 big games. Also don't like that they haven't been able to get the edge on runs against good teams. Wazzu is #1 in the PAC12 vs the run. The Cougs have had a game to get used to Cracraft being out, plus it's in Pullman. History says I'll regret this pick, but going with the Cougs as well.

Upset Pick
Baylor vs Texas Tech in JerryWorld. Tech is a 5.5 pt dog in this one despite Baylor playing with a backup qb and having shown very little fight since taking their first loss. I like Mahomes to bounce back & the despicable little Cubs to fold their tents by the 3rd qtr. Most at Baylor are more preoccupied with figuring out where they'll go next year.

 

Yep, didn't take long at all for the regret to set in. Guess Wazzu is #1 against the run because it's so damn easy to pass all over them. 28-3 in the 1st qtr...Doh!!!

 

With Iowa's win today (suck it, Nebraska!), Wisconsin clinches the West no matter what happens tomorrow.

 

Coin flip?! - phhttt - FSU has got this one in the bag! As long as our place kicker shows up. It always comes down to the kicker for FSU. In all the games we lost this year the kicker missed field goals or didn't kick any (granted, they wouldn't have made a difference in Louisville) and of course there is our sad history of missed field goals with Florida. So come on Ricky! Don't blow it.

 

At least I got my easy upset pick right. And now for the rest.

Michigan @ Ohio St - I think the Wolverines can keep it close and hold the Buckeyes to field goals, but I just don't see O'Korn going on the road and leading Michigan to the win. Nuts win.

Florida @ Florida St - The Gators' scoring numbers in this game the last 3 years are dismal. I'll take the Noles.

Auburn @ Alabama - I know anything can happen in a rivalry game but Auburn is overrated and with White's shoulder issues, against the Bama d, no way.

Utah @ Colorado - I'm really impressed with the Buffs and their defense. I think they have too much for the Utes on both sides of the ball.

Kentucky @ Louisville - are they playing in hoops? If we're talking football, all Cards.

Congrats to Joe and his Cats for their 3 td win over the Scummies...their first P12 win of the year.

 

Gracias Matt, UofA-ASU certainly didn't merit mention above, but happy for the seniors, and more than happy to heap misery onto the Scum Devils.

 

I expect a Cardinal rout today. And look for his teammates to help Lamar put a giant bow on his Heisman Trophy winning season. Kentucky might make some early noise with their running game, keeping him off the field for a while. But it won't last.

 

I'm late so.....

Michigan
CU
Bama
FSU

Not off to a great Saturday.

 

Beating your in-state rival is one thing. Taking down a beauty queen is another.

http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/down-goes-miss-arizona-1789374315

 

Well, the Cards sure screwed the pooch. Biggest upset in the series since it resumed after a 70 year hiatus in '94. Lamar may win the famous trophy, but it ain't for ball security. He's got one job in the off season (after whatever bowl game they end up in): hand grip exercisers. Credit to Mark Stoops. After the first two games, he was on the hottest seat of 'em all. Now he'll probably get a pretty big pay hike. He and his staff out-coached Bobby P., who did himself no favors with his boorish post game pouting behavior. All season the Louisville offensive players insisted every time we interviewed them that they had an equally dominant defense. That simply was not true. Still a lot of work to do, but I've been around long enough to remember when just getting to ANY bowl game was a big deal. This season has raised the bar considerably. Next year should be interesting...IF they can get as good defensively as they are at scoring.

 

Great find Evan. Karma hit the Scum Devil who late hit our QB into her. She was a great sport about it and from her interview it sounds like she's a UofA student/grad. There wasn't a late hit called, but on the next play he got booted out of the game.

There is a reason fans of the NFL's Seahawks, Cardinals, and Rams call the 49ers the Forty-Whiners or just Whiners...Jim Harbaugh. The guy can literally get 10 straight calls go his way and if the refs miss one against his team he cries, pouts, and carries on like a 3 year old who had his candy taken away. Meatchicken did get some bad calls, but on the 4th down spot he went on a tantrum about his team the play before literally missed 6 tackles. They make one of those and Ohio State tries a field goal instead of going on 4th and 1.

I guess Lamar Jackson will still win the Heisman in spite of treating the ball like a hand grenade and costing them the win v UK. Who else is there? Schools stopped hyping their players 4 weeks ago when it was a foregone conclusion.

@AggieMatt. You have got the con my friend this week as I will be out starting today until Sat.

 

I haven't been keeping up as much the last 2 weeks due to family obligations but I'll give this a go again this week anyway.

Colorado v Washington - 2 things have given UDub trouble this year, being on the wrong side of the talent gap and an effective mobile qb. #1 isn't an issue in this game and while Lufau does run, he's not a game breaker in that aspect. I'll take the Snarlin Pups of Montlake to win and make the playoff.

Florida v Alabama - I only include this because it's a title game. The Gators might keep it respectable for a half with their defense but Bama will win easily in the end.

Clemson v Va Tech - The Tigers have played to the level of their competition far too often for my liking, but they've kicked it into gear since the loss and the Hokies turn it over too much.

Penn St v Wisconsin - The Badgers are the slight favorite but it seems like all the pundits are taking the Nittanys. Penn St is on a roll but we've seen how they fare against really good defenses. Barkley has only averaged 2 yds/game the last couple of games as well. I'll take Wiscy.

Oklahoma St @ Oklahoma - Defacto Championship game for the conference no one cares about...especially defenses. The Sooners are built to win this garbage league and will do so again today in a typical B12 shootout. DeDe Westbrook has a good chance to try and swipe the Heisman from Jackson as well (if he and Mayfield don't split votes and cost each other).

Upset pick - Temple over Navy. No great reasoning but I need one and Navy is due for a slip up. Hope I'm wrong though.

 

Agree Matt. I do think the CU defense will be difficult for Washington to deal with, but see Washington being able to stop CU. However, if CU is in it after 3, I would not be surprised to see CU win the 4th. They've been an excellent 4th qtr team all year and have made stops when they had to.