Lines are accurate as of 7PM PT according to Station Casinos in Las Vegas. Home team is listed first.
Season to date: Straight Up: 8-2, Against the Spread: 5-3-2
All games are on Saturday unless otherwise noted
Game of the Week – Ohio St. (-9) vs Miami – 1240PM PT, ESPN
The quarterback battle should be entertaining between Jacory Harris of Miami and Terrelle Pryor of Ohio St. The defenses should be good to go. The question here for both teams is the running game. Can Ohio St. get production from the running back position and can Miami get any running production at all. Whichever team does better in that facet will win this game and I think it will be Miami. Despite some success in big games late last season, I still don't trust Ohio St. against the kind of defense they are going to see in this game.
Miami 27, Ohio St. 17
Alabama (-12) vs Penn St. - 4PM PT, ESPN
First glance might make some think Penn St. has a chance. Alabama is playing without its Heisman winning running back and one of its best defensive linemen in its first real test. Sadly for all the underdogs out there, the replacements have plenty of talent and Penn St. has all new linebackers and a freshman quarterback on the road in a hostile environment for the first time. Saban won't possibly lose this game.
Alabama 30, Penn St. 13
Oklahoma (-8) vs Florida St. - 1230PM PT, ABC Reg/ESPN2
The only thing we learned about this game last week was to be ready for a shootout. Oklahoma has issues in the secondary and one blowout of an FCS team doesn't mean Florida St. is ready to win this kind of game on the road without an experienced and proven defense. That said,Landry Jones didn't look sharp either for Oklahoma and he will have to be to keep up with the Seminole passing game. He won't be sharp enough (yes I know this kills my national title pick but I've rethought it a little since then)
Florida St. 38, Oklahoma 30
Tennessee vs Oregon (-12.5) – 4PM PT, ESPN2
Both of these teams blew overmatched opponenets off the field, but Oregon looked downright scary while Tennessee was in usual nothing to see here beating an FCS team mode. With that the case, go back to where these teams are supposed to be. Oregon is the Pac-10 favorite, Tennessee is rebuilding. The last two year when Tennessee was supposed to be much better than they are this season, they managed to lose to offenseless UCLA. Do the math.
Oregon 41, Tennessee 21
South Carolina (-3.5) vs Georgia – 9AM PT, ESPN2
Today's suspension of AJ Green really hurts Georgia in this game, but not enough to make me pick South Carolina. Until they prove they can win these types of games, I can't bring myself to pick the Gamecocks even if I think they have a very good chance to win.
Georgia 24, South Carolina 20
Notre Dame (-4) vs Michigan – 1230PM PT, NBC
An interesting spread offense battle is what we have here. Notre Dame runs the more pass oriented version of the spread while Michigan runs the more run based version. Both are effective when the players are in place, and with Denard Robinson I trust the Michigan version a little bit more right now.
Michigan 28, Notre Dame 20
Florida (-15) vs South Florida – 921AM PT, ESPN-GP/ESPN3.com
Florida needs to play much better on offense or South Florida will finish what Miami (OH) started. Plus, South Florida desperately wants to be taken seriously as the fourth team in Florida. The only way to do that is to win games like this. Too bad the talent level isn't quite what it was the last 2-3 years because Florida is ripe for the picking right now.
Florida 23, South Florida 14
Air Force (pick) vs BYU – 1PM PT, Versus
BYU's defense and two-quarterback system worked very well against Washington last week. That said, I think Washington was very overrated and still has issues on the road to work out. Meanwhile, Air Force is ready to go with its option attack.
Air Force 34, BYU 24
Temple (-7.5) vs Central Michigan – Thursday 4PM PT, ESPNU
The favorite in the MAC goes against the reigning overlord in an intriguing early matchup. It all comes down to star players here. Temple still has running back Bernard Pierce. Central Michigan no longer has quarterback Dan LeFevour. Temple also still has their coach.
Temple 27, Central Michigan 20
Mississippi St. vs Auburn (-2) – Thursday 430 PM PT, ESPN
Both team blew up equally bad competition in their openers. Ultimately, I just don't believe Mississippi St. has improved enough to win this game yet. Last year was a 49-24 beatdown. This year will be much closer and a game into the fourth quarter, but Auburn will win because the Bulldogs still won't be able to stop them.
Auburn 41, Mississippi St. 35
No comments:
Post a Comment