Week 6 Preview

I can’t believe it is already week 6 of the college football season. Last week saw some major shake-ups in the top 25. This week has the potential for more upsets and shockers. Teams like Arkansas and Missouri are looking to get huge wins and teams like Oklahoma and Clemson need to be on alert. The better team doesn’t always win in college football, a lot of times it comes down to who wants it more.

Notable Games
23California at 5Utah First of all, this is where College GameDay is this weekend. My brother goes to Utah and doesn’t care about football. It is unfair that he goes to a school with one of the best football teams in the country and doesn’t even go to the games or get excited that GameDay is there. Ok, now to the actual game. Utah is coming off their bye week and their huge win over Oregon in Eugene. Cal had a close call with Washington State last week. It will be interesting to see how Utah plays after all of the hype. When they played Oregon they were ranked 18th in the country, now they are 5th after the losses in the top 10 last week. I would be surprised if this was another blowout by Utah. Both of these teams can score and I think they will. I think Utah will pull away in the end to secure the victory. I am picking Utah.

Georgia Tech at 6Clemson Both of these teams played close games with Notre Dame, but Clemson was on the winning side. Georgia Tech has not looked good in their last 3 games. They have not been able to get their offense going (scored 134 points in their first 2 games and have scored just 73 in their last 3) and have not been able to stop their opponents when it matters. Clemson almost gave up their lead against Notre Dame last week, but were able to escape with the win. This has the potential to be a very close game. I am picking Clemson.

11Florida at Missouri Florida shocked Ole Miss and the rest of the country when they blew out Ole Miss in the Swamp. Missouri overcame a tight first half with South Carolina to win 24-10. Since joining the SEC, Missouri is 2-1 against Florida, including a huge win last year in the Swamp. Florida has looked really good on both sides of the ball this season and Missouri has struggled on offense. On paper this shouldn’t be too close of a game, but Florida might have trouble going from their huge win to this game. I think it is a relatively close game, but Florida will probably end up winning by a couple TDs. I am picking Florida.

13Northwestern at 18Michigan This is a tough game to pick. Both of these teams have been impressive this season. Michigan’s only loss came to the now 5th ranked Utes and Northwestern is undefeated. Michigan is coming off back-to-back shutouts (31-0 over BYU and 28-0 over Maryland) and Northwestern is also coming off a shutout of Minnesota. I think Michigan is the stronger team in this matchup and they have the benefit of playing at home. Northwestern has had a couple of close games where Michigan has been more dominant. I expect this to be a good game. I am picking Michigan.

19Georgia at Tennessee Georgia has won each of the last two games by a FG. Tennessee was unranked in both games where Georgia was ranked 6th and 12th. Tennessee has the chance to upset the Bulldogs but they need to learn how to hold a lead. The Vols have lead by at least 13 in all 3 of their losses. Georgia is coming off a beat down from Alabama at home and will be looking to gain back some respect. Tennessee needs a win in this game or their bowl chances are going to become very slim. I think Georgia will leave Neyland with the win, but I think it’ll be a hard fought one. Nick Chubb will probably get his 14th consecutive 100-yard rush game and he will be the difference. I am picking Georgia.

Indiana at Penn State These two teams are both sitting at 4-1. Indiana’s only loss came last week against Ohio State in a game they kept close right down to the end. Penn State’s loss came in their first game of the season against Temple. These two teams have been similar this year and that could make for an interesting matchup. I am giving Indiana the edge based on their play last week. They showed that they can hang around for 60 full minutes of football and that give them a good chance to win most of the games they play. I am picking Indiana.

Arkansas at 8Alabama Both of these teams are coming off big road wins over SEC East teams. Though Alabama’s did come against 8th ranked Georgia, Arkansas’s might have been a more important win. Last year’s meeting was decided by a missed PAT by Arkansas and the Tide left with a 14-13 win. These teams are both going to run the ball. Arkansas has the more experienced QB and players like Drew Morgan have stepped up with the loss of 3 WRs. Arkansas has a chance to win if Brandon Allen makes smart decisions. The Hogs will also need to keep penalties to a minimum like they did against Tennessee. I think the difference in the game comes on a long pass play or from the defense. If you like old school in the trenches football, this is the game for you.

Top 25
Maryland at 1Ohio State
2TCU at Kansas State
3Baylor at Kansas
4Michigan State at Rutgers
7LSU vs South Carolina (game in Baton Rouge because of flooding in SC)
9Texas A&M BYE
10Oklahoma vs Texas (Cotton Bowl)
Miami (FL) at 12Florida State
New Mexico State at 14Ole Miss
Navy at 15Notre Dame
16Stanford BYE
Washington at 17USC (Thurs)
20UCLA BYE
21Oklahoma State at West Virginia
Illinois at 22Iowa
Kent State at 24Toledo
25Boise State at Colorado

Other Games
East Carolina at BYU
Wisconsin at Nebraska
Ball State at Northern Illinois