Week 10 Preview

There were some upsets in week 9 of college football. Four of the nine unbeatens went down, three to unranked opponents. Tennessee got beat by South Carolina and then Jalen Hurd left the team. Virginia very nearly upset Louisville, but Lamar Jackson did what Lamar Jackson does. The first CFP rankings came out and the SEC West has two teams in the top four, including one-loss Texas A&M who jumped undefeated Washington. We are in the home stretch now. Every game could make or break a season.

How I fared: 5-1 last week, 39-17 overall

Notable Games
1Alabama at 13LSU A few weeks ago, it seemed this game wasn’t going to be competitive. Les Miles was fired and Alabama was looking great. Since then, LSU has found an offense and Alabama is still looking great. I think Alabama has the edge in this game because of their rush defense. They don’t do great against the pass, but that isn’t LSU’s strong suit. Alabama also loves to score on defense and special teams, but some guys are going to have to step up to fill the big shoes of injured Eddie Jackson. It’s hard to pick against the Tide. I am picking Alabama.

10Nebraska at 6Ohio State I have no idea what is happening in the Big 10 this season. I know I’ve said that before, but only because it’s true. Despite taking Wisconsin to OT, I’m still not sold on Nebraska. And Ohio State barely survived a meeting with Northwestern. I expect Ohio State to win this game but Nebraska seems to have a pretty decent defense. I’m not even sure if we’ll learn that much from this game no matter what the outcome is. I am picking Ohio State.

Iowa at 12Penn State Penn State debuted at 12 in the CFP rankings. That seems a little high to me. Though they did have an impressive win over Ohio State, their big win over Purdue shouldn’t have been that helpful to their ranking. Iowa was supposed to win their division but NDSU exposed the Hawkeyes. Penn State does need to be careful. If they come into this game riding a high from their ranking, they are liable to get upset in Happy Valley. I am picking Penn State.

Texas at Texas Tech Now this has the potential to be a great game. Both of these teams are coming off of big wins last week. The Longhorns upset previously undefeated Baylor and TTU went to Fort Worth and left with a 2OT win(which is fun to do). Neither of those games were as high scoring as I expected them to be, so hopefully this week we can get a good shootout. Maybe that win gave Texas something to play for. I still don’t expect Charlie Strong to be the coach next season, but who knows? It’s also possible that Texas Tech blows out Texas. Should be an exciting one. I am picking Texas.

Missouri at South Carolina This is an interesting matchup. South Carolina is coming off a big win over what seems to be a crashing Tennessee team. Missouri is coming off a loss to Kentucky. It kind of makes you wonder is South Carolina is actually a decent team. Missouri has shown a lot of offense this season, but they are riding a four-game losing streak. South Carolina’s defense will need to be great in this one, because their offense is only averaging 17.8 points/game. I am picking South Carolina.

Oregon at USC There will probably be a lot of points scored in this game. Oregon finally snapped their 5-game losing streak by beating Arizona State last week. USC has won their last four games, and three of the wins were by a very comfortable margin. I think the Trojan defense will be the difference in this game. Oregon’s defense has given up a ton of points this season (maybe the Big 12 should’ve been considering them). I don’t think they will be able to hold USC to fewer points than their own offense can score. I am picking USC.

11Florida at Arkansas Arkansas is coming off of a much needed bye week. Hopefully the Hogs used the time wisely (and figured out how to stop some runs and protect Austin). It is clear that some changes needed to be made after what happened down on the Plains. Florida is coming off a win over Georgia and is hopefully completely underestimating the Razorbacks. Florida’s defense is very good, but their offense hasn’t been great. Arkansas has a lot to prove in this game. Yeah, I’m looking at you, lines. SEC Nation will be on the Hill this weekend, so look for me on TV!

Top 25
Syracuse at 2Clemson
Maryland at 3Michigan
4Texas A&M at Mississippi State
5Washington at California
7Louisville at Boston College
8Wisconsin at Northwestern
Vanderbilt at 9Auburn
14Oklahoma at Iowa State (Thursday)
UCLA at 15Colorado (Thursday)
16Utah BYE
TCU at 17Baylor
18Oklahoma State at Kansas State
19Virginia Tech at Duke
Kansas at 20West Virginia
Georgia Tech at 21North Carolina
22Florida State at NC State
23Western Michigan 52 Ball State 20 (Tuesday)
San Jose State at 24Boise State (Friday)
Arizona at 25Washington State

Other Games
Navy at Notre Dame
Air Force at Army
Pittsburgh at Miami
Memphis at SMU
Georgia at Kentucky