Week of Nov 21 Preview

Last week was extremely tame in terms of college football. SMU was the only ranked team to fall, and they lost to a really scrappy Tulsa team (who pulled off another super scrappy win on Thursday). USC was able to pull off another late comeback, this time against Arizona. Last week also saw 15 games postponed of canceled because of the coronavirus. This week 18 games have been impacted by the virus (Clemson at FSU was postponed on Saturday morning 3 hours before the scheduled kick). While that super sucks, pretty much all of the big games will still be played today. We have three ranked vs ranked games and one of them is Bedlam. The first CFP rankings come out on Tuesday, and college basketball starts next week. I can’t believe it is almost Thanksgiving.

My Record: 4-2 last week, 37-23 overall (62%)

Notable Games
9Indiana at 3Ohio State
I doubt there were too many people who expected this game to be a top 10 matchup. Indiana has been a bit of a Cinderella team this season, but they haven’t really faced a good team yet. Last week they shut out Michigan State while the Buckeyes were off because of a covid cancelation. I just think Ohio State is too good. Indiana might make things interesting for a little bit, but I don’t see any Big 10 teams challenging the Buckeyes this season.
I am picking Ohio State

7Cincinnti at UCF
Cincinnati is one of the better teams in the country this season. They score a ton of points and also play great defense. They have only given up 20 points once this season and that was in their first game. UCF has been decent this year, but I don’t think they are up to the Bearcats’ level. Cincinnati is just too much, but it will probably be one of their closer games this season. It should be a fun one to watch.
I am picking Cincinnati

10Wisconsin at 19Northwestern
This is another really interesting matchup in the Big 10. Wisconsin has only been able to play two games so far this season because of their covid outbreak. They came back very strong last week to blow out Michigan. Northwestern is undefeated, but the last three of those wins were very close. I think Graham Mertz and the Wisconsin offense will be too big of a hurdle for Northwestern in this game, but this game has the potential to be extremely good.
I am picking Wisconsin

14Oklahoma State at 18Oklahoma
This is a huge game in the Big 12. Both teams are still in the hunt for the conference championship game and a NY6 bowl. Bedlam is almost always crazy and comes down to the very end. I don’t think this year will be any different. Both of these teams are coming off a scheduled bye week and should be ready for this game. Oklahoma has looked a lot more like themselves over their last two games, scoring 62 points on both Texas Tech and Kansas. Oklahoma State is a bit better than those teams so I doubt the Sooners will get to 62 in this game. The Cowboys have not looked great in their last three games. They were only able to beat Kansas State by 2 after losing to Texas by a TD the week before. Star RB Chuba Hubbard was almost a non-factor in those games, and he will need to step up if Oklahoma State is going to win this game. I am taking the Sooners because they, and QB Spencer Rattler, have seemed to settle into the offense. This should be one of the best games of the day.
I am picking Oklahoma

21Liberty at NC State
Liberty has been having a great season. The Flames are 8-0 under head coach Hugh Freeze. Their biggest win so far was an upset on the road at Virginia Tech. Liberty’s offense has been the difference maker for them. NC State hasn’t been as good this season, but they also like to score. This game should be a shootout. I don’t expect there to be many stops in this game. Liberty has more to play for in this game and I think that is why they will come out on top.
I am picking Liberty

San Diego State at Nevada
Due to the Ole Miss at Texas A&M game being postponed, this game will be aired on CBS in the usual SEC slot. Both of these teams have looked very strong this season. Nevada is 4-0 and San Diego State is 3-1 (their only loss coming to a 4-0 San Jose State team). This is a very interesting game in the Mountain West and should just be a good game overall. I think it will be lower scoring (teens or twenties for both teams) and the difference in the game will come down to a defensive or special teams play. It’s going to be very cold in Reno: 24 degrees cold. That is just miserable for everyone involved.
I am picking Nevada

LSU at Arkansas
The Hogs had a bit of a tough outing in Gainesville last week. While they didn’t really play bad, they got blown out 63-35. Kyle Trask and the Florida offense were nearly perfect. The Gator receivers couldn’t have dropped a pass to save their lives. I was impressed by the Razorback offense. The 35 points is the most they have scored in a game this season so far. Franks did get a little banged up last week so it will be interesting to see how he bounces back. Time to put that game behind us. This week the Hogs face their biggest rival as they battle for the Golden Boot trophy with LSU. The Tigers haven’t played since Halloween and have not had a great year. In their last outing against Auburn, they only scored 11 points. I expect more from them in this game. I think there will be a pretty significant amount of points scored in this game. This tends to be the game Arkansas plays best in every year. I hope the defense will be looking to make a bit of a statement after last week. Luckily for them, they will not have to face Kyle Trask. I think we can all be thankful for that.

Top 25
Kentucky at 1Alabama
2Notre Dame BYE
9Indiana at 3Ohio State
4Clemson at Florida State (postponed)
Ole Miss at 5Texas A&M (postponed)
6Florida at Vanderbilt
7Cincinnti at UCF
North Alabama at 8BYU
10Wisconsin at 19Northwestern
UCLA at 11Oregon
Georgia Tech at 12Miami (postponed)
Mississippi State at 13Georgia
14Oklahoma State at 18Oklahoma
Appalachian State at 15Coastal Carolina
Charlotte at 15Marshall (postponed)
Kansas State at 17Iowa State
20USC at Utah
21Liberty at NC State
22Texas at Kansas (postponed)
Tennessee at 23Auburn
Central Arkansas at 24Louisiana (canceled)
25Tulsa 30 Tulane 24 (2OT)

Other Games
Minnesota 34 Purdue 31 (awful OPI against Purdue called back game winning TD)
Georgia Southern at Army
Iowa at Penn State
Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh
Michigan at Rutgers
Boise State at Hawaii

Covid-19 Postponements
UAB at UTEP (canceled)
Arizona State at Colorado (canceled)
Miami(OH) at Ohio (canceled)
UNLV at Colorado State (canceled)
Michigan State at Maryland (canceled)
Wake Forest at Duke
Houston at SMU
ULM at Louisiana Tech (canceled)
San Jose State at Fresno State (canceled)
Navy at South Florida
Washington State at Stanford (canceled)
Utah State at Wyoming (canceled)