AP Top 10 Going Into Weekend:
Clemson
Alabama
Oklahoma
Georgia
Florida
LSU
Notre Dame
Auburn
Texas
Texas AM
*New pool does not include Big 10 or Pac 12
*No changes from last week
General Notes:
And just like that, college football is in a way “back to normal”. This season will be far from normal, but now all the power 5 conferences will be playing, and more leagues continue to announce their return. A week after the Big 10 announced they were back, the Pac 12 followed suit with their season starting on November 6th with each team playing seven games. The Pac 12, just like the Big 10, will be done just in time for the college football playoff selection. I think that both leagues made rash decisions in August that were completely unnecessary and they are now realizing their mistakes and trying to rapidly fix them. Both leagues thought that everyone would eventually cancel and they would look smart for canceling early, but when that didn’t happen, they ended up just looking dumb. They both realized that the season and playoffs are going to happen, and they need to play so they are not left out.
This week is the return of the “best conference in the country”, the SEC. Funny how a conference that is “so good and exciting” has only two games that are predicted to be close this weekend. The rest of the games are supposed to be blowouts. The SEC had a chance to make some good matchups this year with the conference only schedule, but instead they scheduled their top teams against the worst teams in the division. Now, we are left with this week's “awesome” games of Alabama-Missouri, Georgia-Arkansas, and Florida-Vanderbuilt. The one exciting game of the week, Auburn Kentucky, gets the noon time slot, because we all know the Alabama Missouri game will be so exciting and totally should be the night game (this is sarcasm if you can’t tell). Be ready to stop hearing about any conferences from the media from here on out now that the SEC is playing.
The conference that is getting hurt the most from everyone else returning is the AAC. When just the ACC, Big 12, and SEC were going to be playing, it was assumed that if an AAC team went undefeated or close, they would get that fourth playoff. Now, with all five power five conferences back, the chance of one of them making the playoffs seems very unlikely. The top three teams in the league, UCF, UC, and Memphis all seem pretty even leveled and capable of winning out. However, the CFP committee has shown in the past that even if an AAC team goes undefeated, they don’t consider them worthy for a playoff berth. This year there are three ranked teams in the conference, unlike the year UCF went undefeated, so that might help their case for a playoff spot.
Over the first two weeks of the season, many of the Big 12 teams have looked far from good. Texas and Oklahoma have had super explosive offenses, but besides them, the rest of the teams have had trouble scoring and look really lost. Heading into the season, Oklahoma State was thought to be a contender for the conference title, but after their game against Tulsa, they looked far from a team capable of being Big 12 champs. They struggled to get their offense going and only when true freshman Illingworth came in as quarterback in the second half were they able to put up 14 points to get the win.
After two weeks, it is looking like the dark horse of the ACC this season is going to be Miami. Last week in the big matchup with Louisville, they won easily and qb DeAndre King (transfer from Houston) put on a show. I don’t think Miami will be able to compete with Clemson, but I think they will finish in the top half of the conference. They are looking like a completely different team than last season. Notre Dame completely dominated USF last week, and are looking more like a team that can compete with Clemson. The Clemson-Notre Dame game will most likely decide the winner of the ACC if all the teams keep playing like they are.
Preseason Playoff predictions:
1. Clemson
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
First Four Out: Notre Dame, Florida, Oregon, Penn State
Picks for Week:
(5)Florida at Ole Miss: I expect Ole Miss to put up a fight in the first half under new coach Lane Kiffin, but Florida is bringing back quarterback Kyle Trask and his top receivers, and should not lose this game.
(13)UCF at East Carolina: UCF will win easily Kansas State at (3)Oklahoma: Unfortunately I don’t think this will be a repeat of last year's awesome game. Oklahoma’s offensive looked explosive in their first games and Kansas State looked terrible all around. I expect Oklahoma to steamroll them.
(23)Kentucky at (8)Auburn: This is going to be the game of the week. Auburn lost a lot on defense but they still have quarterback Bo Nix who is only a sophomore and looking to show he has made improvement. Kentucky on the other hand will actually have a real quarterback this season. Last season, because of so many injuries, they were using their wide receiver as qb and still managed to win 8 games. This game will be an indication of where both teams stand. I think Kentucky will get it close but Auburn will pull ahead late in the fourth.
(24)Louisville at (21)Pitt: Last week Louisville’s defense looked terrible against Miami, and Pitt’s quarterback is rising, so I expect Pitt to win.
(8)Texas at Texas Tech: Last week Texas Tech struggled to beat Houston Baptist, so there is no way they will win this game. Texas in a blowout.
Mississippi State at (6)LSU: LSU is losing almost all of their starters from their historic 2019 season. It will be interesting to see how quickly they can adjust. Luckily for them, they are playing Mississippi State with new coach Mike Leech this week so I expect LSU to win but both teams to play sloppy.
West Virginia at (15)Oklahoma State: I think this game will actually be pretty close. Last week Oklahoma State could not get an offense going until the fourth quarter and RB Chuba Hubbard didn’t play that great. West Virginia has looked like one of the better teams in the Big 12 so far, but I think Oklahoma State will win this game.
(22)Army at (14)UC: Bearcats win! (4)Georgia at Arkansas: Georgia will win in a blowout.
(2)Alabama at Missouri: Alabama wins in a blowout.
Florida State at (12)Miami: I don’t think this in-state rivalry game will be all that exciting. While Miami has looked great their first two games, Florida State has been a mess. I think Miami will win easily.
(16)Tennessee at South Carolina: I think this game will be close one of the deciding factors will be the fact that Tennessee is returning their quarterback while South Carolina will have a transfer from Colorado State. I expect Tennessee to win in a gritty game.
NC State at (20)Virginia Tech:*upset alert* Virginia Tech has struggled with Covid cases and has not had consistent practices. NC State also has the advantage of already having a game under their belt to work out some kinks. I expect NC State to pull the upset.
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