After a pretty solid week 2 (9-2 in the Big 10) I’m back for more college football fun from someone who has actually played/coached at the collegiate level. If it weren’t for Michigan being a lot worse than anyone thought and Northwestern’s improbable comeback win over Nevada, I would have been undefeated in the second best conference in college football. Yes Christopher P. Crowell, the SEC reigns supreme, and you will not win that argument with me.
For my Notre Dame/Michigan preview, click here.
I’m going to go conference by conference from now on. Hopefully it will be a little bit easier to read and manage for you. As always, the home team is in caps.
Big 10
Ohio State over WASHINGTON
This is game where I really wish we still had ties in college football. I wish there was a way that both teams could leave this one unsatisfied with the outcome. I was completely shocked with the outcome of the Washington/Boise State game last week, and it made me hate Tyrone Willingham even more. Jake Locker seems to be the real deal at quarterback for the Huskies, but he hasn’t seen a defense as fast as Ohio State’s, and he won’t again until they play USC on September 29th. Much like Michael Meyers and Freddy Krueger before him, Willingham just simply will not die. I refuse to root for Ohio State under any circumstance, but if there was one game that I would gladly watch some fat tuba player dot the I, this one is it. Hopefully it’s a shutout so I don’t have to see Willingham point his finger up in the air.
So to recap, for all intents and purposes, Go Buckeyes. You will never again see that phrase written by me ever again. I feel dirty just writing that.
WISCONSIN over The Citadel – The UNLV scare woke up the dangerous Badger squad.
INDIANA over Akron – Indiana is building off the talent that Terry Hoepner left them.
MICHIGAN STATE over Pittsburgh – This one could honestly swing either way. I went with the coaching match-up, and I would take anyone but Art Shell over Dave Wannstedt, even Romeo Crennel.
PENN STATE over Buffalo – It’s free Penn State calendar day, sponsored by Depends!
Minnesota over FLORIDA ATLANTIC – Brewster showed last week that the Golden Gophers can still run for over 300 yards a game.
PURDUE over Central Michigan – Purdue picks up one more easy win before their schedule gets tough.
Iowa over IOWA STATE – You know how a new coach always picks up a signature win against a rival in their first year? This is why Gene Chizik scares me, but right now, Iowa has a lot more talent.
Illinois over SYRACUSE – The battle of one inept coach against another. If a good coaching match up is a game of chess, this is a game of Old Maid.
NORTHWESTERN over Duke – Northwestern is a tough young squad that could surprise some people, but not Duke, they are already horrendous enough. Thank God they are on Notre Dame’s schedule.
SEC
FLORIDA over Tennessee – Right now Florida still has too much talent, and Meyer is officially a proven big-game coach. The edge goes to Florida because they are playing in the Swamp.
Arkansas over ALABAMA – This one really terrifies me too. How many men will Saban put in the box? 9? 10?
Louisville over KENTUCKY – This is going to be a fantastic game. Louisville isn’t as good as most people think, and Kentucky isn’t as bad as people think. This game could feature close to 1,000 passing yards in a dynamic match-up between Brohm and Woodson.
LSU over Middle Tennessee – LSU continues on their path to a BCS Championship game against USC.
AUBURN over Mississippi State – Auburn played absolutely awful against a surprising South Florida squad. I’ll admit to eating crow on this one.
GEORGIA over Western Carolina – Matthew Stafford looked shakier than Muhammad Ali (this “joke” is a new low for me) at this point, but they can still whoop Western Carolina. Just don’t bet on Stafford once the SEC schedule rolls around.
Mississippi over VANDERBILT – Mississippi has too much talent for the underrated Bobby Johnson to scheme his team to victory.
SOUTH CAROLINA over South Carolina State – Spurrier is back sooner than I expected. This offense, led by Blake Mitchell, is scary.
Big 12
USC over NEBRASKA (Home Team) – USC is too fast for Nebraska’s hulking offensive line to keep up with. Bill Callahan also did everything he could to lose the game for Nebraska last week, and I don’t like it when Callahan potentially makes me look foolish.
Oklahoma State over TROY – Oklahoma State is a sleeper in the Big 12, and Adarius Bowman is the best receiver in the country.
MISSOURI over Western Michigan – Missouri, in Gary Pinkel’s final chance, is a step away from competing for the Big 12 title.
Texas Tech over RICE – Rice is just horribly outmanned in this contest, as Tech looks to put up at least 50 points.
OKLAHOMA over Utah State – Oklahoma should be resting their starters before halftime.
Texas over UCF – See above, only substitute “Texas” for “Oklahoma”.
BAYLOR over Texas State – Guy Morriss is doing some good things with not a lot of talent.
TEXAS A&M over LA-Monroe – Still, the best backfield in the Big 12 resides in College Station.
KANSAS over Toledo – Toledo is still reeling from the point-shaving scandal that rocked their team in the off-season. The only way they can win this game is to have Tim Donaghy as the back judge.
KANSAS STATE over Missouri State – I still will continue my man crush on Josh Freeman until he proves me otherwise.
Florida State over COLORADO – Florida State should bounce back against and up and coming Colorado team.
Pac 10
UCLA over UTAH (Home Team) – Dewayne Walker is the best defensive coordinator in college football not named John Tenuta.
CALIFORNIA over Louisiana Tech – DeSean Jackson continues his improbable run towards the Heisman.
OREGON STATE over Idaho State – How do you come back from an embarrassing loss to Cincinnati? Why a win over lowly Idaho State.
OREGON over Fresno State – After the Michigan game, I believe that their backfield is as dangerous as West Virginia’s.
ARIZONA STATE over San Diego State – Should be an easy win.
ARIZONA over New Mexico – Mark Stoops continues to have to fight for every win.
STANFORD over San Jose State – I’m interested to see Harbaugh more in season. He could be a potential pantheon coach, or just another young guy that had too much too soon.
WASHINGTON STATE over Idaho – I actually hesitated on this one a bit, but when in doubt, take the home team.
ACC
GEORGIA TECH over Boston College – This could be a fantastic match up, but in the end, Georgia Tech’s speed will prevail.
NORTH CAROLINA over Virginia – Al Groh goes quietly into that good night in his last season as the head man at Virginia.
CLEMSON over Furman – Cullen Harper impresses me more with every start.
VIRGINIA TECH over Ohio – Beamer has seen the light, and his name is Tyrod Taylor, but it’s a week too late.
WAKE FOREST over Army – Gutsy performance last week by an injury riddled Wake squad.
MIAMI (FL) over Florida International – Randy Shannon is doing things the right way, something people aren’t used to at Miami.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE over Wofford – Should be a laugher.
Big East
CONNECTICUT over Temple – Connecticut eagerly awaits the days when Notre Dame transfer Zach Frazier is handed the starting reigns next year.
Cincinnati over MIAMI (OH) – Even five years after last playing against him, Ben Mauk continues to haunt me by forcing to write about him.
RUTGERS over Norfolk State – I love Rutgers more every passing week.
MAC
NORTHERN ILLINOIS over Eastern Michigan – The Huskies sorely miss Garret Wolfe, but they should bounce back with a win here.
Ball State over NAVY – I kept going back and forth on this one, but Ball State can score quickly, Navy can’t.
KENT STATE over Delaware State – Kent State continues their progression to the top of the MAC.
Conference USA
MARSHALL over New Hampshire – Since “We Are Marshall” comes out on DVD, they get the special nod here.
EAST CAROLINA over Southern Miss – I heart the Holtz family.
UAB over Alcorn State – What you would expect.
ARKANSAS STATE over Southern Methodist – I have switched my pick three times on this game, so I’m sticking with this one based on the Crennel method … flipping a coin.
Houston over TULANE – I love Louisiana teams, I can’t explain it.
UTEP over NEW MEXICO STATE (Home) – Mike Price is a solid coach, and he shouldn’t have any trouble with New Mexico State
MEMPHIS over Jacksonville State - A ho-hum game won by a not very impressive team.
Brigham Young over TULSA – This is another one I’m at a toss-up with. When in doubt, think of Ty Detmer, but not Koy, he’s hideous.
Mountain West Conference
BOISE STATE over Wyoming – I hate Boise State, and we aren’t on speaking terms until I get a letter of apology from the University.
Hawaii over UNLV – This game is going to feature about 900 yards of total offense, 500 of them coming from Colt Brennan’s right arm.
Sun Belt
LA-LAFAYETTE over McNeese State – Post game meal at Gallagher’s on University Drive!
WAC
NEVADA over Nicholls State – Nevada gets a chance to bounce back from a tough loss to Northwestern against Nicholls State.
Independent
WESTERN KENTUCKY over Eastern Kentucky – Notre Dame transfer David Wolke attempts to recover from his opening day concussion against Florida. It’s probably a good thing he couldn’t remember the rest of that game.
For the record, as much as I despise, detest, hate, and loathe every single thing about the seedy, unintelligent SEC… even I am not bias enough to keep them out of the top spot. They have the best teams, and I think, the nation’s best team in LSU. I also appreciate the TWO Romeo Crennel jokes in this. I’m glad, as a nation, we can all just laugh together. But for me, substitute laughing for crying and stabbing myself in the eyes.