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Week Ten College Football Preview: Reject Penn State, Embrace North Texas

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Well I'm already watching JMU - Texas State, so it's time to get this week started.

This is a quintessential midseason sleeper week that usually results in a bunch of upsets. Only three ranked-on-ranked battles (you know it's sleepy when Gameday heads to Cincinnati at Utah) means all the more chances for the unranked masses to drag a Playoff hopeful into the mud.

Wednesday

Jacksonville State (-6) @ Middle Tennessee State (7:30/6:30 ESPN2): MTSU is fucking awful. The junior Gamecocks are leading the conference. I'm surprised the line is this low. (Thank you Weekday CUSA for making me have an opinion on this game).

Florida International @ Missouri State (-3) (8/7 CBSSN): A chance to see if Missouri State has a new FBS tradition as compelling as UDel's piss wall down in Springfield.

Thursday

Tulane (-5) @ UTSA (7:30/6:30 ESPN): The AAC champion looks like a lock for the G5 Playoff slot. Tulane and Navy are the two remaining undefeateds after Memphis back-to-backed shitting their pants in Birmingham with riding high in Tampa (sounds like a pre-rehab Jason Isbell tour). Can UTSA cause some chaos and hand the Tigers and Bulls a lifeline?

Marshall (-3) @ Coastal Carolina (7:30/6:30 ESPN2): West Virginians travel to greater Myrtle Beach, usually a recipe for disaster. Which team will emerge as the primary challenger to JMU in the Sun Belt East?

Friday

Memphis (-14) @ Rice (7/6 ESPN2): Speaking of Memphis, they're heading to Houston for a Friday night battle of world strip club capitals. Not that the Rice students would be Space City's biggest connoisseurs.

North Carolina @ Syracuse (-2) (7:30/6:30 ESPN): Spoooooky times at the bottom of the ACC.

Sam Houston @ Louisiana Tech (-17) (8/7 CBSSN): Well I guess you could watch this. You absolute sicko.

Saturday

Early Games

#9 Vanderbilt @ #20 Texas (-3) (12/11 ABC): Nice to be a timeslot headliner again! The Fighting Pavias present a great chance to restart the season with a top ten win, after they barely scraped by a pretty mediocre Mizzou team last weekend. I believe in Matthew Caldwell.

#10 Miami (-9) @ SMU (12/11 ESPN): A very dangerous spot for Miami, as a sleepy noon slot at Gerald Ford (the other one) Field is an easy place to let Louisville beat them twice via a deflating hangover.

Navy @ North Texas (-6) (12/11 ESPN2): Reject B1G mediocrity, embrace G5 excellence. Undefeated Navy against the most exciting offense in college football is the black tar heroin to Ohio State - Penn State's Ambien.

Midday Games

#5 Georgia (-8) vs Florida @ Jacksonville (3:30/2:30 ABC): The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party returns to Duuuuval, and this looks like a blowout, as is tradition for this rivalry. If Red River is known for chaos and underdog upsets, the Cocktail Party is usually a sedate elimination of a clearly outmatched team. 

#13 Texas Tech (-7) @ Kansas State (3:30/2:30 Fox): Lose this one, and the kindling under Joey Mcguire's seat starts to smell a little smoky. We all know how much fun it is to play in Manhattan.

#15 Virginia (-3) @ California (3:45/2:45 ESPN2): This smells like a potential upset in Berkeley. I don't trust a Tony Elliot coached team in any situation (they almost lost to UNC!) and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is real good (ok, Cal almost lost to UNC too).

Primetime

#18 Oklahoma @ #14 Tennessee (-3) (7:30/6:30 ABC): Neither team is making the Playoff, and the loser on Rocky Top becomes fully irrelevant. Can Mateer finally beat a team with a pulse, or will Joey Aguilar continue providing the equivalent product for a far lower price? Props to UTenn for the best uniform reveal of the year:

#23 USC (-6) @ Nebraska (7:30/6:30 NBC): The Trojans keep hanging around the B1G race, with their only conference loss in Champaign. Matt Rhule's campaign to be Penn State's head coach could badly use a high profile win. Two bluebloods and some real interest in this one.

#8 Georgia Tech (-6) @ NC State (7:30/6:30 ESPN2): A top ten Ramblin' Wreck is a marvel in and of itself. Dave Doeren needs this win to stay employed in Raleigh. This one could be a trap for the Yellow Jackets or add another horse to the coaching carousel.

RIP Pac-12 After Dark

#17 Cincinnati @ #24 Utah (-7) (10:15/9:15 ESPN): A ranked game with Playoff implications at 10:15 Eastern? This is real Pac-12 heritage. With Gameday in town, the beer/Swig concoctions will have been flowing since early in the morning and the MUSS should be as rowdy as it gets. Cincy's Brendon Sorsby (a Lake Dallas product) has been incredible this season, but good luck with the Utah defense bud:

Hawaii @ San Jose State (-2) (10:30/9:30 CBSSN): A very doable Hawaii Test this week, and another chance to watch Kansei Matsuzawa do his thing for the Rainbow Warriors.

Happy viewing everyone!

 

  • Author

Speaking of that GA Tech - NC State game, Haynes King seems to be making healthy choices

 

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Thinking about this as an upset weekend, I am with you. I have been thinking the same thing. It's just got one of those looks to it, whether it happens or not. 

Some that I think could make sense:

-Memphis @ Rice - Rice isn't hot garbage this year and Memphis just played their game of the year. Memphis also has Tulane next week, so this is a sandwich game and it's one of those weird Friday night roadies, too. Memphis is a big favorite, so this is probably farfetched. 

-Duke @ Clemson - Clemson is giving 3.5 but they haven't looked like a good team all year. Duke isn't great, but they're good enough to make Clemson actually earn it, and that hasn't gone well with Clemson this season. 

-Navy @ UNT - Navy does not have a good defense. UNT has a great offense. I get why UNT is favored. That considered, Navy is well-coached and they have a strong offense that is tough to defend. 

-Miami @ SMU - SMU has plenty of talent and plenty to play for, and this is a home game. They're getting 12.5 points? Wow. I just feel like Cristobal has another headscratcher or two left to lose this season. 

-Texas Tech @ KSU - Another road team giving up a TD or more. Tech is another program that always seems to find ways to lose games like this when the expectations are on them to produce. KSU has put some wins together and gotten healthier. I don't, KSU getting 7.5 at home seems like a lot. 

-Virginia @ Cal - The road team is giving up 4.5. Cal doesn't suck. Wilcox is a damned good coach. The travel, the expectations, this just seems like destined for failure on the Virginia side. They've scraped by some tight games and now they have to make this trip? 

-USC @ Nebraska - Another home team getting roughly a touchdown. Riley versus Rhule? Give me Rhule. I feel like Nebraska should be the team giving 6.5. 

-Ga Tech @ NCSU - Again, a road team giving up a decent number at 5.5. NCSU has a history of winning games they shouldn't at home. This one screams upset too. 

None of these underdogs would surprise me with a win. 

16 hours ago, texifornia said:

Memphis (-14) @ Rice (7/6 ESPN2): Speaking of Memphis, they're heading to Houston for a Friday night battle of world strip club capitals. Not that the Rice students would be Space City's biggest connoisseurs.

Atlanta beats out Memphis in strip clubs.

38 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

-Miami @ SMU - SMU has plenty of talent and plenty to play for, and this is a home game. They're getting 12.5 points? Wow. I just feel like Cristobal has another headscratcher or two left to lose this season. 

 

It's also only Miami's second road game and their first outside of Florida. 

ESPN Gameday starts at 7:00 am in Utah, game kicks off at 8:15 pm. That’s a long ass day especially for the Mormons who can’t drink caffeine.

I wouldn’t write off Tennessee and the playoffs just yet. More likely than not they won’t, that sieve of a defense will probably cost them another game, but their offense will score on everyone left on their schedule. They will have to break the curse that UF has on them, but this may be the year where it happens given the mental state of that program right now. I also think by the last game of the year Vandy may be running on fumes. 

  • Author
1 hour ago, 'stache said:

ESPN Gameday starts at 7:00 am in Utah, game kicks off at 8:15 pm. That’s a long ass day especially for the Mormons who can’t drink caffeine.

UU has a big population of out-of-staters (particularly Californians) and non-Mormon Utahns who should be able to carry the vibe while the LDS kids squeeze in a midday nap.

  • Author

Continued credit to CBSSN for remembering G5 football is a really fun entertainment product in its own right and doing fun special things for it versus ESPN jumping right into nonstop Playoff talk.

Like, guys, I'm watching a Wednesday Middle Tennessee State game, I'm definitely fucking watching the Playoff. You don't need to sell me on it.

 

Edited by texifornia

Give me north Texas.  Love the Qbs story. Hope he transfers and climbs the ladder 

  • Author

In the last day of Weekday CUSA for the season, we learn about MTSU Batman:

 

  • Author

Big games in both the Playoff and Sun Belt races tonight - Sportscenter is on the ground in San Antonio

 

  • Author

Someone recently was trying to come up with some unified theory about why Texas RBs often fumble. To which I replied that we don't fumble more or less than most teams, he just watches our games more. Case in point:

Poor Monarchs and Bears (and lucky Chants and Broncos)

It is generally believed there is bad blood between Ryan Day and his former DC Jim Knowles (now at Penn St.)  It is possible Coach Day is gonna run up the score if he can.

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