It should be a great week of football, as 1) Conference Play begins with 3 big early season matchups. Florida hosts Alabama, Wisconsin plays Nebraska and Clemson travels to Virginia Tech. All 3 of these matchups could wind up deciding the conference race, and more importantly, the national championship race as all 6 teams are undefeated. 2) Bounce-back Week is needed from Texas A&M and Arkansas. The two play each other, so the loser will immediately have suffered a 2-game losing streak and be completely knocked out of any National Title running, if they are not already. Next, the 3) Heisman Race heats up this week, as Robert Griffin faces a decent opponent finally, Marcus Lattimore faces the defending champs, Kellen Moore faces the team that beat him last year, and Andrew Luck faces a decent UCLA team. The 4) New Conference Alignment takes center stage this week as new Big Ten team Nebraska plays their first game in their new diggs, and Texas A&M plays former and future conference opponent Arkansas in Arlington.
PREDICTIONS
#25 Arizona State 34, Oregon State 21- The Devils host the Beavers in the desert coming off a big win over USC, and need the avoid the hangover defeat to the lowly visitors from Corvallis.
Northwestern 31, #24 Illinois 26- I am sticking with my beloved Wildcats this week as they take on the Illini. If Persa does not play, however, I pick Illinois to win in Champaign.
#23 Florida State is off this week (Next game is 10/8 @ Wake Forest)
#22 West Virginia 50, Bowling Green 17- Should be no problem at home for the Mountaineers.
#21 Georgia Tech 38, North Carolina State 28- NC State is struggling with turnovers, and with the way GT handles the Time of Possession, you will not get a whole lot of chances. If they can play smart ball, they have a chance.
#20 TCU 38, SMU 35- I think this will be a heck of a game in Fort Worth, but the Horned Frogs should be able to eek out the win at home with another solid offensive performance from their underrated QB Casey Pachall.
#19 Michigan 31, Minnesota 14- Minnesota may very well be the worst team in College Football, and Michigan is rolling at home right now.
#18 Arkansas 35, #14 Texas A&M 30- Should be a great game in Arlington, but if Brandon Weeden can rip up the Aggies like he did last week, there is no reason that Tyler Wilson can't do the same.
Iowa State 31, #17 Texas 30- This is my shocker! Iowa State is being overlooked by everyone, but after they stun the Horns in Ames this week, they will be a forced to be reckoned with.
#16 South Florida 26, Pitt 17- Pitt has an explosive offensive system, but they have not fully figured it out yet, and Skip Holtz has his Bulls playing as well as anybody right now.
#15 Baylor 41, Kansas State 28- It should be pretty close throughout, and the Wildcats should give the Bears all they can handle, but Griffin and the Bears will pull away in the end with their playmakers.
#14 Texas A&M- See #18 Arkansas
#13 Clemson- See #11 Virginia Tech
GAME OF THE WEEK: #12 Florida 23, #3 Alabama 20- It is McCarron's first road start against a decent team in a crazy environment beneath the lights in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field. What a game this should be as Saban squares off with his former protege in Will Muschamp. I think Muschamp's D comes out inspired and Brantley, Rainey, Demps and the gang get just enough offense for the Gators to pull out the win.
#11 Virginia Tech 27, #13 Clemson 25- Clemson may very well win this game, but with a freshman QB in his first big road start, I gotta go with the Hokies at home, even though they have been maybe the most erratic team in CFB thus far.
#10 South Carolina 31, Auburn 27- Watch, the one week I actually pick South Carolina, they will lose. Auburn could definitely win this, but I do not see it happening in Columbia.
#9 Oregon is off this week (Next game is 10/6 vs California)
#8 Nebraska- see #7 Wisconsin
#7 Wisconsin 38, #8 Nebraska 24- The Huskers first Big Ten game should be crazy inside Camp Randall with Gameday there. The Huskers have been solid on offense, but their offense, if defended the right way, is not that difficult to stop. Nebraska's defense has been awful, while Wisconsin's O has been second to none. The Badgers should run all over Nebraska as Russell Wilson carves them up in the passing game as well.
#6 Stanford 41, UCLA 17- UCLA may score some points due to the injury to Shane Scove for Stanford, but the Cardinal should have absolutely no problem winning this one in Palo Alto.
#5 Oklahoma State is off this week (Next game is 10/8 vs Kansas)
#4 Boise State 56, Nevada 31- Nevada can put up some points, but this is not the same Wolfpack team as last season. The Broncos should have no problem winning on the familiar blue turf.
#3 Alabama- see #12 Florida
#2 Oklahoma 63, Ball State 3- Come on...
#1 LSU 44, Kentucky 10- I give Kentucky 10 points out of generosity.
Current BCS Bowl Projections:
Rose: Nebraska vs Oregon
Fiesta: Oklahoma vs Stanford
Sugar: Oklahoma State vs Florida
Orange: Virginia Tech vs West Virginia
BCS Title: Wisconsin vs LSU
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