1.) Hoying 17-3 (3-3 upset)
1.) Schweinfurth 17-3 (2-4 upset)
3.) Seeberg 16-4 (1-5 upset)
3.) Draper 16-4 (1-5 upset)
No Buckeyes this week, which is actually a blessing in disguise as the slate of games is terrific. The day kicks off with Big Noon Saturday in the Cotton Bowl and closes under the lights in Death Valley. Those two games alone feature 4 teams with a combined record of 20-1, with the one loss (Texas's) coming from another team within the group (LSU). And another national contender makes a visit to Iowa City at night.
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns
Draper: This has the potential to be a really good game in the middle of an extremely boring Big 12 slate this year. Obviously, these are the 2 big dogs fighting for supremacy every year, but can Oklahoma continue their stranglehold? The most interesting aspect of this game is that this is essentially Oklahoma's first game of the year. I've learn nothing from the Sooners' dominance over high school teams thus far. Yes, Jalen Hurts looks like a world beater under the tutelage of Lincoln Riley, but consider the competition. Texas fought hard but failed their first test against the Fighting Orgerons. Either way, I'm expecting a tight game for 4 quarters here. The Sooners just seem to have the Longhorns number in recent memory and while the I'll be saying 'Ok cool, Hook Em', I see Boomer Sooner emerging victorious. OU: 45 -- UT: 38
Hoying: Lost in the shuffle of the Heisman coronation tour for this year's Oklahoma quarterback is the fact that the Sooners have played a quintet of wet paper bags so far this year. FCS teams? The worst team in the Pac-12? Kansas? You're not going to move the needle with wins like these. Texas going to Death Valley and taking the Tigers to the wire is far more impressive than any 50 point pasting these Sooners have put together in this young season. Does that mean that the Sooners can't do it against a real opponent? I wouldn't go that far; it's not like the Longhorns have any kind of formidable defense themselves. And Jalen Hurts is no stranger to big games. It might not have been smart for Jalen to downplay the Red River Shootout in favor of the Iron Bowl, even if he was right (neutral site games are stupid). And Texas Tom thrives on underdog situations like these. But Texas's defense is just too bad to contain another nasty Oklahoma offensive juggernaut. Horns down. OU: 51--UT: 43
Schweinfurth: Hey look a decent test for Oklahoma's "rebuilt" defense. Excuse my cynicism but a historically bad defense doesn't get fixed over night. Let's face it, Texas is going to move the ball against Oklahoma and Jalen Hurts is actually going to have to make some throws. Remember, he was benched for Tua because his throwing ability was a liability against decent defenses. Good news for the Sooners is that the Longhorn defense is bad. The Golden Cowboy Hat is on it's way to Norman. OU: 52--UT: 45
Seeberg: The spread in this game (OU -10!!) is scaring me a LOT. I've gone back and forth on this one all week, but I really don't think either team is 10 points better than the other. Like my colleagues I expect a lot of points, but this just might be Texas Tom's calling card. So much for 3 straight Heismans in Norman. Longhorns pull the upset. OU: 42--UT: 48
Alabama Crimson Tide @ Texas A&M Aggies
Draper: This is just stupid. A&M has wins over Texas State, Lamar, and hapless Arkansas. Yes, their losses are against good teams, but they have accomplished nothing on the field to warrant a vote let alone a ranked spot. Then again, what has Alabama done? Also nothing, but they have laid waste to all who would defy them and, oh yeah, have built up some credibility over the last 10 years. This was everyone's preseason stumbling block for the Tide, but I can't see it. The Aggies best hope here is that 'college football' happens and they pull a random Purdue over OSU blow out for no reason. Bama: 45 -- TAMU: 10
Hoying: This is a ranked matchup for some reason. Texas A&M may be the only ranked team with two losses (and ahead of Minnesota in both polls) but that's OK because those losses were to Clemson and Auburn. And we know Clemson and Auburn are good because they beat Texas A&M. Quod erat demonstrandum. On the other sideline we'll see a team that ain't played nobody yet, Pawwwwwl, but has been dropping the million on their opponents every week just the same. No, Alabama doesn't have problems on defense; giving up 31 points to Ole Miss doesn't count when the last 21 points come after you've gone up 45-10 in the second half. All the same, the Tide have kind of flown under the radar this season, as much as being current consensus #1 can allow, as all the chatter follows the struggles of defending champion Clemson and the stellar play upstarts Georgia and LSU (and some northern team). That means no rat poison and that's bad news for a mediocre A&M crew that needed everything in the bag to sneak by awful awful Arkansas last week. Don't watch this game. Watch Clemson lose to Florida State instead (see upset pick below). Ala: 52--TAMU: 13
Schweinfurth: A (questionable) ranked matchup in the SEC!!! These don't come around every week folks...oh wait. Bama is just better in all aspects. Bama is better than Clemson and they crushed the Aggies. Yawn. Ala: 42--TAMU: 20
Seeberg: I'll give decent analysis on the rest of the games, but I'm absolutely punting on this one as there's 0 reason for TAMU to be ranked. Back to Bama by a million. Ala: 45--TAMU: 17
Penn State Nittany Lions @ Iowa Hawkeyes
Draper: I have no idea what to do with this game. Both teams in my mind are a mirage. Penn State looked strong the past few weeks, but I think it's more a factor of schedule and luck. Iowa had last week's wacky snoozefest vs. the Wolverines so who knows what to expect. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised by any outcome in this game. PSU has the slight edge in talent but the Hawkeyes are at home and that place is usually tough to conquer (see OSU 2017). I guess I'll pull for the kid's. Go Hawks. PSU: 17 -- Iowa: 20
Hoying: Every time I see this matchup on the college football schedule my heart warms as I recall that B1Ggest of B1G games in Happy Valley in 2004: Iowa 6, Penn State 4. I don't think that's going to happen this year. Iowa's defense is for real but Penn State's O isn't quite the "speed in space" clown show that we saw take the field against the Hawkeyes last week in Ann Arbor. Still, weird things happen in Kinnick at night (or at noon), and the last time the Lions visited they needed every second to wring out a 21-19 win. And that was with Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley. This Penn State team is no slouch, either, but against Pitt, the one team that bothered to put actual defenders out on the field to face PSU, the Lions flopped around on the field before a late PSU TD and a questionable FG attempt by Pitt helped the bad guys escape with a victory. These teams are pretty evenly matched except that Penn State has an upside for offensive explosion that the Hawkeyes just don't. This could be another Iowa City nightmare where the visitors fall flat on their faces, but Iowa doesn't have the horses to finish the job this year. PSU: 24--Iowa: 23
Schweinfurth: This is an interesting game. Penn State has looked like world beaters, but Pitt punched them in the mouth and they barely escaped. Iowa looked like hot garbage against a Wolverine team that only won because they somehow found the endzone. I do think Iowa can play enough defense against the Nittany Lions to keep it close. The Hawkeyes just don't have the big play ability of the Lions. It's at Kinnick at night and weird things happen there. I just think Penn State makes that one big play (like the Harbugers did last week) to pull this out. I want Iowa to win, but Penn State keeps rolling. PSU: 21--Iowa: 20
Seeberg: Well so much for Iowa heading up to TTUN and cementing the beginning of the end of the Harbaugh reign of...meh. Now they come back home and get what is likely a better all-around squad in Penn State. The Nittany Lion D isn't quite as stout as the one scUM possesses. That defense proved that Nate Stanley- who feels like the Aaron Craft of B1G football in that I believe he's been Iowa's QB for roughly 9 years now- still hasn't learned how to NOT take a sack, going down 8 times. That yardarge contributed significantly to Herbie's boys earning a grand total of 1 yard (1 yard? That's all we got? 1 G__damn yard?). Bob Uecker parodies aside, the talent disparity is still a bit too much for the Hawkeyes to overcome in this one unless one of those miraculous evenings occurs, but after last week's debacle it's tough to imagine they have an all-cylinders-firing performance to pull this one out. Lions late. PSU: 23--Iowa: 14
Florida Gators @ Louisiana State Tigers
Draper: And now we come to the game of the week (although the Red River Shootout is up there). Is Florida for real? I'm still not buying top tier for real. They shut down Bo Nix with that awesome D-line, but Auburn under Malzahn has always featured more lateral movement and smaller O-lineman. Down in the Bayou under Farmer Fran, dem boys stand der ground. Joe Burrow has been an honest surprise to this Buckeye fan. I knew he was ok, but he's balled out. It comes down to the offensive line for LSU giving time for Burrow and the LSU defense swallowing up the mediocre UF offense. It's going to be a tall order, but coming to Death Valley in this situation is going to be a monstrous task for Trask. I don't think he'll have enough. UF: 13--LSU: 17
Hoying: Though Florida is in the SEC East and LSU the West, this is one of the SEC's protected crossover games, which means these two play every season. That's good news, because it means one of them always has to lose. And that's a novel concept for both teams this year, as each one is still undefeated. The Tigers are putting the Coach O in offense while the Gators prefer to clamp down on D. Joe Burrow may have had his way with the DBU (eyes roll out of head) Longhorns, but Florida is fresh off a pantsing of BoNix and the other SEC Tigers in the Swamp. The last two times these teams met, Joey Carpetbagger was completely lost, tossing two picks and taking five sacks. I'm still not totally sold on Florida QB Kyle Trask, but I think that Lamical Perine and the Gator ground game can do just enough to pace another smothering day by the Florida D, and my dream of an Ohio State - Florida rematch can survive for another week. UF: 20--LSU: 19
Schweinfurth: Hey look another overrated SEC team against a really good SEC team. I thought I already picked this game above. All joking aside, I really don't know how the Gators are still undefeated. That game last week was entertaining because it was a ton of turnovers and made me laugh. This game is in Baton Rouge, at night. Good luck with that. Joe Burrow has the Tiger offense flat rolling. Florida's D will give the LSU offense some problems. LSU score a TD late to win by two scores. UF: 14--LSU: 24
Seeberg: Admittedly, I was dead wrong about the Gators last week. I thought Auburn's defensive front would further befuddle an already mediocre offense and the Tigers' freshman QB would make enough plays to get the W. Nope. Auburn's chances look Nixed (see what I did there?). Now with both squads undefeated this matchup gets bigger still. This one is definitely strength on strength with Florida's vaunted defense against...wait, is that LSU's offense? Your eyes do not deceive you as Athens, OH native Joe Burrow has thrown for approximately as many yards this season than I believe the Tigers managed from 2010-16 combined. Burrow has looked pristine this season, and has extra motivation to make up for his trainwreck of a performance in the Swamp last year. Home Cajun cooking does just enough to keep the other-other Tigers undefeated. UF: 17--LSU: 27
Upset Special
Draper: (you suck Hoying) Michigan State over Wisconsin
Hoying: Florida State over Clemson
Schweinfurth: Houston over Cincinnati
Seeberg: USC over Notre Dame
