Standings:
1.) Hoying 31-10 (3-6 upset)
2.) Draper 30-11 (0-9 upset)
2.) Draper 30-11 (0-9 upset)
3.) Seeberg 29-12 (0-9 upset)
4.) Schweinfurth 28-13 (3-6 upset)
We wish we were in Dixie this week for what could be the game of the year (other than The Game) and another top ten (*sigh*) matchup to boot. Whatever you do, don't stare too closely at what the Buckeyes are going to do to Northwestern in Evanston. Viewer discretion is advised.
Tennessee Volunteers @ Georgia Bulldogs
Draper: The eyes of the college football world descend on Athens this week to see if the defending National Champs can take out the resurgent Vols. One thing that needs to be discussed early, very few of the wins in big marquee matchups have gone to the away team (OSU over PSU, UT over LSU, and Bama over Texas are about it). Granted, the Vols have one of those, but I'm not ready to welcome LSU into the Top 10 fahmuhlee (very odd ranking). Georgia is salivating to have a big game between the hedges and they'll get it. If they can knock Tennessee and Hooker off schedule early, I think they slowly/methodically squeeze the life out of them. This just feels like a hyped game for the ages, but those usually come crashing down as duds. I'm going with the Dawgs to reclaim the top spot. UT: 20--UGA: 34
Hoying: Remember those halcyon days before the Haskinsing in Ann Arbor, when it looked like Georgia and Ohio State could be on a collision course for the Playoff? And we knew Ohio State's defense was trash but we thought that our vertical passing game would be enough to challenge Georgia in a way no other team could? Well, here's basically that matchup, only instead of at a neutral site we're squarely between the hedges. The Bulldog defense is slightly worse than last year's, but they still have the same ultra-efficient offense, as long as they're not playing Missouri. Tennessee was built to challenge Alabama's suspect secondary, but Georgia will be a tougher rock to crack. On the other side of the ball, nobody's going to mistake Stetson Bennett for CJ Stroud, but he should feast against Tennessee's awful pass defense, and Georgia's rush attack is a credible enough threat to keep the Vol D honest. It's been fun, Tennessee. Let's see what another year of development can do. UT: 24--UGA: 28
Hoying: Remember those halcyon days before the Haskinsing in Ann Arbor, when it looked like Georgia and Ohio State could be on a collision course for the Playoff? And we knew Ohio State's defense was trash but we thought that our vertical passing game would be enough to challenge Georgia in a way no other team could? Well, here's basically that matchup, only instead of at a neutral site we're squarely between the hedges. The Bulldog defense is slightly worse than last year's, but they still have the same ultra-efficient offense, as long as they're not playing Missouri. Tennessee was built to challenge Alabama's suspect secondary, but Georgia will be a tougher rock to crack. On the other side of the ball, nobody's going to mistake Stetson Bennett for CJ Stroud, but he should feast against Tennessee's awful pass defense, and Georgia's rush attack is a credible enough threat to keep the Vol D honest. It's been fun, Tennessee. Let's see what another year of development can do. UT: 24--UGA: 28
Schweinfurth: This Tennessee offense is something to behold. Hendon Hooker has gone from transfer "meh" QB to a Heisman front runner. Then along come the Dawgs. Georgia is a bit beat up, but this is still one of the best defenses in the country. I've gone back and forth on this game all week. It keeps coming back to the Vol's defense. If they can get some stops, they have a chance. I'm just not sure they can get enough. Georgia wins an entertaining game. UT: 28--UGA:31
Seeberg: First off, I'm astonished the CFP didn't put these two at 1/2 to make this matchup perfection. Bravo to them for staying marginally impartial. That said, what a doozy between the hedges. My other alma mater is way ahead of schedule with Heupel at the helm. Love him as an offensive mind but didn't expect him to be this good as a head coach. The Dawgs, as we know, bring an excellent D and a great crowd. However, Hendon Hooker is actually 24(!) years old and a seasoned vet. And UGA is missing two defensive starters down for the year, including one in the secondary. I SO want to see UT/OSU for the natty in January...but just not quite yet. Stetson Bennett may actually be the difference, and a big stop late seals it for the new #1 come next week. UT: 27--UGA: 34
Seeberg: First off, I'm astonished the CFP didn't put these two at 1/2 to make this matchup perfection. Bravo to them for staying marginally impartial. That said, what a doozy between the hedges. My other alma mater is way ahead of schedule with Heupel at the helm. Love him as an offensive mind but didn't expect him to be this good as a head coach. The Dawgs, as we know, bring an excellent D and a great crowd. However, Hendon Hooker is actually 24(!) years old and a seasoned vet. And UGA is missing two defensive starters down for the year, including one in the secondary. I SO want to see UT/OSU for the natty in January...but just not quite yet. Stetson Bennett may actually be the difference, and a big stop late seals it for the new #1 come next week. UT: 27--UGA: 34
Clemson Tigers @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Draper: I'm intrigued by this game. Notre Dame has 2 of the worst losses you'll see this year (Stanford and Marshall in South Bend), but they certainly showed some juice against the Orange last week. Clemson has been living on the edge all year, but Dabo loooooves the underdog 'us against the world' mentality. The Irish have been written off, but there's a change Marcus Freeman wakes up those echoes and dethrones the Tigers. Heck with it. I'm going with the upset. Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame. Heavy dose of Mayer gets it done. Clem: 24--ND: 27
Hoying: Usually there's one team a year that seems to be on a Playoff trajectory but with zero chance of making noise once they get there. And in an interesting twist, this year's team is NOT Notre Dame; it's this week's opponent! Clemson really impressed the Playoff committee with their unconvincing wins over a few teams ranked outside the top 15 (that won't be ranked much longer) but I don't think anyone paying close attention to the Tigers' inconsistent offense and overrated defense has much faith in them to beat an elite team this year. Good news for Clemson: their Cincinnati-esque schedule doesn't include any elite teams, as the best team left on their schedule is either a hyped-up South Carolina, or possibly a one-loss North Carolina in the ACC Championship. And that one loss was to...Notre Dame. Good luck figuring the Irish out this year. Beating Syracuse, hanging with Ohio State, and losing to bad bad bad Marshall and Stanford. The offense has never really recovered from losing QB Tyler Buchner against Marshall (not that he was doing much of anything before he was knocked out), which doesn't bode well for trying to move the ball against the Tiger front. Also, as you may have noticed in the season opener, Notre Dame's rush defense isn't that good, and while Travis Etienne isn't going to magically reappear on the Tiger sideline, they'll be able to find more than enough room to run to outpace the anemic Irish attack. Please, Buckeyes, get the #1 seed so we can thrash these clowns in the semifinals. Clem: 27--ND: 20
Schweinfurth: Notre Dame has turned it around and even got a quality win last week at Syracuse. Unfortunately, I don't think the Irish have an offense capable of consistently moving the ball on the Tiger defense. Clem: 17--ND: 14
Seeberg: Props to Marcus Freeman this season. After the 0-2 start, and the staggering loss to Stanford sandwiched in there as well, this season could easily have gone off the rails for the Fighting Irish. But the buy-in seems to be there as the offense miraculously awoke in a dominant win over the Orange last week. In to town comes another, better orange-clad crew in Clemson. DJ is still their QB, as he probably should be as Cade only threw 4 passes in Clemson's escape vs. Syracuse two weeks ago. The defense, however, is a couple notches above what ND has seen since, well, since us. It's hard to imagine the golden domers getting much going on that side of the ball, and Clemson should be able to do enough-ish on offense to stay unimpressively undefeated. Clem: 27--ND: 17
Hoying: Usually there's one team a year that seems to be on a Playoff trajectory but with zero chance of making noise once they get there. And in an interesting twist, this year's team is NOT Notre Dame; it's this week's opponent! Clemson really impressed the Playoff committee with their unconvincing wins over a few teams ranked outside the top 15 (that won't be ranked much longer) but I don't think anyone paying close attention to the Tigers' inconsistent offense and overrated defense has much faith in them to beat an elite team this year. Good news for Clemson: their Cincinnati-esque schedule doesn't include any elite teams, as the best team left on their schedule is either a hyped-up South Carolina, or possibly a one-loss North Carolina in the ACC Championship. And that one loss was to...Notre Dame. Good luck figuring the Irish out this year. Beating Syracuse, hanging with Ohio State, and losing to bad bad bad Marshall and Stanford. The offense has never really recovered from losing QB Tyler Buchner against Marshall (not that he was doing much of anything before he was knocked out), which doesn't bode well for trying to move the ball against the Tiger front. Also, as you may have noticed in the season opener, Notre Dame's rush defense isn't that good, and while Travis Etienne isn't going to magically reappear on the Tiger sideline, they'll be able to find more than enough room to run to outpace the anemic Irish attack. Please, Buckeyes, get the #1 seed so we can thrash these clowns in the semifinals. Clem: 27--ND: 20
Schweinfurth: Notre Dame has turned it around and even got a quality win last week at Syracuse. Unfortunately, I don't think the Irish have an offense capable of consistently moving the ball on the Tiger defense. Clem: 17--ND: 14
Seeberg: Props to Marcus Freeman this season. After the 0-2 start, and the staggering loss to Stanford sandwiched in there as well, this season could easily have gone off the rails for the Fighting Irish. But the buy-in seems to be there as the offense miraculously awoke in a dominant win over the Orange last week. In to town comes another, better orange-clad crew in Clemson. DJ is still their QB, as he probably should be as Cade only threw 4 passes in Clemson's escape vs. Syracuse two weeks ago. The defense, however, is a couple notches above what ND has seen since, well, since us. It's hard to imagine the golden domers getting much going on that side of the ball, and Clemson should be able to do enough-ish on offense to stay unimpressively undefeated. Clem: 27--ND: 17
Alabama Crimson Tide @ Louisiana State University Tigers
Draper: Here we go. Let's give Brian Kelly another shot at Bama. As stated above, I think the world was pretty surprised to see LSU in the top 10, but that just helps Bama. The Tigers seem to be hitting their stride and buying into Kelly's system, but they don't have the horses to keep up with the Tide. If Bryce Young is healthy, even the raucous crowd in Death Valley won't be enough. Death, taxes, and Bama. Bama: 38--LSU: 20
Hoying: Has anyone else noticed that Bama kind of stinks on the road this year? No shame to losing to Tennessee on a last-second field goal, but the Tide are another late field goal away from another road loss to good-not-great Texas. Then again, they're essentially a 2-point conversion try to losing to bad Texas A&M at home, so maybe the Tide just aren't quite up to the Saban death machine standard overall this season. Conversely, though, are we sure that Death Valley is the house of horrors it's so often been this century? Yeah, Ole Miss got thrashed there but Tennessee didn't seem to have any problems dispatching the Tigers. Brian Kelly deserves all the credit for dragging LSU up from the pit that Coach O fell into after losing Joe Burrow, but this team has that 2012 Ohio State feeling of a hard ceiling just below elite level. We wouldn't have beaten Bama that year, and I don't think LSU will this year either. But they could, so buckle up. Bama: 28--LSU: 24
Hoying: Has anyone else noticed that Bama kind of stinks on the road this year? No shame to losing to Tennessee on a last-second field goal, but the Tide are another late field goal away from another road loss to good-not-great Texas. Then again, they're essentially a 2-point conversion try to losing to bad Texas A&M at home, so maybe the Tide just aren't quite up to the Saban death machine standard overall this season. Conversely, though, are we sure that Death Valley is the house of horrors it's so often been this century? Yeah, Ole Miss got thrashed there but Tennessee didn't seem to have any problems dispatching the Tigers. Brian Kelly deserves all the credit for dragging LSU up from the pit that Coach O fell into after losing Joe Burrow, but this team has that 2012 Ohio State feeling of a hard ceiling just below elite level. We wouldn't have beaten Bama that year, and I don't think LSU will this year either. But they could, so buckle up. Bama: 28--LSU: 24
Schweinfurth: This is a top 10 match up because the CFP committee wants it to be so. Bama is gonna thrash LSU. Maybe the home crowd keeps LSU in it for a bit, but LSU is not a top 10 team. Bama: 42--LSU: 21
Seeberg: In an attempt to be fair to the CFP committee, I do get that LSU beat Ole Miss and they wanted to put the TIgers ahead of Kiffin's krew. That said, LSU has an extra loss so...mulligan? In any event, Bama now has another resume-bolstering opponent to beat. The Tigers are better than anticipated in Brian Kelly's first year, and Bama is more flawed than most of us thought as well. But the gap is still too wide. Tide rolls in to Baton Rouge and rolls out with a W. Bama: 34--LSU: 23
Seeberg: In an attempt to be fair to the CFP committee, I do get that LSU beat Ole Miss and they wanted to put the TIgers ahead of Kiffin's krew. That said, LSU has an extra loss so...mulligan? In any event, Bama now has another resume-bolstering opponent to beat. The Tigers are better than anticipated in Brian Kelly's first year, and Bama is more flawed than most of us thought as well. But the gap is still too wide. Tide rolls in to Baton Rouge and rolls out with a W. Bama: 34--LSU: 23
Texas Longhorns @ Kansas State Wildcats
Draper: As per usual, Texas is in the 'we have better athletes, but we love choking games away' mode. They aren't a polished team, but the spurts are there. Manhattan is an underrated tough place to play. It's going to be the glitz and glamour of Ewers, Robinson, and Worthy against the blue-collar Deuce Vaughn. If Texas can keep the tempo up, I think they get it done, but it's going to be a barn-burner. Hook 'em outlasts the slowplaying Wildcats and reenters the edges of the Big 12 race. UT: 27--KSU: 24
Hoying: Remember when it seemed like Kansas State beat Texas every year? I had to look it up: Texas has now beaten the Wildcats 5 straight times, and a 6th would mark the longest streak by either team in the series. It's become kind of a meme to rag on the Longhorns' back-or-not status at this point, but they've been a bit snakebitten this season, losing by 1 to Alabama on a late field goal, fumbling an overtime game away against Texas Tech, and whatever the hell they did last week to give the game away to Oklahoma State. Kansas State seems to be peaking at the right time, and might even get their usual starter Adrian Martinez back this week, but I still think Texas has the higher ceiling. At some point the switch will flip (think of the Oklahoma game) and Texas will be back...to just outside relevance. Texas justifies the Committee's faith. UT: 31--KSU: 27
Schweinfurth: Kansas State looks the part. Shutting out a high powered Ok State last week was impressive. And here comes Texas. The Longhorns have been up and down with the QBs, but they aren't quite back yet. UT: 28--KSU: 38
Seeberg: I didn't believe much in the Wildcats heading into last week. Swing and a miss there after they absolutely boatraced a top 10 team 48-0. Now they welcome to town the inexplicably ranked 3-loss Texas squad with probably more talent but less idea how to utilize it. Still, it's tough to imagine K-State getting into the 40-point range again with Bijan Robinson, in theory, helping the Longhorns control the ball. I have no idea who the second-best team in the Big 12 is right now, and this game will make it that much harder to determine. Longhorns late. UT: 31--KSU: 23
Hoying: Remember when it seemed like Kansas State beat Texas every year? I had to look it up: Texas has now beaten the Wildcats 5 straight times, and a 6th would mark the longest streak by either team in the series. It's become kind of a meme to rag on the Longhorns' back-or-not status at this point, but they've been a bit snakebitten this season, losing by 1 to Alabama on a late field goal, fumbling an overtime game away against Texas Tech, and whatever the hell they did last week to give the game away to Oklahoma State. Kansas State seems to be peaking at the right time, and might even get their usual starter Adrian Martinez back this week, but I still think Texas has the higher ceiling. At some point the switch will flip (think of the Oklahoma game) and Texas will be back...to just outside relevance. Texas justifies the Committee's faith. UT: 31--KSU: 27
Schweinfurth: Kansas State looks the part. Shutting out a high powered Ok State last week was impressive. And here comes Texas. The Longhorns have been up and down with the QBs, but they aren't quite back yet. UT: 28--KSU: 38
Seeberg: I didn't believe much in the Wildcats heading into last week. Swing and a miss there after they absolutely boatraced a top 10 team 48-0. Now they welcome to town the inexplicably ranked 3-loss Texas squad with probably more talent but less idea how to utilize it. Still, it's tough to imagine K-State getting into the 40-point range again with Bijan Robinson, in theory, helping the Longhorns control the ball. I have no idea who the second-best team in the Big 12 is right now, and this game will make it that much harder to determine. Longhorns late. UT: 31--KSU: 23
Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ North Carolina State Wolfpack
Draper: Not much to say about this one. The Wolfpack have been a total shell of themselves without Leary under center. I know the Deacs had a turnover bout for the ages last week with 6 in a quarter (!), but it's tough to see that happening again. Lean toward the team with the better QB. WF: 27--NCSU: 17
Hoying: Sometimes you just need to burn the game film after a particularly rough week, and Wake Forest - Louisville is one of those games. Turnovers can be kind of luck and context dependent, and I don't expect even an above-average NC State defense to victimize Wake QB Sam Hartman for the second week in a row. Unfortunately for the Pack, there's no waking up from their nightmare, as Devin Leary isn't getting better anytime soon, and they don't really have another viable option at QB. I watched them play Virginia Tech. I don't have high hopes for them the rest of the season. WF: 31--NCSU: 13
Schweinfurth: Woof, was that an implosion last week by Wake. They are a better team than that and I think they rally and recover this week. WF: 35--NCSU: 24
Seeberg: I have no idea what happened to the vaunted Wake offense last week. Six turnovers in a quarter has to be some sort of record (I hope). Before that I would have trusted Sam Hartman more than anyone else on the field in this game. My guess is he might start out a bit gun-shy but that many giveaways has to be an aberration. Deacons bounce back. WF: 37--NCSU: 31
Hoying: Sometimes you just need to burn the game film after a particularly rough week, and Wake Forest - Louisville is one of those games. Turnovers can be kind of luck and context dependent, and I don't expect even an above-average NC State defense to victimize Wake QB Sam Hartman for the second week in a row. Unfortunately for the Pack, there's no waking up from their nightmare, as Devin Leary isn't getting better anytime soon, and they don't really have another viable option at QB. I watched them play Virginia Tech. I don't have high hopes for them the rest of the season. WF: 31--NCSU: 13
Schweinfurth: Woof, was that an implosion last week by Wake. They are a better team than that and I think they rally and recover this week. WF: 35--NCSU: 24
Seeberg: I have no idea what happened to the vaunted Wake offense last week. Six turnovers in a quarter has to be some sort of record (I hope). Before that I would have trusted Sam Hartman more than anyone else on the field in this game. My guess is he might start out a bit gun-shy but that many giveaways has to be an aberration. Deacons bounce back. WF: 37--NCSU: 31
THE Ohio State Buckeyes @ Northwestern Wildcats
Draper: After last week going into the fourth, this should be a palate cleanser. Northwestern is B-A-D, bad. There is no reason this shouldn't involve OSU going up and down the field while NW punts periodically. Stroud should help solidify Harrison as the Biletnikoff front runner while Miyan and TreVeyon do work on the ground. Depending on how the UGA game goes, Stroud could find himself back on top of the Heisman standings. Big games all around for the Bucks as we mark time until Nov. 26. OSU: 58--NW: 10
Hoying: The Ryan Day era of Ohio State football presents an interesting contrast against our prior two legendary coaches. While they each had their safety blanket suite of plays, Day is always tinkering, like he's trying to figure out which of his and Kevin Wilson's creations will work on the field against a real live opponent. This is a good thing, as we haven't seen a loss in the Day era from the offense refusing to adapt (the defense, on the other hand...). I predict a multitude of experiments this week, most of which will work because the team on the opposite sideline is stocked with players worse than Ohio State's scout team. Even if the weather is bad, that will mostly just create chaos, which, as we have seen over the last couple of weeks, heavily favors the Silver Bullets and their opportunistic ways. We're on to Indiana. OSU: 42--NW: 0
Schweinfurth: Guys, Northwestern's offense is BRUTAL. If this is the weather game everyone is predicting, the Cats are gonna be in a world of hurt. The Bucks run defense has been very good this year. Day is going to have the offense run the ball and do his best Herb Brooks imitation (AGAIN!). In all honesty, get up big and get the starters out before the 4th quarter. OSU: 42--NW: 6
Seeberg: Prepare for a sloppy noon (11 AM local, bleh) kick, Buckeye Nation. 25 MPH winds and long natural grass aided by rain today and tomorrow will make for a gross track, all in an effort to conspire against the Buckeyes to...maybe allow Northwestern to cover? (The spread, if you were curious, is currently 38 points). Northwestern is just plain bad this year, having won exactly 1 game...and 0 on this continent. Iowa managed to score 33 points- all on the offensive side of the ball- against them, and that's not exactly a positive omen. The conditions may make things uncomfortable at times, but the talent gap is just too vast. Run it, stay healthy, and get out of Evanston as quickly as possible. OSU: 45--NW: 10
Hoying: The Ryan Day era of Ohio State football presents an interesting contrast against our prior two legendary coaches. While they each had their safety blanket suite of plays, Day is always tinkering, like he's trying to figure out which of his and Kevin Wilson's creations will work on the field against a real live opponent. This is a good thing, as we haven't seen a loss in the Day era from the offense refusing to adapt (the defense, on the other hand...). I predict a multitude of experiments this week, most of which will work because the team on the opposite sideline is stocked with players worse than Ohio State's scout team. Even if the weather is bad, that will mostly just create chaos, which, as we have seen over the last couple of weeks, heavily favors the Silver Bullets and their opportunistic ways. We're on to Indiana. OSU: 42--NW: 0
Schweinfurth: Guys, Northwestern's offense is BRUTAL. If this is the weather game everyone is predicting, the Cats are gonna be in a world of hurt. The Bucks run defense has been very good this year. Day is going to have the offense run the ball and do his best Herb Brooks imitation (AGAIN!). In all honesty, get up big and get the starters out before the 4th quarter. OSU: 42--NW: 6
Seeberg: Prepare for a sloppy noon (11 AM local, bleh) kick, Buckeye Nation. 25 MPH winds and long natural grass aided by rain today and tomorrow will make for a gross track, all in an effort to conspire against the Buckeyes to...maybe allow Northwestern to cover? (The spread, if you were curious, is currently 38 points). Northwestern is just plain bad this year, having won exactly 1 game...and 0 on this continent. Iowa managed to score 33 points- all on the offensive side of the ball- against them, and that's not exactly a positive omen. The conditions may make things uncomfortable at times, but the talent gap is just too vast. Run it, stay healthy, and get out of Evanston as quickly as possible. OSU: 45--NW: 10
Upset Special
Draper: Indiana over Penn State
Hoying: Texas Tech over TCU
Schweinfurth: Michigan St. over Illinois
Seeberg: Tulsa over Tulane
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