College Football Week 3 Recap

    The College Football season rolls on, and week 3 just wrapped up last weekend.

    We saw #1 USC fall to #21 Stanford, in the second huge upset this season (UL Monroe beating Arkansas was the first). USC will fall in the rankings, but they still can take the PAC 12 crown. The loss was early in the season, and their title hopes are still strong.

Stanford after their upset of #1 USC

    #2 Alabama shut out Arkansas by a score of 52-0. Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson did miss the game, but that is not an excuse to loose by 52 at home. If Arkansas was truly worthy of a #9 preseason ranking, they should be able to compete with Alabama, even with Wilson out. A top 10 team doesn't loose like that at home when only the starting QB is out. Right now, it looks like Arkansas is far from taking down Alabama and LSU in the SEC West.


    #3 Florida State made a statement with a 52-0 beat down over Wake Forest, Utah was able to rebound and beat BYU, and Florida proved they are more powerful than Tennessee in the SEC East. It remains to be seen if they are as good as #8 Georgia and #7 South Carolina, and can reclaim the top of the SEC East.

    #20 Notre Dame visited #9 Michigan State, and embarrassed Sparty in East Lansing. Michigan State was shut down on offense, and there has been a big drop off at QB from Kirk Cousins to Andrew Maxwell. When Le'Veon Bell is unable to run the ball like he was vs Notre Dame, Maxwell is not a reliable option to take the reigns and lead the offense. Having poor WR play doesn't help much either though.

    A very surprising upset was Pittsburgh beating #10 Virginia Tech. Pitt was 0-2, with a bad loss to FCS Youngstown State during week 1, 31-17. During week 2, they lost to Cincinnati 34-10 on Thursday night. Most people had given up on Pitt, but with this upset over VT, the Panthers appear to be back.


Top 25:

1. Alabama 3-0
2. Florida State 3-0
3. LSU 3-0
4. Oklahoma 2-0
5. Oregon 3-0
6. South Carolina 3-0
7. Georgia 3-0
8. Texas 2-0
9. Clemson 3-0
10. West Virginia 2-0
11. USC 2-1
12. Stanford 3-0
13. Notre Dame 3-0
14. Ohio State 3-0
15. TCU 2-0
16. Michigan 2-1
17. Louisville 3-0
18. Michigan State 2-1
19. Kansas State 3-0
20. N.C. State 2-1
21. Northwestern 3-0
22. Florida 3-0
23. Mississippi State 3-0
24. UCLA 3-0
25. Boise State 1-1

Next 5 In: Virginia Tech 2-1, Nebraska 2-1, Utah 2-1, Arizona 3-0, Cincinnati 2-0



What To Watch:

BYU (2-1) @ #25 Boise State (1-1)
9:00pm ET, ESPN 

This will be Boise State's chance to redeem itself after the loss to Michigan State. If they cannot win this game, the Broncos will only prove they are not the same power they were in the past.

Prediction: BYU 28 Boise 16

Missouri (2-1) @ #6 South Carolina (3-0)
3:30pm ET, CBS

Missouri has another chance to show it can hang with the SEC heavy weights. South Carolina can show they deserve a top 10 ranking with a win.

Prediction: South Car 37 Mizz 20

Oregon State (1-0) @ #24 UCLA (3-0)
3:30pm ET, ABC/ESPN2

Both are two teams from the PAC 12 that emerged with multiple week 2 upsets. Oregon State has only played one game, and UCLA has played three. The Beavers may have gotten lucky vs a Wisconsin team that is nowhere near as good as we thought, but Oregon State is still not a very good team. UCLA should roll.

Prediction: UCLA 37 OSU 17

#16 Michigan (2-1) @ #13 Notre Dame (3-0)
7:30pm ET, NBC

This could be the last chance for Michigan to prove they are a BCS-contender. If they loose, they will be written off for the season and be counted as another very disappointing team from the Big Ten this year. Notre Dame has a chance to prove they are back as one of the top teams in the country.

Prediction: ND 28 Mich 20

#19 Kansas State (3-0) @ #3 Oklahoma (2-0)
7:50pm ET, FOX

Both teams have a lot to prove in this game. The Sooners had a shaky game week 1 vs UTEP. They rolled over Florida A& M in week 2, so we have yet to see this team tested. Kansas State can prove they are a BCS contender and not stuck behind Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas for the Big 12 crown. I could see the upset here, but Oklahoma should get the win.

Prediction: OU 36 KSU 30

#9 Clemson (3-0) @ #2 Florida State (3-0)
8:00pm ET, ABC

The first test for FSU. They will have to show they are a title contender with a win over Clemson. Clemson is out to show they are the kings of the ACC. If Florida State can win this, the Seminoles are back to national prominence. This should be close and already has the feels of a classic.

Prediction: FSU 28 Clem 25

   

College Football Week 1 Recap

    Week one is in the books, and many exciting games went down. It seemed many teams had lots of trouble with small FBS teams and even FCS teams.

    Minnesota went to 3OT with UNLV, Stanford only beat San Jose State by three, #8 Wisconsin beat Northern Iowa by five, Wake Forest escaped by three against Liberty, #4 Oklahoma could only pull away from UTEP in the 4th, and Maryland beat FCS-William & Mary on a late touchdown, 7-6.

    My #7 team South Carolina struggled against Vanderbilt on Thursday night. Vandy is a very underrated team, so it being close was not a surprise. But aside from Marcus Lattimore having another monster game, the rest of the Gamecock's squad under-performed 

    But two very shocking upsets took place as well. The first, was FCS-school Youngstown State beating up Pittsburgh in every single way to cruise to a 31-17 win. An embarrassing moment for Pitt, who had never lost to an FCS school before.

    The next was Texas State pounding Houston on the road. Houston, coming off a 13-1 season, was a 34.5-point favorite. Houston did loose QB Case Keenum to the NFL last year, but the offense is still explosive. I had Houston winning out in the regular season. That prediction is done after the first week. 

   Texas State was playing their first game as an FBS-member. But no one had them winning this one. Yet, they came into Houston, shut down Houston's offense, and left with a 30-13 victory. According to Pregame.com, Texas State is the first school to ever win a game by double digits while being a 30 or more point underdog. While this game has been overlooked by almost everyone, this will be one of the biggest upsets of the season.

    The biggest game of the weekend though, was #2 Alabama's blowout of #11 Michigan. The Tide demolished them in all areas. Most people expected an Alabama win, but not to this magnitude. It may be time for Michigan to hit the panic button after how many holes were exposed in that game.


Week 2 Top 25:

1. USC (1-0)
2. Alabama (1-0)
3. Florida State (1-0)
4. Oklahoma (1-0)
5. LSU (1-0)
6. Oregon (1-0)
7. South Carolina (1-0)
8. Arkansas (1-0)
9. Wisconsin (1-0)
10. Georgia (1-0)
11. Michigan State (1-0)
12. Virginia Tech (1-0)
13. Texas (1-0)
14. Clemson 1-0)
15. West Virginia (1-0)
16. Michigan (1-0)
17. Nebraska (1-0)
18. Ohio State (1-0)
19. Oklahoma State (1-0)
20. TCU (0-0)
21. Louisville (1-0)
22. Utah (1-0)
23. North Carolina (1-0)
24. Kansas State (1-0)
25. Auburn (0-1)

Next 5 in: NC State (0-1), Washington (1-0), Notre Dame (1-0), Iowa (1-0), Boise State (0-1)

What to Watch:

Central Florida (1-0) @ #18 Ohio St. (1-0) (12:00pm ET, ESPN2)

UCF is a very talented team the Buckeyes must be careful not to overlook. If Braxton Miller can play like he did last week vs Miami, Ohio State should roll.

Prediction: Ohio St. 37 UCF 20

Air Force (1-0) @ #16 Michigan (0-1) (3:30pm ET, ABC/ESPN2)

Michigan should win, but Air Force is always dangerous and if the Wolverines havn't picked itself up after an embarrassing loss last weekend, the Falcons could pull a shocker.

Prediction: Mich 30 AF 15

Florida (1-0) @ Texas A & M (0-0) (3:30pm ET, ESPN)

Florida looked shaky vs Bowling Green. Jeff Driskel was named starting QB on Monday, but how will he play vs a tougher Aggie squad? Texas A & M plays their first game as an SEC member.

Florida 21 TAMU 14

Washington (1-0) @ #5 LSU (1-0) (7:00pm ET, ESPN)

LSU should win this game, and it can go almost any possible way. Washington is a sleeper team but will need to be at their best to beat LSU. That being said, don't sleep on the Huskies.

Prediction: LSU 48 UW 35

#10 Georgia @ Missouri (7:45pm ET, ESPN2)

Georgia had its fair share of problems last week vs Buffalo, and has been know to drop games early in the season that they should win. They get Missouri on the road this week, and this is looking like a disaster waiting to happen. 

Prediction: UGA 34 Mizz 31

Duke @ Stanford (10:30pm ET, Pac-12 Network)

After Stanford almost suffered a major upset last week vs SJSU, they look to show they can win without Andrew Luck and take down Duke. Duke is looking to show they aren't in the cellar of the ACC anymore, and a win vs Stanford can prove that argument.

Prediction: Stan 31 Duke 21


Week 2 Recap

Big East Preview

ACC   Big 10   Big 12   Pac 12    SEC   Other Conferences   Bowls and Top 50   


    The Big East will have some major changes starting next season. Many still question if the conference should be a BCS AQ, and the incoming schools of Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, SMU, UCF, and Memphis next year do not strengthen that argument. The departure of West Virginia, and Pittsburgh and Syracuse in 2013 don't help either. 

    This year, however, the Big East still has Pitt and Syracuse, and does add Temple to the mix. This conference is still the weakest BCS Conference, but a couple of Big East teams should be more competitive with the rest of the country.

Sio Moore, Uconn

    Louisville and South Florida figure to be the favorites this year. Terry Bridgewater at Louisville is a star, and only a sophomore QB. BJ Daniels should take his Bulls deep during his final year.

    Cincinnati could easily creep to the top and grab that BCS bid. They are one of the more underrated teams in the nation. Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and Uconn should be back in bowl games this year too.

     In fact, only two of the eight Big East teams won't be in bowls. Those two are Syracuse, who still has a long way to go before it is a threat. The Orange still can pull an upset or two, but a bowl game is a stretch.

    Temple is no longer playing the weaker MAC teams. They could still get to six wins, but the rest of the conference is just too talented for the Owls.

Projected Standings:

1. Louisville 10-2 (6-1)

2. South Florida 8-4 (5-2)

T3. Cincinnati 8-4 (4-3)

T3. Pittsburgh 7-5 (4-3)

T5. Uconn 7-5 (3-4)

T5. Rutgers 7-5 (3-4)

7. Temple 4-8 (2-5)

8. Syracuse 3-9 (1-6)