Week Thirteen Preview: Penultimate Preview

[texifornia 56,730]

....well, not including the bowl games megapreview.

A stacked midafternoon slate, and plenty of good games in the other slots as well.

All rankings AP, all lines Circa openers

Tuesday games

Akron (-10) @ Kent State (7/6 CBSSN): A true college football toilet bowl. Akron is horrible. Kent State is the worst team in college football. Both teams can see the tantalizing opportunity for a week of dignity and self-respect. Honestly might be more fun than some of the middle vs middle games around them.

Western Michigan (-8) @ Central Michigan (7:30/6:30 ESPN2): Speaking of that kind of boring middleweight matchup, WMU is still technically alive for the MAC championship, but have lost two in a row and have to travel to an in-state rival.

Northern Illlinois @ Miami (OH) (-3) (8/7 ESPN): Miami controls their destiny for a MAC title game slot. The Huskies have faded badly since upsetting Notre Dame. The Redhawks should cruise at home.

Wednesday games

Buffalo @ Eastern Michigan (pick 'em) (7/6 ESPNU): Buffalo still has slim MAC title hopes. EMU gets bowl eligible with a win.

Ohio @ Toledo (-3) (7/6 ESPN2): Ohio will get to the MAC title game if BGSU or Miami slip up. The marvelously-named Glass Bowl can be a tough place to win and the Rockets obliterated Mississippi State in Starkville earlier this season. Should be fun.

Wednesday game

NC State @ Georgia Tech (-8) (7:30/6:30 ESPNU): It's been a season to forget in Raleigh, and the Yellow Jackets have knocked off two top ten teams (although Florida State turned out to be, well, Florida State). Still, the Pack go bowling with a win, and the Ramblin' Wreck are in playing for pride mode.

Friday games

Temple @ UTSA (-15) (7/6 ESPN2): A prime example of how silly non-regional G5 conferences are. The Owls have ejected Stan Drayton, and will probably get run over by the Roadrunners.

Purdue @ Michigan State (-16) (8/7 Fox): Purdue is so so so bad. Sparty keeps their bowl hopes alive for another week.

#23 UNLV (-18) @ San Jose State (10/9 FS1): Barry Odom's Rebels are ranked again, and the Spartans have Nick Nash, the most prolific WR in college football. Should be fun.

Saturday games

#5 Indiana @ #2 Ohio State (-12) (12/11 Fox): Finally, a Big Noon Saturday that's worthy of the hype. Are Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers for real? Are the explosive Buckeyes paper tigers? This one will go a long way toward clearing out the B1G logjam at the top of the rankings.

#9 Ole Miss (-9) @ Florida (12/11 ABC): Lane and the Rebs run as hot and cold as team mascot Katy Perry, and Florida has picked up some momentum with DJ Lagway back after getting violated in Austin.

#13 SMU (-9) @ Virginia (12/11 ESPN2): Charlottesville is not a historically difficult place to play, and the Wahoos got stomped by the Irish, but these rankings are uncharted waters for the Ponies, who played with their food against BC last weekend.

Other games: Yale @ Harvard (12/11 ESPNU) is a classic tailgate and piece of history and North Carolina @ Boston College (pick 'em) (12/11 CW) matches up name brand coaches.

-

Kentucky @ #3 Texas (-18) (3:30/2:30 ABC): Kentucky under Mark Stoops lives for the opportunity to be a nasty speedbump for better teams and has given Ole Miss, Georgia, and Tennessee fits this season. However, Ole Miss is their only P5 win and their offense flat-out sucks. Look out for an ugly UT win.

#4 Penn State (-11) @ Minnesota (3:30/2:30 CBS): PSU is an astonishingly underwhelming top five team this late in the season. Can the Gophers drag them underground in Minneapolis and eliminate them from the Playoff?

#14 BYU @ #21 Arizona State (-3) (3:30/2:30 ESPN): A potential Big XII championship preview! Cam Skattebo and the Sun Devils are hot, and the Cardiac Coogs finally lost their undefeated record in Lawrence. Should be a very fun game.

#16 Colorado (-3) @ Kansas (3:30/2:30 Fox): Deion's Buffs are smashing expectations and annoyingly making me pay attention to them. KU just upset BYU and is playing at home. More high octane Big XII action.

Wisconsin @ Nebraska (-3) (3:30/2:30 BTN): Nebraska's attempts to end the longest P5 bowl drought have turned into high comedy as they've stayed stuck at 5 wins (helped out by some egregious referee home cooking in LA on Saturday). Can they finally get over the hump?

Stanford @ California (-12) (3:30/2:30 ACCN): It's a classic rivalry game in a beautiful stadium. Who cares that the teams suck? Go Bears, axe the Tree.

-

#18 Army @ #6 Notre Dame (-16) (7/6 NBC): America versus the Vatican. Can the Black Knights do what the Midshipmen couldn't? USA! USA! USA!

#12 Boise State (-21) @ Wyoming (7/6 CBSSN): Boise State has looked a bit shaky in a couple of their wins, and heads to a raucous War Memorial Stadium. Fortunately for the Broncos, the weather in Laramie is looking like a gentle 42 degrees at kick. Balmy!

#15 Texas A&M (-1) @ Auburn (7:30/6:30 ESPN): I can't figure this one out - this feels like a relatively straightforward win as the Aggie DL terrorizes Peyton Thorne, but A&M fans and the betting markets clearly think this will be close.

#7 Alabama (-13) @ Oklahoma (7:30/6:30 ABC): Want to see a bunch of very sad meth heads?

Vanderbilt @ LSU (-9) (7:45/6:45 SECN): Diego Pavia leading the 'dores to a win in Baton Rouge would be a beautiful, beautiful thing. Brian Kelly might need armed guards.

-

USC (-3) @ UCLA (10:15/9:15 NBC): The Battle for the Victory Bell is also a battle for bowl eligiblity. Both programs really, really could use a bowl game after tough seasons.

Colorado State @ Fresno State (-2) (10:30/9:30 CBSSN): Colorado State needs to win in the Central Valley to hold off UNLV in the Mountain West hunt. An excellent After Dark special.

Edited yesterday at 11:00 PM by texifornia

[texifornia 56,730]

 

[Huckleberry 32,828]

6 minutes ago, texifornia said:

 

Yeah that was my first thought. I can only imagine the conversations after the firing. 

"Hey Coach, we would like you to be interim head coach beginning this week."

"Hahaha fuck you."

[The Dog 43,951]

1 hour ago, texifornia said:

#16 Colorado (-3) @ Kansas (3:30/2:30 Fox): Deion's Buffs are smashing expectations and annoyingly making me pay attention to them. KU just upset BYU and is playing at home. More high octane Big XII action.

 

[BurntEyes 5,927]

Tree is gonna werk Bear

I think Wisky beat Corn

Being someone who lives in a state with a lot of Tshirt Bama fans... I'm truly ashamed of myself... because.. nope.. nope.. just fucking can't. Roll Tide, I suppose.

I'm oddly confident Vandy beats Tiger. I think that LSU team has gone off the tracks at this point.

Not gonna lie, I'd LOVE Kansas to derail Deion. A LOT! Can't see it but a man can dream. The post game interview would be so, so fantastic.

War Eagle

And last but not least. USA, USA, USA

 

[closetojumping 62,429]

 

I feel like this could be one of those weird weeks in which very few things are going to go according to plan. The media and many fanbases are all baking in wins for the favorites and discussing the CFP as though this weekend's outcomes are a given. Seems like karmic fuckery could be at hand. 

Army and Notre Dame both hover near the top of many defensive statistics. Army's schedule is a laughable joke, but maybe they're good enough to take ND down. ND has been much better on offense since the early season, so it's going to be interesting to see which is more legitimate - ND's O or Army's D. 

Minnesota has been a weird team this season. They laid an egg at home against an also mediocre Iowa team, but their other three losses were all close against also mediocre teams. Penn State hasn't played anyone of merit and actually won the game. They've beaten the teams they should have beaten and then lost to Ohio State because they can't help themselves. Given all of that, I guess I assume Penn State to win by a FG. Of all of the teams to meet for a playoff game, I'd as much like to run into PSU as anyone. 

[BurntEyes 5,927]

Weird double post.

@closetojumping I hear you on PSU but I think I'd put Miami and ND on the tippy top of my post season teams to face.

Only ND fields a D worth mentioning and I'm confident Texas D could handle both offenses. Add to it, I despise both historically and just because, I'd love to send either/both packing.

 

Edited yesterday at 06:21 PM by BurntEyes

[campcrunk 2,416]

Akron-Kent State might be the worst game of the year

 

I can't wait

[BurntEyes 5,927]

Just now, campcrunk said:

Akron-Kent State might be the worst game of the year

 

I can't wait

I'll probably turn that one on... because I love a clown show.

[texifornia 56,730]

 

[Sgt Hulk 13,711]

Harvard Yale.  Fuckyeah 

[Skipper 6,116]

I was surprised by the A&M/Auburn line as well at first but if you put any value in the power rankings Auburn has significantly underachieved from a W/L perspective compared to what they 'should' have done.  Most of their games have been close.  I watched them completely choke the OU game away as well blow a chance to have the ball with a chance to win against Vandy by jumping offsides on a FG.   It's one of those games you could easily see Auburn putting a decent offensive game together and winning as their D is good enough to keep A&M in check and A&M has been a shitty road team for forever (see South Carolina and MSU this season as MSU had the ball down 7 in the 4th).  I've about convinced myself A&M is going to lose this game and fuck up the chance to make 11/30 pretty much the biggest home game they have ever had.

[closetojumping 62,429]

13 hours ago, Skipper said:

I was surprised by the A&M/Auburn line as well at first but if you put any value in the power rankings Auburn has significantly underachieved from a W/L perspective compared to what they 'should' have done.  Most of their games have been close.  I watched them completely choke the OU game away as well blow a chance to have the ball with a chance to win against Vandy by jumping offsides on a FG.   It's one of those games you could easily see Auburn putting a decent offensive game together and winning as their D is good enough to keep A&M in check and A&M has been a shitty road team for forever (see South Carolina and MSU this season as MSU had the ball down 7 in the 4th).  I've about convinced myself A&M is going to lose this game and fuck up the chance to make 11/30 pretty much the biggest home game they have ever had.

I get it. I have thought it the same way. Problem is, Auburn is a bigger fuckup than ATM this year and is one of the biggest fuckups in the sport. That’s actually their identity.

They pull the bookshelf on top of themselves in ways that at least give me pause that it might be some sort of performance art or grand troll. Thus, they’ll find a way to lose this game to ATM. It doesn’t help that they’re likely looking ahead to the Iron Bowl as well. 

[BurntEyes 5,927]

I can only reflect the sentiment of a pretty hard core Auburn fan I know. She goes to several games and supports the team openly and aggressively.

She's written this season and this game off. Yeah, I know it's not science or stats but when a woman has given up on something she's typically hard core about, it's telling. Vandy  FG offsides was the exact play she noted as the nail in her Fandom coffin this year. Making it worse was the fact that they had opportunities in nearly every loss to win but chose instead to shoot themselves in the foot. That and losing to both Cal and Vandy in a single season will hamper the passion of the most hard-core fan.

I'm still hoping aggie is able to out aggie Auburn... but I have a low level of confidence.

Edited 9 hours ago by BurntEyes

[texifornia 56,730]

I did not realize Akron - Kent State had a rivalry trophy. More intrigue for tonight's most interesting game.

 

[texifornia 56,730]

 

[texifornia 56,730]

A fun wrinkle in the Yale - Harvard game:

Columbia has a single Ivy League title in 154 years of playing football, in 1961 (they also won the 1933 Rose Bowl, funnily enough).

If Yale beats Harvard and Columbia beats Cornell, they'll get their second-ever league title in coach Jon Poppe's first season.*

*No tiebreakers in the Ivy League, so the split title counts

Edited 6 hours ago by texifornia

[closetojumping 62,429]

5 minutes ago, texifornia said:

A fun wrinkle in the Yale - Harvard game:

Columbia has a single Ivy League title in 154 years of playing football, in 1961 (they also won the 1933 Rose Bowl, funnily enough).

If Yale beats Harvard and Columbia beats Cornell, they'll get their second-ever league title in coach Jon Poppe's first season.*

*No tiebreakers in the Ivy League, so the split title counts

My son-in-law played at Cornell. When he wants to start talking about Ivy League football, I usually find that I'm getting thirsty and need to leave the room for something more interesting to fill my senses. Your post is the written version of that feeling, sir.

[Post Oak 20,197]

28 minutes ago, texifornia said:

A fun wrinkle in the Yale - Harvard game:

Columbia has a single Ivy League title in 154 years of playing football, in 1961 (they also won the 1933 Rose Bowl, funnily enough).

If Yale beats Harvard and Columbia beats Cornell, they'll get their second-ever league title in coach Jon Poppe's first season.*

*No tiebreakers in the Ivy League, so the split title counts

Ive enjoyed watching Ivy League games. Old stadiums, pretty good uniforms, sparse crowds and football weather. 

[Burt Macklin 19,012]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

My son-in-law played at Cornell. When he wants to start talking about Ivy League football, I usually find that I'm getting thirsty and need to leave the room for something more interesting to fill my senses. Your post is the written version of that feeling, sir.

Sounds like you're just mad because he could beat you in a 40 yard dash.