Week 4: Big Conference Games

After another week of big games, we're starting to see the teams that we should be paying attention to (Ohio State, Alabama, Louisville) and the teams that are simply not going to play a part in the College Football Playoff (Oklahoma, Florida State, Ole Miss). This week is when some of the bigger conference games take place and we get more of an idea of how these conferences are going to shape up.

9:00 am Slot

#12 Georgia Bulldogs @ #23 Ole Miss Rebels (-7.0) ESPN

Ole Miss has seemingly eliminated themselves from the College Football Playoff after blowing three touchdown leads to Alabama and Florida State in weeks one and three, the good news for Hugh Freeze's squad is that the schedule has to get easier for them but it doesn't get much easier in this week as they welcome Kirby Smart's young and talented Georgia Bulldogs. I'm not sure this game has as much conference implications as the other game in this timeslot, but I'm picking this game as the one to watch just because it will be a more entertaining game. It will be an interesting matchup between Ole Miss' QB Chad "Swag" Kelly and Georgia's super freshman Jacob Eason. This game should have a lot of points and blow away the over/under of 62. If Georgia wins, they'll put themselves in a position to be the other team to beat in the SEC East, with the decider of that division likely coming from Georgia vs the winner of the Tennessee/ Florida game that will take place later today. Ole Miss on the other hand, can only win out and see if they can get themselves a New Year's Day Bowl since their chances of going to the SEC Championship game went up in smoke after their loss to Alabama last Saturday.

My Pick: Georgia with the points. Ole Miss wins, but a backdoor cover will likely be in play here.

Backup: #11 Wisconsin Badgers @ #8 Michigan State Spartans (-5.0) Big Ten Network

This is a game that the pre-season prognosticators didn't think would be as big of a game as it's going to be. If they did, this game would've received the respect of being on network television but instead it's on digital television and unfortunately, many people won't be able to watch this game. This game will decide who's in that next tier in the Big Ten Conference behind the likes of Ohio State and Michigan. The team who wins this game will be the one that can run the football effectively since both defenses are averaging under 100 yards rushing allowed. I honestly think that Wisconsin is not a great team and that they were pumped up way too much by polls just because they beat an overrated LSU team in week one. Since then, Wisconsin has had a close call with Georgia State and the Badgers have made a quarterback change. This is the week I think that Wisconsin will get exposed.

My pick: Michigan State convincingly.

12:30 pm Slot

#19 Florida Gators @ #14 Tennessee Volunteers (-6.5) CBS

Who will be the team to beat in the SEC East? This game should decide it. Both teams come into this game undefeated but both teams have a lot of questions, especially at the quarterback position. Florida's quarterback Luke Del Rio went down last week so the Gators will be starting senior quarterback and Purdue transfer, Austin Appleby which may be the early favorite for the best name of the year. Tennessee was supposed to look a lot better than they have through three games, as the preseason SEC East favorite, they've looked lost on offense and out of ideas which shouldn't happen with a senior quarterback like Josh Dobbs. Much of the blame for Tennessee's performance has been laid at the hands of their offensive line who hasn't given Dobbs enough time to make the throws he's capable of making. Unfortunately, Tennessee's offensive line will have to deliver against a beast front seven for the Gators. In fact, the defensive fronts for both teams will be the units to watch in this game. This is probably the biggest game for Tennessee in almost a decade and Neyland Stadium should approach the craziness that it was in the late 90s and early 2000s where 100,000 orange-clad Tennessee fans singing Rocky Top usually meant a Vols victory. In this series, it has been the Gators who have won 11 in a row against the Vols, so for the sake of the rivalry, a Tennessee win is needed.

My Pick: Florida with the points. I think that's just too many points for me to pick the Vols, I don't see a lot of scoring in this one so I'll go with the Gators.

Backup: Penn State Nittany Lions @ #4 Michigan Wolverines (-18.0) ABC

It's pretty slim pickings other than the Florida/Tennessee game for this time slot, but if you must, check out this game and see if Penn State can make a game of it against Jim Harbaugh's young Wolverines.

My Pick: Michigan covers.

Primetime: 6:00 pm Slot

#17 Arkansas Razorbacks vs #10 Texas A&M Aggies (-6.0) at Jerryworld ESPN

I realize there's a big whole in my guide, but quite honestly there aren't a lot of matchups that are too appealing in the late afternoon slate. Sure, maybe check out the LSU/Auburn game but I don't think it's such a mouth watering contest like this one is. My plan will be to watch the first hour of Stanford/UCLA at 5 and then switch over to this one. The last two meetings between these two teams have produced back to back overtime games that have both gone to the Aggies. For whatever reason, these teams just seem to produce classic games. And after the first few weeks, there are things to like about both teams. After Arkansas beat TCU in Fort Worth, I became sold on them, and after A&M beat UCLA and Auburn they convinced me as well. So I'm just going to sit back and enjoy what has the makings of another classic matchup. This game will likely represent who Alabama will have to get through if they are to make it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.

My Pick: A&M to cover.

Pac-12 After Dark Slot 7:00 pm

California Golden Bears @ Arizona State Sun Devils (-4.0) ESPN2

This game will also act as a backup to the Arkansas/A&M game with the thinking being that if A&M and Arkansas becomes a stinker, the Cal/ASU game should be about to start and should be a good substitute. This game should have a lot of points and just a bunch of craziness. That's why the Pac-12 After Dark slot is such a fun way to end your College Football Saturday. Both teams can score and have defenses that can't stop nose bleeds and that's why I'm all over the over of 82 for this game.

My Pick: Arizona State to cover.

Week 3: Another Mega Weekend

The college football season is trying to outdo themselves once again with a tremendous slate of contests that are worth all your attention, let's take a look.

9:00 am Slot

#2 Florida State Seminoles (-1.0) @ #10 Louisville Cardinals ABC

Is there any better thing to wake up to than a top 10 matchup? I'm just surprised that the television powers that be allowed such a mammoth game to occupy time slot like the 9 am PST/noon EST where it's mostly just filler games. Not so today, this one will undoubtedly have national playoff implications with the loser likely facing elimination. In this game, you have three of the most exciting players in all of college football playing on the same field, so expect some fireworks. For Louisville, everything revolves around their quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Jackson has piled up 13 total touchdowns against not the greatest of opposition (Syracuse, Charlotte), but it's still impressive nonetheless. Check out his highlights from the game against Syracuse, it's a thing of beauty, especially that hurdling of a defender. Let's see how Jackson performs against a Seminole defense that will be without one of the best safeties in the country, Derwin James.

On the FSU side of things, the quarterback and the running back will get the headlines heading into this game. Florida State galvanized their preseason hype with their amazing comeback against Ole Miss in week one, that was the game that their freshman QB announced to the nation who he is. When you drop over 400 yards on a SEC defense like Ole Miss, everyone's going to remember the name of Deondre Francois. When teams try to stop their Heisman Trophy candidate, running back Dalvin Cook, Deondre Francois will punish them. If Francois brings in another performance of that quality, expect his Heisman candidacy to be elevated. I'm a big Dalvin Cook guy, so keep an eye on how he does against this Louisville defense that hasn't been tested this season on the ground.

My Pick: Florida State wins.

Backup Plan: #25 Miami Hurricanes (-3.5) @ Appalachian State Mountaineers ESPN

An old powerhouse meeting a classic upstart, underdog. This is a pretty solid backup plan if you ask me. Appalachian State started their season by nearly beating Tennessee in Knoxville, let's see how good this App State team is as they face Mark Richt's young squad led by Brad Kaaya at QB. If App State can pull off the upset, there's a good chance that they never lose another game this season and make a major bowl come January. The funny story behind this game is that Miami did not want to schedule this game, they only scheduled a home and away against App State because of a scheduling error and because of that, Miami will make a rare trip to Boone, North Carolina. Let's see how the local fans in Boone treat this huge game.

12:30 pm slot

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-10.5) @ #19 Ole Miss Rebels CBS

The SEC game of the week brings in a matchup that had Nick Saban circling his calendar six months ago. Here's what's on the line, Ole Miss is trying to beat Alabama for third straight season, Hugh Freeze has been the only SEC coach to get any recent success against the Tide and that's a credit to the great recruiting that Ole Miss has put together over the past couple years. Nick Saban has called his team out in his pressers and it's seemingly an attempt to get them focused ahead of this huge matchup in Oxford. The question is, which Ole Miss team will show up? They played so well in the first half against Florida State, that I immediately thought that the Rebels could give the Tide some trouble but then the Seminoles got their act together and punished Ole Miss with a tremendous second half comeback. For Ole Miss to have any chance in this game, they'll have to give their QB Chad Kelly time to throw and that will be a challenge against Alabama's extremely fast and powerful front seven.

For Alabama, much has been said about Alabama's lack of a true bell cow running back, however I'm of the belief that much of that talk is a bunch of noise since Bama's opponent last week, Western Kentucky stacked the box with 8 defenders and basically begged Alabama to go to the air, and Bama's true freshman QB, Jalen Hurts did just that, utilizing all of his great receivers. The big matchup for Alabama will be exploiting the Ole Miss secondary that will be without their best cover corner, Ken Webster. Expect Alabama to run the ball with the thunder and lighting of Harris and Scarbrough, but once Lane Kiffin gets a feel, he'll go the air and try to find his great receiving corps.

The Grove should be in rare form for this game, as it always is. Boy, do I love SEC football.

My Pick: Alabama wins, Ole Miss with the backdoor cover.

Backup Plan: #22 Oregon Ducks @ Nebraska Cornhuskers (-3.0) ABC

Do you want points? We got them, bitches. The over/under for this game is 75 and the gamblers expect these teams to obliterate that threshold on the turf in Lincoln. Neither team has been tested this year, so this is the game where we'll find out some valuable information about both teams. Granted both teams played the likes of Virginia, UC Davis, Wyoming, and Fresno State but the points allowed per game category is what stood out for me, Oregon is giving up 27.0 points per game, while the Huskers are yielding 13.5. That's not to say that Oregon is worse on defense than Nebraska, it's probably closer to a push, but this game has toss-up written all over it. There are three things I can guarantee about this game, one: there will be a lot of points, two: Oregon running back Royce Freeman will run for lots of yards, and Nebraska's crowd will renew one of my favorite venues in all of college football.

My Pick: Nebraska wins and covers.

Tweener Game: 4:00 pm

#17 Texas A&M Aggies @ Auburn Tigers (-3.5) ESPN

I thought I'd fit in an extra game just for the heck of it. Well, the real reason is that I'm betting on this game as part of my two team parlay for this weekend. Once I saw this weird line come out, I knew I had to hop on it, the Aggies aren't getting much respect from the experts in this one. After the Aggies pass rush led by Myles Garrett dismantled UCLA's vaunted passing attack, A&M jumped into the top 25 and now seem like a sleeper team in the SEC East behind Alabama and Ole Miss. Auburn on the other hand nearly knocked off a top 5 team to start the year in Clemson, but Auburn looked quite anemic on offense which makes me feel quite good about betting on the road dog in this contest. My logic is this, if A&M's pass rush can tear apart a talented offense like UCLA's, they should be able to do the same against anemic, Auburn. I expect Auburn to keep this one close, we'll see if A&M QB Trevor "Katy Perry Wants To Call Me" Knight can turn this one into a rout.

Just keep an eye on this one while the big 4:30 games are going on, just for the fact that this is such an interesting game and an interesting line.

My Pick: A&M wins and does their part to make my bank account larger.

4:30 slot

#3 Ohio State Buckeyes (-1.0) @ #14 Oklahoma Sooners FOX

So many great games in this slot, but don't get cheeky on me, this is the game to watch and it's bound to be a historical game in the sense that these two traditional powerhouses are squaring off in a game that can slingshot the Sooners back into the college football playoff after a week one loss to the upstart, Houston Cougars. This is the other game of my two team parlay as I'm rolling with the Buckeyes since Urban Meyer's road record is too good not to pass up. The line I got was -3.0 in favor of Ohio State but I'm still quite confident that JT Barrett and the Buckeyes will outscore Baker Mayfield and the Sooners over that margin. This game has it all, great traditions, the recognizable fight songs like Boomer Sooner and the Best Damn Band in the Land's Buckeye Battle Cry, and even Jim Ross on the sideline supporting his Sooners

The question for this game will be if Oklahoma can find a rhythm that they weren't able to find against Houston, Oklahoma could be game for an upset. That will be tough against this stacked Ohio State team and I think the Buckeyes will just be too good for the Sooners.

This game is also great because it pits two of the coaching icons in college football of the 21st Century in Bob Stoops vs Urban Meyer.

My Pick: Ohio State wins by two touchdowns and completes my parlay.

Backup Plan: #12 Michigan State Spartans @ #18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-7.0) NBC

This is a classic rivalry that plays for the Megaphone Trophy. And this rivalry has produced a lot of great moments in recent memory, including Michigan State planting their flag on Notre Dame's field after a win, a fake field goal, walk-off touchdown that led to Michigan State's Mark Dantonio having a heart attack that made a Notre Dame radio personality say that God was responsible. This is what college football is all about.

We'll find out if Notre Dame is as overhyped as they often are. There's no reason for Brian Kelly's squad to lose this game in front of Touchdown Jesus. Either way, expect a game that will go down to the wire. It's just a shame this can only be the backup game.

My Pick: Spartans win.

Pac-12 After Dark Slot 7:30 pm: #11 Texas Longhorns (-7.0) @ California Golden Bears ESPN

Another shootout occupies the Pac-12 After Dark slot and once again, Cal is the team that is in the thick of the craziness. The over/under is 82 and the experts have indicated that the total is a more intriguing bet than the point spread. I thought about betting on the Longhorns but decided against it because I think my own personal bias is too down on Cal, and the spread is overrating Texas who beat a Notre Dame team that I'm not convinced is that good. Moral of the story: expect a huge score. 

Cal has nothing on defense except a bunch of traffic cones on defense, while Texas has some talent on defense that's still coming together. All the talent is on the offensive side of the ball. True freshman quarterback, Shane Buechele leads the Longhorns and has already seemingly mastered the learning curve in his first couple games. Whenever there's a short yardage situation, look out for their big backup QB Tyrone Swoopes who runs the package known as the 18 wheeler package that left Notre Dame a victim.

For Cal, Davis Webb is a graduate transfer quarterback from Texas Tech and he's already putting up big numbers in Sonny Dykes' Bear Raid offense. He's got a lot talent at wide receiver to work with in guys like Chad Hansen, Demetris Robinson, and Maurice Stovall, the latter of those two are true freshmen. Cal has a large stable of running backs but the problem with Sonny Dykes' offense is that often these talented running backs aren't utilized properly.

My Pick: Texas by 17.

Backup Plan: UCLA Bruins (-3.0) @ BYU Cougars ESPN2

Just in case the Longhorns open up a can of whoop-ass on Cal, there's a chance to watch Josh Rosen get things right. I'm already a little burned out on Josh Rosen's hype and his press clippings but there's no denying his talent, BYU is always a game that's a tough one so this should be competitive. BYU is looking to go two out of three against the Pac-12 South as they just split their games against Arizona and Utah. The Pac-12 South has looked bad early on in this season, so UCLA will try to salvage a little bit of pride.

College Football Week 2 Guide

It's hard to follow up the weekend that has been proclaimed as the "greatest weekend in College Football History," but week two has to try and there aren't a lot of great matchups in what is pretty much a sandwich week between an already fantastic week one, and potentially a great week three. Week two features no matchups between ranked teams, so I'd just keep track of the scores and see if any of the ranked teams sleepwalk through their "tune-up games."

9:00 AM Slot

Penn State Nittany Lions @ Pittsburgh Panthers (-4.0) ESPN

Here's a nice little treat to start the day, these teams used to play each other every year from 1935-1992 and reportedly, Penn State fans bought up Pittsburgh football ticket packages just to make sure they could attend this game at Heinz Field. It also happens to be one of the few games that feature a betting line that is under 10 points with Pitt being favored by four. For Penn State, look out for the best running back in Big Ten in Saquon Barkley who runs a 4.38, he's only a true sophomore so he won't be heading to the NFL Draft until 2018 but he should be a fun matchup against the Pitt defense. Pitt themselves have two solid running backs to keep an eye on in James Conner and Quadree Ollison . James Conner's story is especially remarkable for his bout with cancer and how he has been able ot return to the football field. The atmosphere should be a fun one and should be the perfect start to your Saturday.

My Pick: Penn State to win.

Usually, I would put in what would be a good backup plan but it's pretty hard to pick one out for the 9:00 AM slot. If all else fails, check out ESPN2 to see if Wyoming can do something against Nebraska in Lincoln.

12:30 PM Slot

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers @ #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-28.0) ESPN2

Usually, I wouldn't feature a game that where a team is favored by 28 points but this is a pretty tough time slot for this slate of games. I think WKU could give Alabama some problems especially since they can score a lot of points. This will be a possible look ahead game for the Tide as next week they'll head to Oxford to try and get revenge on Ole Miss and we'll see if this the game where Nick Saban decides on a quarterback. Last week, Jalen Hurts torched USC through the air and on the ground proving that the bench has no room for his talent. Then in mop up duty, Blake Barnett came in and continued to torch USC's defense. One's a standard pocket passer, the other is a dual threat and that storyline should be a fun one. No matter who's the QB, they will all get to throw to a ridiculous WR corp that has NFL talent all over in Calvin Ridley, ArDarius Stewart, and Gehrig Dieter. The stacked Alabama secondary will be tested against WKU's passing attack, but Alabama should still take care of business.

My Pick: Alabama covers late.

Backup: Kentucky Wildcats @ Florida Gators (-16.0) CBS

I've been hating on Florida's chances all off-season and it wouldn't shock me if Kentucky pulled off the stunner in The Swamp. Kentucky looked dominant at first in their first game against Southern Miss but then their former offensive coordinator, Shannon Dawson, embarrassed his former school with 35 unanswered to give the Golden Eagles a 44-35 win over Kentucky. That result has made this betting line a bit lengthier so I think it should be an interesting one. We'll see how Florida QB Luke Del Rio does against Kentucky's defense that looked like a leaky faucet the week before.

My Pick: Florida wins and fails to cover.

4:00 PM Slot

Arkansas Razorbacks @ #15 TCU Horned Frogs (-7.5) ESPN

After a lackluster start to the day, some of the better games should take fold in the late evening-primetime slot. After Arkansas barely squeaked by Louisiana Tech last week, a great opportunity will be right in front of them as they head to Fort Worth to take on the exploding eye frogs (no seriously, Horned Frogs do that). SEC fans will hope that the Razorbacks can pull off the upset and prove that the SEC is far from meh this year. Like every football game, this one will be one in the trenches as the Razorbacks offensive line will have their hands full with a stacked TCU defensive line. If they can give Austin Allen enough time to throw, Arkansas has a chance to pull of the upset on Gary Patterson's boys.

My Pick: TCU covers.

NO BACKUP. Don't watch Mississippi State/South Carolina, that's going to be a 13-10 garbage game, if anything just bet the under for that game and laugh all the way to the bank.

5:00 PM Slot

Virginia Tech Hokies vs #17 Tennesee Volunteers (-11.5) at Bristol Motor Speedway ABC

It will be the biggest crowd to ever watch a college football game. There will be 150,000 people at this game and just for that alone, this one is a must watch. For a whole year, a large crew has been transforming this NASCAR racetrack into a college football venue and the process has been fun to watch. I would love to see the beer sales for this matchup as it will insane. On the football field, Tennessee will try to make everyone forget about the fact that they nearly lost in OT to Appalachian State last week and getting an impressive win here will be the first step. In order to do that, they'll need their QB Josh Dobbs to play a whole lot better than he did last week as that will be the key to their offense who has a tremendous stable of running backs.

My Pick: Tennessee Covers.

The Pac-12 After Dark Slot 7:00 PM and later.

Three Good Games. Switch between all three to see which one is the most interesting.

Texas Tech Red Raiders @ Arizona State Sun Devils (-1.0) FS1

The Over/Under for this game is listed at 80.5, so that's all you need to know and the game should be played in temperatures approaching 100.

My Pick: ASU wins and covers.

California Golden Bears @ San Diego State Aztecs (-7.0) CBS SportsNetwork

I have no faith in Cal's defense but I love their ability to score points, San Diego State has a more well-rounded team, and I'm going to keep picking against Cal in big games until they prove me otherwise. This game should also blow away the O/U of 61.

My Pick: Aztecs cover and win big.

Virginia Cavaliers @ #24 Oregon Ducks (-24.0) ESPN

I'm not sure if this is anything worth paying attention to, but you never know with these Pac-12 After Dark games. I expect Oregon's running back, Royce Freeman to run all over Virginia but you never know, since Oregon didn't look all that great last week against UC Davis. Should be a fun night cap to end the day with these three games.

My Pick: Oregon covers.

Wrapping it up.

If only they moved one of the evening games to the 12:30 slot, but what can you do? Not every weekend can be like last weekend. If I had to pick a plan for this Saturday, I would get myself to a television at 4:00 PM and watch all the night games, nothing that's a must watch before then.

What We Think We Know After College Football's Week One

What a start to the season. I didn't think it could possibly live up to the expectations, but it most certainly did. And there's a lot of talking points that have come about from the weekend and it's time to go through them. I will preface this post by saying, these are far from stone cold facts, I think if you go back to years past, you'll find that making snap judgments after week one turned out to be a bad idea, but it's still important to recap.

The Preseason Polls Got Obliterated

Week one proved that preseason polls should never be relied upon. There are so many reasons why they're so unreliable but I won't say that they should be outlawed because they're a good starting point to the college football season. Could you imagine if college football made everyone unranked and waited until after week one to come out with their first top 25? It would be very hard for the television networks to promote their matchups without those preseason rankings.

All in all, there were 16 matchups between ranked teams vs unranked teams, and only six of those were between power 5 schools. Of those six matchups, three of those matchups went to the unranked team. To make matters even worse for the preseason rankings, all three of the teams that went down were top 10 teams. Even in the matchups between ranked teams and non-power 5 teams, many ranked teams looked quite underwhelming in their victories.

The SEC Besides Alabama/Georgia Doesn't Look Very Good, But Neither Does Anyone Else

You'd think that the SEC was the only conference that looked bad this past weekend. In truth, no conference looked all that good. While the SEC's Mississippi State began the post-Dak Prescott era with a loss to the Sun Belt's South Alabama, the Big Ten's Northwestern lost to the MAC's Western Michigan. And sure, preseason darling, Tennessee eeked out a win against Appalachian State, but Michigan State also eeked out a win to an FCS school, Furman and the Big Ten powerhouses (Ohio State, Michigan) had glorified bye weeks.

Heading out west, the Pac-12 South looks like a high school athletic league with how bad they played. UCLA was lucky to have gone to OT with Texas A&M, once again proving how overrated they are. While the other LA school, USC looked like an FCS school against Alabama as Lane Kiffin got his revenge for the tarmac firing. Then in the desert, BYU stooged Rich Rod's Arizona Wildcats, completing the terrible weekend for the Pac-12 South. Sure, UCLA can easily bounce back and make this division look respectable, but I'm not sure it's going to matter in the end. And even the Pac-12 North couldn't escape a lousy result as Washington State was upset by Eastern Washington.

Looking over the SEC, I do think the reigns need to be pulled back just a bit. There is one hyped team that I will write off and that teams is the LSU Tigers who once again have proven that they're allergic to the forward pass and Les Miles continues to commit coaching malpractice on an extremely talented team that will undoubtedly take the NFL by storm as they always do. I'm not ready to write off Ole Miss, I don't think losing to Florida State is anything to be ashamed of. I think Ole Miss can jump back into the picture with a win over Alabama in two weeks, but only just. After the first half of the Ole Miss/FSU game, I was ready to conclude that Alabama/Ole Miss was going to be a really tough game for the Tide since Ole Miss looked like they had the formula to give Alabama fits, but then an anemic hurry up offense and turnovers gave FSU the ingredients of a great comeback so the first half narrative got buried. And I think Texas A&M is a sleeper in the SEC West, their tremendous pass rush gave UCLA's Josh Rosen a nightmare but A&M will have to beat Alabama on the road in Tuscaloosa if they have any chance of making it to Atlanta.

Heading to the SEC East, Florida looks unimpressive and so does Tennessee. I'm quite bullish on the Gators until proven otherwise, but Tennesee can easily change their narrative next week against Virginia Tech but they might have to do so with a quarterback change as that appears to be what is holding back a very talented Vols squad. In three weeks, Tennessee will play Florida on Rocky Top and I still expect Tennessee to dominate the Gators, the week after that they'll play against Kirby Smart's Georgia in Athens which now appears to be the game of the year in the SEC East.

All in all, the SEC doesn't look good at all, but no conference out there looks all that strong either. The SEC did not face any FCS schools in week one, and with how crazy week one can be at times, that can often lead to some bad results, the jury is out on all the conferences and that may not change for several weeks.

Houston Looks Like A Playoff Contender, But Are They Really?

Nobody made a better statement in week one than the Houston Cougars as they upset the number 4 ranked, Oklahoma Sooners. And the voters responded by slingshotting the Cougars into the 6th spot in the rankings. The early response is that Houston will give the committee a huge discussion come December when the playoff is decided, but I'm still not convinced that this win is going to give them a fair shake, they're going to have to hope that Oklahoma bounces back and that Louisville stays strong in the ACC, or else the committee will probably make Houston the victim of the question that his plagued a lot of non-AQ teams, "What have you done for me lately?" Who knows, maybe Louisville will upset either Clemson/FSU or both and that game will act as a de facto national quarterfinal, we'll just have to keep a close eye on these factors as the weeks go on.

Texas Looks Like They're Back

I hate when pundits make proclamations like this about traditional powerhouses who just got one big win. Is Texas back? NO. They won't be back until they win the Big 12 and are in the College Football Playoff year in and year out. With that said, didn't they look impressive? That Tyrone Swoopes run in double OT is one of those plays I'll be replaying over and over again on youtube as the years go on, but again, I think I'm going to pump my brakes on this as well. Over the years, no team has been more overhyped and ballyhooed by the preseason polls than Notre Dame, if the Irish can pull off some wins as the year goes on, this win will still look impressive for Texas but if not, this will look like an epic overreaction by the national media.

As for Texas, we'll learn just how good they are in the coming weeks. I think they're going to blow out Cal in Berkeley because there's no way Cal's going to have any chance of tackling that 18 wheeler, Tyrone Swoopes and Cal already had trouble with Hawaii's offense so that says it all. Then on October 8th, the Red River Rivalry will commence again and we'll see if Oklahoma can salvage their season by beating their rivals and spurning the burnt orange momentum.

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What a week it was. I love college football and this past weekend has made me so excited for what the rest of the season has in store. I'll be coming up with the television guide for week two on Wednesday, we'll see if week two has any chance of measuring up to the amazing week one in college football.

College Football Is Back: Time To Mark Out

To be honest, I want to write about more than just baseball. And now that college football is here, I'm going to try to my best with all my personal musings. Here at "One Big Mark," I'll be following the theme of the "On A Wimm Podcast," and writing about whatever I want to write about. Whether that would be wrestling (that's where the term "mark" comes from), music, soccer, baseball, it doesn't matter.

And here's a little treat for all of you, a little bit of a weekend guide to the the first weekend of college football that I made for a coworker of mine that's trying to get into college football. Hope you enjoy it, this will be weekly feature all-season long. In this guide, you'll find television listings, what to watch for, my picks and most importantly: a backup game to watch if the game I've selected ends up being a blowout. I apologize in advance for having a blogging boner over Alabama, but come on, the talent on that team is definitely more than boner worthy.

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There will also be three games on Friday and there’s one that is definitely worth checking out.

The number 8 ranked Stanford Cardinal will take on the Kansas State Wildcats in a Big 12 vs Pac-12 matchup out in Palo Alto. Stanford will walk in as a 15 point favorite and all the focus will be on the Heisman Trophy favorite, Christian McCaffrey. You won’t be able to miss McCaffrey, he’ll lineup at Wide Receiver, Running back, punt returner, and kick returner and he can do it all. Stanford has a new quarterback starting for them in Ryan Burns, who shockingly beat out the favorite to win the job in, Keller Chryst. Keller is the son of former 49ers offensive coordinator, Geep Chryst and Keller was supposed to be the anointed one at Stanford after drawing comparisons to Andrew Luck out of high school and was ranked as the 2nd best quarterback out of high school a few years ago. Not much is known about Ryan Burns since all the preseason guides thought that Chryst would run away with the job, this shouldn’t matter since Stanford’s offensive line is so imposing that they should be able to push around K-State. Don’t count the Wildcats out though, their legendary coach, Bill Snyder will have his kids ready to play. Stanford’s not known for having the greatest environments when it comes to going to games, but if you’re looking to do something on Friday night, heading to Palo Alto for this one wouldn’t be a bad idea with tickets being quite reasonable.

Now to Saturday. Since I’ll be at work at 7 am, I’ll be able to do what I always do on Saturdays and that’s watch College Gameday, which is the show that always gets me excited for the day’s action. If I weren’t working, I’d still try to be up at 8:30 and watch the College Gameday panel make their picks and we’ll see who Lee Corso picks with a mascot head.

Usually, the 9 am games leave something to be desired and just deserve a casual look, not so on this Saturday. Right away, the action begins with the 3rd ranked Oklahoma Sooners taking on the number 15 ranked Houston Cougars in Houston. Over the past few years, Houston has consistently been talked about every season as a non-AQ that could make the College Football Playoff, and in order to make that happen, they will have to upset the Sooners in this game. The Sooners probably can’t afford a loss themselves and after Bob Stoops’ boys got dominated by Clemson in last year’s National Semifinal, Oklahoma will look to prove that they are surely the team to beat in the Big 12. When it comes to players to watch, look no further than Oklahoma quarterback, Baker Mayfield. He put up monster numbers last season for the Sooners and will likely be in the Heisman conversation for much of the year. Expect a lot of points in this matchup as the experts have the over/under at 68. Both teams run spread offenses that score a lot of points, and it should be a fun one in Houston, Oklahoma will walk in as a 12 point favorite, you really can’t ask for a better game to wake up for.

If for some reason, the Oklahoma/Houston game doesn’t live up to the hype, I’d flip between the Michigan/Hawaii game and the Ohio State/Bowling Green game. Both of those games should be blowout victories for the Big Ten powerhouses, but you never know.

For the 12:30 pm kickoff slot, the number 16 ranked UCLA Bruins heading to College Station, Texas to face the Texas A&M Aggies will definitely be a great matchup. This will be a Pac-12 vs SEC matchup and the unranked Aggies have been slated as a 3 point favorite. This is a little bit of a wonky line, which is typical for opening weekend games where there isn’t a whole lot of information for the bookies to make their lines, but reputation-wise, Pac-12 teams who go east on the road to the SEC generally have not fared well, historically. The question will be can the Bruins handle the SEC girth and speed that the Aggies possess and will the UCLA golden boy quarterback, Josh Rosen be given enough time to throw. Keep an eye on Josh Rosen, he should be one of the top QBs taken in 2018 NFL Draft and he’s a guy who never disappoints with a quote or two. For the Aggies, they run a spread system that should be a test for UCLA’s secondary that’s supposed to be quite good. On defense, the Aggies have one of the premier pass rushers in all of college football in Myles Garrett, I’d look for him every play to see how he does against the UCLA offensive line.

If that game doesn’t live up to the hype, you’ve got a hell of a back up plan in the number 5 ranked LSU Tigers facing the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field. It’ll be a fun SEC vs Big Ten matchup, and a chance to take a look at the guy who will most likely be the first running back taken in the 2017 NFL Draft, Leonard Fournette. Keep an eye on this one, I think the Badgers will keep it close going into the 4th Quarter, but you have to wonder how the Badgers defense will hold up having to contain Leonard Fournette for close to 30 carries in a game. LSU will be a 10 point favorite in Green Bay.

After the 12:30 games end, there’s usually a bit of a respite until the primetime games that begin at 5, but on this Saturday, there’s one game that will keep you busy before the big games at night and that will be between the 22nd ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and the 18th ranked Georgia Bulldogs in a ACC vs SEC matchup at the Georgia Dome. Technically, this is a neutral site game, but it will likely be a Georgia home game with the crowd. There’s been a lot of talk about Georgia in the offseason since they hired Kirby Smart to be their head coach, he came from Alabama where he was Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator for almost 10 years and has been given a lot of credit for making Alabama a defensive powerhouse. Over the past few months, Smart has battled Saban over a graduate transfer who wanted to leave Alabama for Georgia but Alabama wouldn’t let him because of SEC rules preventing inner-SEC transfers. Since then, the SEC has allowed the transfer to happen, but it was a fun exchange between the former pupil and the former master. I don’t really have much on North Carolina, but Georgia has a lot of talent and it will be interesting to see how Kirby Smart looks as the head coach. The Bulldogs have named the senior, Greyson Lambert as the starter but if he struggles we'll see if Smart turns to the higly touted true freshman, Jacob Eason who was ranked as the number one high school pocket passer in last season’s recruiting class. No matter who plays QB, the Bulldogs running game will be the focus with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel both being capable of having 1,000 yard seasons.

Now we head to the primetime slot, and what a game we got for primetime as we got the number one team in the country and the defending national champions Alabama Crimson Tide taking on the number 20 ranked USC Trojans from Jerryworld. Every year, there’s at least one big game to start the year at Jerryworld and Alabama has almost made Jerryworld a second home for them with how well they’ve played in that stadium. So much NFL talent will be on the field for both sides and there are so many subplots involved in this game, I’m just mad that I won’t be able to watch this one live. We’ll start with Alabama, Nick Saban is coming off a year where the Tide returned to the mountain top with a new innovative offense thanks to offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin. Before, Alabama ran a traditional, pro-style offense that relied heavily on the run, while Bama will always find their foundation in their downhill running game, Lane Kiffin has provided a creative play-calling style that has set school records through its first two years in Tuscaloosa, albeit with not the greatest of quarterbacks. Much of last year’s team has left for the NFL, but make no mistake about it, there won’t be much of a drop-off, and you could even say that Alabama is even better at a few positions. The bedrock for Alabama lies in their lines, and Alabama has the man who will undoubtedly be a top 10 pick in Cam Robinson who will be the blindside tackle for the Tide once again. On their defensive line, Alabama continues their strong lineage of huge defensive lineman, this year it will be Daron Payne manning the spot at nose tackle, and he’s been rated in the top 10 freaks in all of college football for what he does in the weight room. Since Nick Saban has taken over at Alabama, Alabama has been a force in stopping the run, but at times they haven’t had the pass rushers that take defenses to the next level, that changed last year with the production of Tim Williams and Jonathan Allen. That combo combined for over 20 sacks last year, Williams will play as an outside linebacker, while Allen will put his hand in the dirt. Watch Tim Williams especially, his first step in beating opposing tackles to the punch is amazing. When it comes to the skill positions, Alabama is stacked in the secondary with two lockdown corners in Marlon Humphrey and Minkah Fitzpatrick and they will be tested by USC wide receivers, JuJu Schuster and Adoree' Jackson.

Offensively, the Tide have had to replace their quarterback and their running back, but Alabama has proven time and time again that these are never problems for Nick Saban and co. Alabama has not named a starter but have just narrowed it down to two guys in Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett. Given Saban’s history of starting the veteran no matter what, it will likely be Cooper Bateman who is known to be quite timid in the passing game, Blake Barnett is probably the better player but we’ll see. Whoever starts will have a lot of talent to work with on the offensive side of the ball, he’ll get to throw to one of the best deep threats in the country in Calvin Ridley who will definitely be a first round pick in the 2018 draft. Ridley continues a tremendous lineage of great wide receivers during Saban’s tenure starting with Julio Jones, then going to Amari Cooper, and now Ridley, himself. One of the top tight ends in next year’s draft will be OJ Howard who had a monster National Title game but was underutilized for much of the year, we’ll see if he’s the x-factor for Lane Kiffin’s offense this season. In the backfield, Bama will again have a thunder and lightning attack, last year it was Heisman Trophy winner, Derrick Henry, who provided the thunder, this year it will be Bo Scarbrough who looks a lot like Derrick Henry, which will strike fear in plenty of SEC defensive coordinators this season. Last year, Kenyan Drake was the one who provided the lightning and now he will be playing for the Miami Dolphins this year, replacing him will be Damien Harris who impressed many during Alabama’s spring game in April.

USC is not what they used to be, but make no mistake about it, USC has the talent to compete with Alabama, especially in the trenches. However, a tough injury for USC means that they will lose their star left tackle and replace him with a true freshman. That could be devastating for USC who will have to contain Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams, and this won’t make it easy for their new quarterback, Max Browne who’s making his first career start. The key matchup will be between JuJu Schuster vs Marlon Humphrey and that’s going to have to be a battle that USC wins for them to have any chance. No matter what happens in this game, USC will be among the favorites to win the Pac-12 South. Alabama will walk into Dallas as 11.5 point favorites. Let’s see if Lane Kiffin can embarrass the team who still has a lot of players that he recruited.

There’s definitely a possibility that Alabama could run away from USC, if that happens, have no fear, there will be another good game to watch and that’s number 2 Clemson heading to Auburn, Alabama to take on the unranked, Auburn Tigers. In another ACC vs SEC matchup, all the focus will be on DeShaun Watson who is another Heisman contender and was last seen lighting up the Alabama defense in the national title game and just falling short, and he drew praise from Nick Saban who called him, “the most exciting QB in college football since Cam Newton.” Watson is an amazing quarterback prospect, he’s fun to watch and he’s the key to Clemson’s success. For Auburn, Jordan-Hare Stadium has always been a tough place to play and shockingly, Auburn named the underdog in their quarterback controversy by naming pocket passer, Sean White which is weird since John Franklin III was the favorite and a dual threat that seemed like a perfect fit for Gus Malzahn’s offense. So keep an eye on how Sean White does and see if Auburn gets tempted to put in JF3 at QB.

There’s one game in the “Pac-12 After Dark,” slot that’s worth a look and that’s the Arizona vs BYU game. Should be a fun game with a lot of points that’s perfect to end the Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be one game to watch and that’s the 10th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs the Texas Longhorns from Austin, Texas. Two traditional powerhouses facing each other is always pretty fun from a spectacle level, there’ll be 100,000 Longhorn fans singing “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You,” in this game and that should be fun. On the field, neither team has named a starting quarterback so we’ll see how that affects the game overall. A couple players to watch include Notre Dame wideout, Torii Hunter Jr. who’s the son of longtime MLB outfielder, Torii Hunter and for the Longhorns keep an eye on their middle linebacker Malik Jefferson. The Irish will be a 3.5 favorite over the Longhorns.

The best comes last in week one, and that’s for the number 4 ranked Florida State Seminoles taking on the number 11 ranked Ole Miss Rebels in third ACC vs SEC battle of the weekend. This one will be a neutral site game at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Plenty of NFL talent in this one, for Jimbo Fisher’s squad it all starts with their junior tailback, Dalvin Cook. Cook is my favorite running back in all of college football, I suggest watching his highlight tape, it’s a lot of fun. Pro Football Focus loves them some Dalvin Cook and that’s because Cook had a better elusive rate than all the running backs taken in last year’s NFL Draft, and with all the talk centering around Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette, NFL scouts say that Cook is just as good as Leonard Fournette. I look for him to have a huge game against a talented SEC defense and insert himself into the Heisman race. For the Rebels, it’s been a rough offseason with all that happened with how Laremy Tunsil left the program and brought an NCAA investigation. They still have one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Chad Kelly who is the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer, Jim Kelly. Chad Kelly’s a solid dual threat quarterback, but he lost some of his weapons that he had on the team last year, most notably, Laquon Treadwell. It should be a fun one, and you get to hear the Seminole War Chant to echo all game long. The Seminoles will be a 4 point favorite in Orlando.

Recap and Television Guide

Friday

6 pm: Kansas State Wildcats @ #8 Stanford Cardinal (-13.5) (Watch and see if it’s good) FS1 Pick: Stanford covers.

Saturday

9 am: #15 Houston Cougars vs #3 Oklahoma Sooners (-10) (Crack Open a Beer And Enjoy) ABC Pick: Oklahoma wins but fails to cover.

        backup: Bowling Green Falcons @ #6 Ohio State Buckeyes Big Ten Network

        other backup: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors @ #7 Michigan Wolverines ESPN

12:30 pm: #16 UCLA Bruins @ Texas A&M Aggies (-3) (Crack Open A Beer And Enjoy) CBS Pick: A&M wins and covers.

                backup: #5 LSU Tigers vs Wisconsin Badgers ABC

2:30 pm: #18 Georgia Bulldogs (-3) vs #22 North Carolina Tarheels (OHHHH YEAHHH) ESPN Pick: UGA covers.

5 pm: #20 USC Trojans vs #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-11.5) (Could be a blowout) ABC Pick: Bama smashes the spread.

        backup: 6 pm #2 Clemson Tigers @ Auburn Tigers ESPN

7:30 pm: BYU Cougars vs Arizona Wildcats (-3) (Underrated Game, worth a look to end the day) FS1 Pick: Arizona covers.

Sunday

4:30 pm: #10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-3.5) @ Texas Longhorns (Could be a fun one) ABC Pick: The Irish cover. 

Monday

5 pm: #11 Ole Miss Rebels vs #4 Florida State Seminoles (-4.5) (My Game of the Week) ESPN Pick: FSU covers.