Depending on when I do this, I don't usually include the Thursday or Friday matchups but now that the Friday night matchup is over with Washington battering Stanford to insert themselves into the CFB Playoff conversation and effectively ending Stanford's title hopes, I figure it's worth nothing. Washington looks to be the new power in the Pac-12, with Oregon having a down year and since they've knocked off Stanford, they're now in the driver's seat to win the Pac-12 title and beat whoever comes out of that Pac-12 South dumpster fire. Here's the preview for your college football Saturday, there's a nice blend of good conference matchups and a big one that is pretty much a college football quarterfinal (though it's a little early to call it that).
9:00 am slot
#22 Texas Longhorns @ Oklahoma State (-1.5) ESPN
I must say, this year's 9:00 am slot games have been quite solid to start the year. Usually, they have been mere appetizers. While this year we've had marquee matchups and just pure fun ones that get you even more excited for the rest of the day's matchups. In this one, you have a couple of high scoring offenses that should put up some points but in general, these teams shouldn't decide anything in the Big 12 this season but you never know, since the Big 12 has been pure chaos this year with no teams grabbing the brass ring as that top team in the conference. Texas is a team that's still figuring things out while Oklahoma State is a team that's playing below expectations, but it should be fun, given the last couple of meetings between these teams. During the week in Stillwater, Oklahoma, there was a report that said that Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was not on speaking terms with T. Boone Pickens. Who's T. Boone Pickens? Some really rich guy who has given Oklahoma State so much money that the OK State football stadium is named after him. If you had a Jeopardy! category called "Famous University Donors," I'm sure that T. Boone Pickens would be involved in that.
My Pick: Oklahoma State covers.
Backup (but not really a backup): #14 Miami Hurricanes (-7.5) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ESPN2
I wouldn't call this a backup, I'd say both of these games are equal in terms of how good they can be. I'd say just go with the one that ends up being the better game and stick with it. I like this game because of the possibility of Georgia Tech providing their annual upset since they always seem to beat one team, and I'm intrigued by this Miami team since they're sneakily undefeated. I expect Miami to roll, but you never know.
My Pick: Miami covers.
12:30 pm slot
#8 Wisconsin Badgers @ #4 Michigan Wolverines (-11.0) ABC
All year I've been showing Wisconsin no respect, and with the point spread, it looks like Las Vegas agrees with me. Well, here's their chance to earn their stripes as they head to Ann Arbor to face Jim Harbaugh's squad in front of 110,000 fans at the Big House. Michigan is a team that hasn't really been tested this year, but they've looked impressive most of the time in their victories against inferior opposition. The man to watch in this game is Jabrill Peppers, he'll be everywhere on defense and he'll be returning punts, he's definitely going to be a first round pick in next year's draft and his on-field speed is startling when you see it. I'm not sure Wisconsin has the offensive firepower to trouble Michigan, but their defense seems legit through the first few weeks of the season. This game will likely decide who's going to be the team that challenges Ohio State for the Big Ten championship.
My Pick: Michigan covers.
Backup: #11 Tennessee Volunteers (-3.5) @ #25 Georgia Bulldogs CBS
This one's the SEC Game of the Week and it's a solid jersey combination as this game will likely lock things up for Tennessee in the SEC East. This game would've been a much bigger game if Georgia had beaten Ole Miss last week, but instead, they were blown out by 30 points and instead Georgia fans have been taken back down to earth by their young team. Tennesee, on the other hand made their statement in a huge way. And that was all done by scoring 35 straight 2nd half points to shock the Florida Gators and end the 11 losing streak they had running against the Gators. In that one-half of football, Tennesee finally lived up to the expectations that many had thrown onto them before the season started and here they are, undefeated and heading to Athens, Georgia trying to lock up the SEC East for the first time since 2007. I love any big game in Athens because it means I get to say, "Between the Hedges," as much as I want. And this is in reference to Georgia's stadium which has a hedge surrounding the field. It's a really unique stadium that has featured a lot of great game over the years. Looking at the quarterbacks, Tennessee has a senior in Josh Dobbs, while Georgia has a true freshman in Jacob Eason. Josh Dobbs has struggled all year if you leave out the second half of the Florida game, while Jacob Eason has shown moments of brilliance that remind everyone why he was the number one recruit in college football last season. It'll be interesting to see if that second half Tennessee team was real or just a fluke because that will likely dictate how good this Tennessee team really is. One thing to note is that Georgia's star running back Nick Chubb is out for this game with an injury.
My Pick: Tennessee covers.
2:00 pm Slot
Oklahoma Sooners (-3.5) @ #21 TCU Horned Frogs FOX
Usually, there aren't any compelling games at a time like 2:00 since the networks don't like to put games up against the 12:30 games but here's a notable one as Oklahoma heads to Fort Worth for an important Big 12 matchup. I honestly was surprised to learn that Oklahoma is now unranked, but I guess the voters are going to punish a team that loses two of its first three games and then go into a bye week. Granted, those two losses came up against two teams that are now in the top 10, but I guess the voters don't care. Like everyone in the Big 12 except Baylor both these teams took at least one loss in their non-conference games, for TCU, they lost to Arkansas in an OT thriller, while Oklahoma lost to Houston and Ohio State. This game should have important implications for the Big 12 championship, the winner will likely play Baylor for the Big 12 title later on in the season. The two quarterbacks are quite interesting themselves, Baker Mayfield for Oklahoma was a guy who many believed would become a Heisman frontrunner but with the losses early in the season, that has gone out the window, I'm waiting for him to live up to the level of what he did last year but we'll see. Kenny Hill has a similar skill set to Mayfield but he's a better runner while Mayfield is the better passer. Both of these quarterbacks are transfers from other Texas schools, Mayfield walked on at Texas Tech and then transferred to OU, while Hill was at Texas A&M and took over for Johnny Manziel, and then Hill got into some issues later in his sophomore season which saw him suspended and even arrested for public intoxication in the offseason, all of that would lead to his departure from A&M and a transfer to Fort Worth. This will be a good game to watch if all the 12:30 games turn into stinkers (the other 12:30 game to look out for is Florida State/North Carolina).
My Pick: Oklahoma (I hope they show up) covers.
Primetime 5:00 pm slot
#3 Louisville Cardinals (-1.5) @ #5 Clemson Tigers ABC
What a great matchup this is going to be. I'll start with the atmosphere, this game will be played at Death Valley, and it's where ranked teams go to die. Clemson even has a graveyard to commemorate every single win that Clemson has had against a ranked team. And at Death Valley, you have one of the greatest entrances in all of sports. And that's just the intangibles, this game has a tremendous quarterback battle between two Heisman frontrunners in Louisville's Lamar Jackson and Clemson's DeShaun Watson. Lamar Jackson has 25 total touchdowns this season, which is already a college football record for this point of the season. He has gone Madden 04 Michael Vick on all of his competition, especially against Florida State when they bullwhipped the Seminoles 63-20. DeShaun Watson, on the other hand hasn't put up the crazy numbers that everyone expected after last year's season but we all know what he's capable of. I don't think I need to say any more about what's at stake in this game, I think it will basically be a quarterfinal matchup in the college football playoffs but it is a little early and there are some big games left on the schedule for both teams. This game will also probably decide which way the Heisman race goes into depending on who has the better game between Watson and Jackson. Clemson's defense could be the difference in this one, and we'll see if they're the unit that can slow down Lamar Jackson.
My Pick: Louisville.
NO BACKUP
Pac-12 After Dark
6:30 pm Oregon Ducks (-1.5) @ Washington State Pac-12 Network
Oregon already appears to be going through a rebuilding year after two straight losses, but this game should feature a lot of points up in Pullman, Washington.
My Pick: Washington State.
7:30 pm Arizona @ UCLA (-14) ESPN
Arizona nearly played spoiler to Washington last week before losing in Overtime, and this week they play UCLA who are coming off a heartbreaking loss to Stanford that has killed the buzz on their season. With how the Pac-12 South is, everything is up for grabs but this should be a nice game to finish up before bed after the Clemson/Louisville game ends.
My Pick: Arizona with the points.
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