A surprisingly good weekend even after the Louisville West Virginia blockbuster tonight. In addition to the games listed below VaTech is facing off against Miami, Maryland still in the ACC title hunt is facing Clemson and one loss Wisconsin is facing Penn St. These three missed the cut however because they have zero national title implications.
5. Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas A&M Aggies in College Station
The Longhorns of Texas may seem like they have a chance for a return to the title game and are a lock for the Big 12 South title but don't tell that to the Aggies yet as they only have one loss thus far this season. The Aggies begin the Big 12 gauntlet this week starting with Oklahoma then Nebraska and finishing with Texas if they can run the table they will snatch away the South title. My thoughts are that even without A-Pete the Sooners still have too much talent for the Aggies to handle even at home. The Pick: Oklahoma, has Franchione won a big game yet?
4. Boston College Eagles vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem
I'm willing to gamble that if I had been doing the Big 5 for 10 years that this would be the first time I would have ever mention the Demon Deacons. However, currently there is a three way tie a top the ACC ATL and one of those teams just happens to be Wake. Just dig a little deeper into Wake Forest schedule for a second and you'll see no quality wins and a one point win against Duke early in the season. Wake is a product of early easy conference scheduling and poor out of conference scheduling. The Pick: BC by a 10ish.
3. Arkansas Razorbacks vs. South Carolina Gamecocks in the Cockland
I can tell you one thing about Saturday nights game between the Razorbacks and the Gamecocks and that is that once Auburn thumps cross state school Arkansas St. They will head directly to the TV at night put on their Gamecock gear and be hooting and hollering for Steve Spurrier because they need the Razorbacks to drop 2 more games this year to have any chance at the national title. This is the 4th time this season that Spurrier has hosted a ranked team and they currently sit at 0-3. The Razorbacks haven't faced any competition since the Auburn thumping and with Tennessee and LSU coming up on the sched this game is essential. The Pick: South Carolina by a couple as Auburn gets their wish.
2. Louisiana State Tigers vs. Tennessee Volunteers at Rocky Top
LSU is completely living off their preseason rankings. They are ranked 13th in the country and have yet to beat a single decent team this season. They've had two opportunities and have done nothing on offense scoring a whopping 13 points against Auburn and Florida. Why would anyone assume that they are going to turn the switch against Tennessee in Rocky Top? The Pick: Tennessee wins comfortably.
1. West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Louisville Cardinals in Louisville
The Biggest Big East show down in the since the split off of the ACC defuncts. ESPN has to be watering at the mouth at the fact that this is an undefeated show down, on a thursday night opposed by no other sporting event. The winner of this game becomes the favorite to take the second spot in the National Title game, yes over those SEC 1 loss teams. I honestly, believe that Louisville if they run the table will be more deserving of the title game, even though they will be less of a lock. My money is on ESPN whole heartedly rooting for Louisville tonight, why you may ask? Well if the Cardinals win tonight then guess what, ESPN gets back to back thursday night undefeated Big East showdowns as Louisville is headed to New Jersey to face undefeated Rutgers.
To predict this game and break it down is almost as hard as game could be this late in the season because really neither of these teams has faced a very good team yet this season. The best team either played was Louisville crushing Miami and as we have seen in latter weeks, they aren't very good. Neither team has faced either of the other top teams in the Big East (Pitt & Rutgers). And neither team has particularly struggled against the weaker competition. All you really can look at is how these teams faced off last year and what has changed and what has stayed the same. The Pick: West Virginia by a couple, Brahm has yet to regain his 2005 form and without the grinding running of Michael Bush who dominated the Mountaineers last season the WVU will be able to put even more pressure on the QB.
5. Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas A&M Aggies in College Station
The Longhorns of Texas may seem like they have a chance for a return to the title game and are a lock for the Big 12 South title but don't tell that to the Aggies yet as they only have one loss thus far this season. The Aggies begin the Big 12 gauntlet this week starting with Oklahoma then Nebraska and finishing with Texas if they can run the table they will snatch away the South title. My thoughts are that even without A-Pete the Sooners still have too much talent for the Aggies to handle even at home. The Pick: Oklahoma, has Franchione won a big game yet?
4. Boston College Eagles vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem
I'm willing to gamble that if I had been doing the Big 5 for 10 years that this would be the first time I would have ever mention the Demon Deacons. However, currently there is a three way tie a top the ACC ATL and one of those teams just happens to be Wake. Just dig a little deeper into Wake Forest schedule for a second and you'll see no quality wins and a one point win against Duke early in the season. Wake is a product of early easy conference scheduling and poor out of conference scheduling. The Pick: BC by a 10ish.
3. Arkansas Razorbacks vs. South Carolina Gamecocks in the Cockland
I can tell you one thing about Saturday nights game between the Razorbacks and the Gamecocks and that is that once Auburn thumps cross state school Arkansas St. They will head directly to the TV at night put on their Gamecock gear and be hooting and hollering for Steve Spurrier because they need the Razorbacks to drop 2 more games this year to have any chance at the national title. This is the 4th time this season that Spurrier has hosted a ranked team and they currently sit at 0-3. The Razorbacks haven't faced any competition since the Auburn thumping and with Tennessee and LSU coming up on the sched this game is essential. The Pick: South Carolina by a couple as Auburn gets their wish.
2. Louisiana State Tigers vs. Tennessee Volunteers at Rocky Top
LSU is completely living off their preseason rankings. They are ranked 13th in the country and have yet to beat a single decent team this season. They've had two opportunities and have done nothing on offense scoring a whopping 13 points against Auburn and Florida. Why would anyone assume that they are going to turn the switch against Tennessee in Rocky Top? The Pick: Tennessee wins comfortably.
1. West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Louisville Cardinals in Louisville
The Biggest Big East show down in the since the split off of the ACC defuncts. ESPN has to be watering at the mouth at the fact that this is an undefeated show down, on a thursday night opposed by no other sporting event. The winner of this game becomes the favorite to take the second spot in the National Title game, yes over those SEC 1 loss teams. I honestly, believe that Louisville if they run the table will be more deserving of the title game, even though they will be less of a lock. My money is on ESPN whole heartedly rooting for Louisville tonight, why you may ask? Well if the Cardinals win tonight then guess what, ESPN gets back to back thursday night undefeated Big East showdowns as Louisville is headed to New Jersey to face undefeated Rutgers.
To predict this game and break it down is almost as hard as game could be this late in the season because really neither of these teams has faced a very good team yet this season. The best team either played was Louisville crushing Miami and as we have seen in latter weeks, they aren't very good. Neither team has faced either of the other top teams in the Big East (Pitt & Rutgers). And neither team has particularly struggled against the weaker competition. All you really can look at is how these teams faced off last year and what has changed and what has stayed the same. The Pick: West Virginia by a couple, Brahm has yet to regain his 2005 form and without the grinding running of Michael Bush who dominated the Mountaineers last season the WVU will be able to put even more pressure on the QB.
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