Well I think I'll enjoy this week because ND doesn't play a game! The players need a week off and so do I! :roll: But as always there are some excellent and meaningful games this week. Starts on Thurs Night Miami at Va.Tech Two teams with new coaches who look like they made the right moves with their coaching hires. Both however are coming off of losses, VaTech couldn't handle the high tempo of Syracuse and i don't know what happened to Miami vs UNC. But going to Lane Stadium on Thurs night will be a challenge for the Hurricanes. BYU at Boise State ...BYU no doubt stung by the rejection of the B12 and facing an excellent Boise State team will have it's work cut out for them. I like that BYU is on a little bit of a roll having gone into East Lansing and beaten MSU and then beating SEC team Miss State at home. So this should be a good game, advantage though to the guys with the ugly carpet. If Boise can run the table they have a punchers chance of the playoffs and certainly a New Years Six Bowl. Question is will that result in Byron Harsin leaving for a big job like LSU or Texas or ? Friday Night game Oregon at CAL ... Ducks desperately need a win, they've lost 4 in a row and were humiliated by Washington. The Duck defense is just the medicine that CAL ordered for their version of the Air Raid Offense lead by Davis Webb. Duck coach is looking like a dead duck, or wounded duck at the very least. Phil Knight can't be happy. Saturday Texas A&M at Alabama. THE BIG GAME of the day. After watching the destruction of Tenn though, I fear for the Aggies going into Tuscaloosa. Is Myles Garrett 100%? They have had a week off to prepare, I hope the coach didn't let them watch the Tenn game though. But they still have to play the game and upsets do happen. NC State at Louisville. NC State is maybe better than people thought and Louisville certainly showed they are capable of a bad game vs Duke. So who knows what happens, I do expect thought that Lamar Jackson will make some spectacular plays and the Cardinals will win. Texas at KState...Longhorns looked good on defense vs Iowa State, but have had little success in Manhattan Ks vs Bill Synder. This is the kid of game that Charlie has to win if he's going to be back in 2017. I think KState is a little banged up at QB, so if the Texas defense front 7 can get after him it could be the differenc. TCU at WVU is a big game in the B12 as WVU is undefeated and with the conference not really strong right now, they have a shot at winning their first conf championship. Ark at Auburn...Auburn seems to be getting better every week, at home vs the Hogs who are struggling having already lost to A&M and Alabama. The win vs Ole Miss last week was big for them. But Auburn seems to have finally settled in at QB so they might be a tough out the rest of the way. OU at Texas Tech...Red Raiders can't afford another loss, WVU beating them soundly has got to have Coach GQ on a warmer and warmer seat. For OU maybe Baker Mayfield has a little motivation here as well. I like the Sooners here. Ole Miss at LSU ...newly minted Cajun HC Ohjayron for the Tigers maybe has Leonard Fournette back, it's reported that he asked to practice this week. Ole another team that can't have another loss. Wazzu at ASU ... Not much D in Tempe, a lot of O in Pullman. Wazzu roles. Ohio State at PSU...Buckeyes Roll. Penn State a good not great team. MSU at Maryland....Spartans need a win, badly. Maryland on it's on losing streak. Toss up. Utah at UCLA ..Utes need to keep wining. Is Josh Rosen back for UCLA if he isn't they aren't likely to win. Illinois at Mich...Lovie will wish he was back at Soldier Field. No love in AA. Purdue at Neb...no chance here for the Boilers, no HC. Huskers keep the undefeated season alive. Colorado at Stanford. This is an interesting game, the Buffs are much much better than they have been, and even with the Stanford win at South Bend I'm not sure how good the Tree's really are this season. I could see Colorado beating them. Stanford couldn't put up many points against an Irish defense with all freshmen in the DB positions. So plenty of interesting games to watch. Houston and Navy both have conference games this weekend against opponents (SMU and Memphis) that they should beat. Navy sort of in the drivers seat for the AAC championship game with the win over Houston. The Gators and Tenn are off this week as are the Irish.
Oh yeah, and I listened to the Press Conference on B12 expansion last night on the way home from work...what a waste of time. The OU Pres Boren and B12 Commish Bowlesby spent the whole time patting themselves on the back for the thorough and thoughtful and complete review of all the facts and did I say they thought they were thorough? That's all they talked about, oh yeah and they learned that the schools that independently applied were really good places with actual academics and sports programs and should be proud of themselves. But thank you, we're staying pat, but we were thorough and our AD's were thorough and considerate and our Presidents council was thorough and thoughtful.
Terry, Funny enough, your impression of that press conference mirrors my exact reaction to it as well. The Big12 is delusional.
Small fire at Notre Dame Stadium today. Which of course given the season has generated many jokes. http://www.wndu.com/content/sports/Emergency-crews-called-to-Notre-Dame-Stadium-fire-397629451.html
Stu any speculation on the Purdue boards on the coaches that Bobinski might be looking at for the replacement of Hazell? Is PJ Fleck at the top of the wish list?
Lots of speculation...only about 50 candidates. :shock: Fleck is the Flavor of the Month...but so was Hazell. Miles is mentioned...then compared to Akers (big name guy finishing out his career in a half hearted manner). Even Tiller seemed to leave to go fishing early. Might want somebody younger. Pelini mentioned. Brock Spack mentioned. My guess is that it will be none of them...I'm betting the field. 8)
Fred Akers...alive and well up in Horseshoe Bay a beautiful community on a lake NW of Austin. He was inducted into both the Longhorn Hall of Honor and the Texas Sports HOF. Frankly I'm surprised at both. He had a decent career as a HC at Texas, some really good teams could have won a NC if it weren't for Joe Montana. But I mostly remember him for running off Jeff George.
I know I liked Fred... We beat him like a rented mule while I was in school. 8) I'm only concerned with one game this week... It's pretty simple for the Aggies. We need Myles Garrett to be healthy enough to be the game changer he is, and we need Trevor Knight NOT to have any brainfarts throwing the ball to the wrong team. It would also be nice if our WR's made some clutch catches. We've had quite a few drops this year and that has not helped Knight's completion percentage. Go in there and make them play all 4 quarters.
Miami at VT No idea how this ends up. I thought Miami had figured it out, but didn't take care of business. VT looked good, but it was against Syr. Gotta believe Miami can get it done, even in Blacksburg. BYU at BSU Both need to lose. UO at Cal There's a whole lot of North teams looking to pour it on. Cal has the offense to do it. A&M at Bama HUGE game. Everything is set up about as good as it can be for the Aggies. Tenn didn't give the Tide much of a run, but it did prevent Saban for game planning early. 17 points looks to be way too many points despite how good Bama has looked. Look for massive pressure on the Tide QB and reduced production. Which will lead to a good ol' fashioned slugfest in the trenches and run game. Will that be enough? I look forward to seeing where the top of the SECW ends up! NCSU at Louis Louisville played with close with Duke, but it really wasn't that close. NCSU should have beat Clemson, but three mistakes late will allow the more talented team to escape. Louisville is the more talented team in this one. tu at KSU How should this even be a contest? Longhorns have top 10 recruiting every year. Snyder is lucky to see the 40s. TCU at WV WV is better than I gave them credit of being. I'm still not a believer of them making it through without a couple losses. Ark at Auburn Ark is a load. But it is on the Plains. This could go either way but Auburn will be sore Monday regardless. OU at TT No excuse for OU to lose this one. Miss at LSU I guess it'll take a fourth loss to get Ole Miss out of the T25?? With those impressive wins against Wofford, UGA and Memphis are worthy of #23? Coach O can sure fire up the troops. Maybe L #4 will get Ole Miss down to #25. Wazzu at ASU Another North vs. South matchup. The P12N is 5-4 against P12S so far this year. ASU has a 2-2 conference record, 1-2 in the South Wazzu has a 3-0 conference record, 2-0 in the North Wazzu still controls its own destiny, even with a loss to ASU. CU destroyed ASU last weekend 40-16, which bodes well for Leach's version of the Raid. The Cougar defense has the ability to create havoc, so there is no reason this should be close or in doubt late. Except, you know, Cougars. OSU at PSU OSU shouldn't leave doubt here. MSU at MD What happened to MSU? They have been WAY below what I thought they would be. Especially on the defensive side of the ball! UU at UCLA UU is seriously banged up and barely took down OrSU last weekend. UCLA is tough, especially with all the head-hunting they do. They are kind of douchey. I'm hoping for a Ute win here. Ill at UM That matchup at the end of the season stays safe! PU at NU NU still needs to play someone to let me know who they are. CU at Stan No way Colorado is better than Stanford...? It sure looks that way from the way each teams been playing, though.
For those of you that really don't pay attention to WSU football (heck, they've had four 2200 ET starts so far this year, with two more the next two weeks) I offer this article: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/oct/19/wsu-footballs-cody-oconnell-is-the-big-cat-on-camp/
That's amazing, Kes. A respected group rates your OL second in the country. I can't stay up to was your late games, but you can bet that this season when the eyes of the nation look west, theyre looking toward the two teams in Washington.
Biggest favorites this weekend? Washington 36.5 fav over Oregon State Michigan 35.5 fav over Illinois Neb 24 fav over Purdue Houston 21 fav over SMU Ohio State 19.5 fav over PSU Alabama 18.5 fav over A&M
Sid - Understood. Since moving to the Central time zone, it's been rough staying up to watch Wazzu finish their games. Then last weekend, in the Eastern time zone, I'm not sure I didn't fall asleep during half time and miss part of the third quarter. :shock: