College Football Week 11 Thread

No politics, sports only. Especially this week.

This week’s top 10 games, based on the Athletic’s ranking of teams from 1-134, in order of starting time.

1. #4 Miami at #49 Georgia Tech, 12, ESPN. OK, one of these days, Miami’s terrible defense is going to bite it. Cam Ward has been great this year, though having watched him so closely at Washington State when the Pac-12 was a thing, I can’t believe this idea of him as the top QB in the draft. If that’s the truth, don’t draft a QB! But can Georgia Tech be the team that ends Miami’s undefeated season? Probably not. Miami does have a bad defense but Tech can’t score enough points even against the other bad ACC defenses And ACC defenses are very bad this year! Miami -11 seems about right to me.
2. #51 Florida at #5 Texas, 12, ABC. I thought Georgia really exposed Texas as total frauds. I don’t believe that will be the Longhorns last loss. But Florida is down to a walk on transfer from Yale at QB. No way, not this week.
3. #2 Georgia at #16 Ole Miss, 3:30 ABC. This is one of the two big SEC matches of the week. The question is whether the Fighting Kiffins are real. I don’t think they are. But it is home, Georgia has looked flawed at times, and if Ole Miss plays a really good game, they have a chance. Georgia is at -2.5. I’d take Georgia there.
4. #35 Michigan at #9 Indiana, 3:30, CBS. The Hoosiers sure are a fun story. Sure they’ve had a very easy schedule. But whatever. Michigan doesn’t help their schedule much. Oregon played an OK game at Ann Arbor and beat the Wolverines by 21. Indiana -14 and I might take the Hoosiers there. Michigan simply cannot move the ball, they are beat up on defense, and are not a good football team.
5. #25 Clemson at #43 Virginia Tech, 3:30, ESPN. This one could be interesting. Clemson was totally exposed last week as the frauds they are and were punished in the polls appropriately. Virginia Tech is not that good this year, but they are at home and this is a big game for the Hokies. Clemson is -6.5, which seems pretty right, a game that they should win but where one would not be shocked with an upset. This would probably be my upset pick of the week.
6. #19 Colorado at #31 Texas Tech, 4, FOX. This could be a really fun game. Colorado has had a much better year than I’d have thought. Meanwhile, Tech looked horrible early in the season but has put together a quietly nice season, capped by ending Iowa State’s run as an undefeated team last week, and in Ames nonetheless. This is a good line at Colorado -3.5, not sure what I’d do here except not bet.
7. #26 South Carolina at #24 Vanderbilt, 4:15, SEC. Vandy earned entering the top 25. South Carolina has looked pretty good lately though, having nearly beaten Alabama, slamming Oklahoma, and then really hammering Texas A&M. Vandy is a nice story and I guess you can argue they have shown they can beat anyone, but I’d easily take South Carolina -3.5 here.
8. #13 Alabama at #15 LSU, 7, ABC. This is the other big SEC matchup. Bama seems to have figured it out last week. But on the road at LSU? While I don’t love this LSU team at all, I’d take LSU +2.5 here.
9. #48 Oklahoma at #23 Missouri, 7:45, SEC. In previous years, I’d say Oklahoma should be competitive hear at least, but they just have not looked good this year. They are 1-4 in the SEC now. Missouri is only -1.5. That’s an easy call for the Tigers for me.
10. #42 Washington at #8 Penn State, 8, Peacock. Wait, are you telling me that Penn State failed in a big game? Under James Franklin? I cannot believe what I am hearing! But since we have so many examples of Penn State failing in big games, we know that they usually come back the next week and handle lesser opponents. Washington is definitely a lesser opponent this year. Penn State -13 seems about right, though I could see Washington making this closer in a low scoring game overall.