Upset Alert
A quiet, but very good slate of games this weekend to keep an eye on. As we get closer to the end of the year, the potential for a big upset goes up and this weekend looks prime.
Head North on I-35 for two hours, hang out for four hours, head back down south for two hours. That's pretty much all I've got to say about Texas at Baylor this weekend. Look, the Bears had a nice win over Mizzou last weekend, but this should be ridiculous. Even if Mack holds off the dogs, which he most certainly will at some point, this shouldn't be close.
Of course, if I remember correctly, Texas entered the second quarter of last weekend's game down 3-0. Sooo.....right. Don't be surprised to see another slow start for the offense with stalled drives on head-scratching play calling (and probably a horrible INT tossed in), while the defense just smothers those poor bastards. Then the offense will put up 30 points between middle of the 2nd and middle of the 3rd.
Texas - 42
Baylor - 6
Nice little upset discussion with Vassberg this week. So my buddy sent me 3 games with a proclamation that 2 of the 3 would fall. It was a good slate of games that warranted further thought and discussion. Those games were...
West Virginia at Cincinnati - Before I start, how is it that this game is on Friday night? That's ridiculous - this is damn good game. So on the surface, this has upset written all over it. West Virginia is a good team and their losses are relatively respectable (at Auburn and at South Florida) - not powerhouses, but most definitely respectable opponents. Unfortunately, they don't have a big, quality win. Colorado or UCONN are their biggest wins. They'll get their chance for the rest of the year where they close at Cincy, Pitt at home, and Rutgers on the road....Rutgers who absolutely crushed South Florida last night. I'm not seeing this one - Cincy has gone on the road to crush Rutgers, Oregon State and South Florida. They're for real. I'm taking Cincy in a tough win.
Utah at TCU - I was skeptical early this year, but TCU is pretty damn good. Utah is good too, but I can't help but to think they're cashing in on their recent, sustained success this year - I don't think they are near as good as they were last year. Utah is 35th in total offense and 18th in total defense nationwide - that's a balanced team. Like the above-mentioned Mountaineers, they lack a truly quality win, but they do have their lone loss as a quality loss - 7 point loss on the road at Oregon. TCU has gone to Virginia, to Clemson, and to BYU and won big except for Clemson...and oh yeah, if we're looking at apples to apples - they are 8th in total offense and 3rd in total defense nationwide. On paper, TCU certainly gets the edge, and they're at home...TCU in a close, close game.
Florida at South Carolina - Now this one I can see. Much like a few other teams, the Gators have been underwhelming when compared to expectations for them coming into the year. Doesn't mean they suck, just means they lost more than folks realized. Meanwhile, South Carolina is 6-4 with all four losses coming on the road against conference opponents (Bama, Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas). I'm not saying the Gamecocks are going to win, but I'm saying this is their one, big shot this year to make a statement game. In my humble opinion, if there's going to be one, this is the one.
Some of the other hidden gem games and other nonsense...
Head North on I-35 for two hours, hang out for four hours, head back down south for two hours. That's pretty much all I've got to say about Texas at Baylor this weekend. Look, the Bears had a nice win over Mizzou last weekend, but this should be ridiculous. Even if Mack holds off the dogs, which he most certainly will at some point, this shouldn't be close.
Of course, if I remember correctly, Texas entered the second quarter of last weekend's game down 3-0. Sooo.....right. Don't be surprised to see another slow start for the offense with stalled drives on head-scratching play calling (and probably a horrible INT tossed in), while the defense just smothers those poor bastards. Then the offense will put up 30 points between middle of the 2nd and middle of the 3rd.
Texas - 42
Baylor - 6
Nice little upset discussion with Vassberg this week. So my buddy sent me 3 games with a proclamation that 2 of the 3 would fall. It was a good slate of games that warranted further thought and discussion. Those games were...
West Virginia at Cincinnati - Before I start, how is it that this game is on Friday night? That's ridiculous - this is damn good game. So on the surface, this has upset written all over it. West Virginia is a good team and their losses are relatively respectable (at Auburn and at South Florida) - not powerhouses, but most definitely respectable opponents. Unfortunately, they don't have a big, quality win. Colorado or UCONN are their biggest wins. They'll get their chance for the rest of the year where they close at Cincy, Pitt at home, and Rutgers on the road....Rutgers who absolutely crushed South Florida last night. I'm not seeing this one - Cincy has gone on the road to crush Rutgers, Oregon State and South Florida. They're for real. I'm taking Cincy in a tough win.
Utah at TCU - I was skeptical early this year, but TCU is pretty damn good. Utah is good too, but I can't help but to think they're cashing in on their recent, sustained success this year - I don't think they are near as good as they were last year. Utah is 35th in total offense and 18th in total defense nationwide - that's a balanced team. Like the above-mentioned Mountaineers, they lack a truly quality win, but they do have their lone loss as a quality loss - 7 point loss on the road at Oregon. TCU has gone to Virginia, to Clemson, and to BYU and won big except for Clemson...and oh yeah, if we're looking at apples to apples - they are 8th in total offense and 3rd in total defense nationwide. On paper, TCU certainly gets the edge, and they're at home...TCU in a close, close game.
Florida at South Carolina - Now this one I can see. Much like a few other teams, the Gators have been underwhelming when compared to expectations for them coming into the year. Doesn't mean they suck, just means they lost more than folks realized. Meanwhile, South Carolina is 6-4 with all four losses coming on the road against conference opponents (Bama, Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas). I'm not saying the Gamecocks are going to win, but I'm saying this is their one, big shot this year to make a statement game. In my humble opinion, if there's going to be one, this is the one.
Some of the other hidden gem games and other nonsense...
- Stanford visiting USC should be interesting and fun. This is a real shot for Hardbough and team to put an impressive, program-turning run together. Would love to see it.
- How crazy is it that Oklahoma is 5-4? That's killed Texas' schedule.
- Desperation game for Charlie Weiss - a win here and he gets a tad of breathing room. A loss and I think the hat passing process begins. Pitt is good and it's in their home. I'm taking Pitt.
- Hate for Hooser to see this, but I have to root for Oklahoma State on Saturday night. It's the only thing Horns' fans have to cling to in terms of respectable schedule. Interesting game here. Tech is somewhat reeling, but what do you expect with a third-string QB at the helm. Even Tech can't survive that without missing a beat - second string, yes. Third string, no. If Doege is playing, they lose.
- Oh, let's not forget this quiet, little gem - Iowa visits Ohio State to decide the Big 10. Ohio State is coming off a huge road win in Happy Valley while the Hawkeyes are coming off a rough loss to Northwestern. Of course the larger concern is that of Iowa's QB situation - they'll be without their starter Stanzi. I still don't entirely trust this Ohio State team, but I can't not take the Buckeyes here. We'll see if Pryor can string together a couple of good games.
- Would like to see Cody Johnson get about 17-20 carries this weekend.
- What has happened when OU vs. A&M is a meaningless game for us viewers.
- Real quick, Jay Cutler is not working out well in Chicago. Not working out well at all. They lost to the Niners tonight and he threw 5 picks...and no TDs.
- And all of a sudden, the Giants and Cowboys have switched spots in the NFC East in just about 30 minutes.
- Let's not fall completely to pieces on Denver just yet - they just ended a brutal 4-game stretch were going into it, 2-2 was looking good.....and they went 2-2. So let's settle down. The bad news is the Chargers have gone on a bit of a streak and probably built a huge amount of confidence after that win at the Meadowlands. I still think Denver is going to be OK and let's be perfectly frank - haven't they already exceeded their pre-season expectations? I think so.
- Before we start celebrating the Cowboys resurgence, let's see how the first couple of weeks of December go. I would still bet one of my toes that they don't win a playoff game.
- Remember when the NFC North was going to be an all-out battle between Green Bay, Chicago and Minnesota? Whoa, that's not going to happen. I'll give it one, two more weeks before this one is all locked up.
- I'm not sure if Pittsburgh is going to lose again. Big game against the Bengals this weekend to take control of the division. They look damn good.
posted by The Bearden Wonder at 11:47 PM
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