Big week this week. There are three gigantic matchups this week including two on Thursday night, which is rather unfortunate scheduling. Regardless this might end up being the best week of the season.

Big Games

Baylor vs Oklahoma 7:30pm Thursday FS1

Stanford vs Oregon 9:00pm Thursday ESPN

Alabama vs LSU 8:00pm CBS

Locks 10-24-1

Stanford +10 vs Oregon

Remember last year when Oregon went into their matchup against Stanford last year? They were 10-0, #2 in the nation, averaging nearly 55 points a night and were at home. Then lost while scoring just 14 points in a game that went to overtime and Stanford was only ranked #13. This year the Ducks may be better but so is Stanford and now the Cardinal will have the home field advantage. I don’t know if they will win this game, but the value on their moneyline is great at +310, and the ten point spot at home is just not going to lose.

Nebraska +7 @ Michigan

These are both bad teams but you are getting three free points with this spread.

Auburn -7.5 @ Tennessee

Don’t look now but the Auburn Tigers are 8-1 and inside the top 10 in the BCS. Not for nothing but should Auburn get past the Vols on the road and then Georgia at home, then the SEC West does not run through Alabama, it runs through Auburn. The Iron Bowl would decide who will be playing in the SEC Championship and possibly, the National Championship and that takes place in Jordan-Hare Stadium. In this type of a rivalry game, home field means everything and anything can happen. But when you have two top 5 teams, you could see the best game of the year. I am aware that that is a lot of pressure to put on their shoulders. But they can run the ball to control the tempo and might actually have what it takes to shock the world. By the way, Auburn is 12-1 to win the SEC and 50-1 to win the National Title.

UCLA -1 @ Arizona

UCLA is a really good team, it’s their schedule that fucked them. Brett Hundley and the Bruins are exactly “really good”, but had to play Oregon and Stanford on the road in back to back weeks. Those teams are “great” teams. This will be their biggest win of the season and will be the second straight win in a stretch that I expect to see them rattle off five straight to close out the year inside the top 10. By the way, is it as weird to you that the Pac-12 may just be the best conference in college football this year as it is to me?

Teaser 4-5

Baylor -5 vs Oklahoma

Missouri -4.5 @ Kentucky

LSU +22.5 @ Alabama

Who blows this? Maybe the good OU team shows up and Baylor barely wins? Maybe Mizzou comes out flat and Kentucky hangs around? No way LSU loses by 4+ scores, so I’m not even slightly worried about them (that’s code for that’s the team that will blindside me).

Best Bet 2-7

LSU +12.5 @ Alabama

This is a legit rivalry. The battles between these two have been incredible for several years now. You know everyone involved in both of these programs have had this date circled since the schedule came out. Alabama is at home, should be the better team and should win… but 12.5 is way too many points. LSU quarterback, Zach Mettenberger, feels the rivalry but has yet to contribute to the Tigers’ side of things. He is 0-1 and as a senior, this may be the last time he gets a crack at the Crimson Tide. Not to forget Alabama may not actually need this game that badly, especially not as bad as LSU. Think about it… if Alabama loses to LSU but goes on to win @ a top 10 rivalry team in Auburn and then winning over another top 10 team in Missouri in the championship game, are they really less qualified than an undefeated Ohio State? I know all you college playoff tards are arguing that there should be four or more teams involved, but in that case this game would mean literally nothing to Alabama outside of rivalry hatred. The playoff system was put in place so fake fans only have to watch college football for a couple weeks instead of every week. I’ve gone off the rails with this long all over the place paragraph about why LSU is going to cover, not that I have garnered any reason to be listened to with my awful record this season (I figured we would go there too since this paragraph is a mess). Anyway, 12.5 is too many points to give up in a rivalry game, especially when it actually means more to LSU.

mlz

Wednesday, November 6, 2013