A third straight 3-2 week pushes the season record barely over .500 to 28-27. As the season winds down, here's 5 more for this week...
Utah -2 over UCLA, 3:30 FOX
Utah has played a tough schedule and is 2-1 versus the top 30 in the nation. UCLA has only played one game against a top 30 team and lost it by 21 to Stanford. Utah is at home coming off a loss and is fighting for the Pac 12 South title and chance to win the Pac 12 at the conference championship game. The Utes are tied currently with Southern Cal at 5-2. Utah has UCLA at home and then hosts Colorado (which should be a win). Southern Cal has a much tougher road as they travel to Oregon as 4.5 pt dogs this weekend before playing cross-town rival, UCLA, in the finale. With a W at home over the Bruins, the Utes have a great shot at winning the division. I think they get it done and cover the small number.
Navy -12 over Tulsa, 7:00 CBS-SN
The Mids are like a well-oiled machine right now and playing with great confidence. They won't look past the Golden Hurricane on the road to their huge Black Friday matchup against undefeated Houston to potentially decide a Group of 5 NYD MEG participant. Navy's only blemish remains the Irish in South Bend. Tulsa's 5 wins are over FAU, New Mexico, LA-Monroe, SMU, and UCF. Their losses have all been against good teams but also by double digits. Disciplined Navy gets it done here.
Arkansas -3.5 over Mississippi State, 7:00 ESPN
The Bulldogs are riding the coattails of the overreaction of the SEC West's strength LAST YEAR. They simply aren't very good. They haven't beaten anybody this season worth anything. I thought the win over Auburn might have been a decent win but after watching some of Auburn's butt ugly offense against the Cesspool this past Saturday, I am convinced they suck as well. The Hogs OTOH sport the 7th strongest schedule in the nation per Sagarin's and they have won 4 straight coming into this game hot. Their last 2 wins include road victories at Ole Miss and at LSU (by 17 pts). After a very tough start in September, HC Bret Bielema has done an admirable job turning this season around. Note, this ARK team reminds me a bit of the Jackets team that got on a late season roll last year and just steamrolled opponents.
Missouri +8.5 over Tennessee, 7:15 ESPN-2
The Vols have a bad tendency to play to the level of their competition. They can rise up and take Bama to the final gun. Same at the Swamp. But then, their immaturity shows when they are established as 40 pt chalk hosting a pathetic North Texas bunch this past Saturday and then proceed to essentially sleep walk through the game with little intensity for a yawning 24-0 win. Mizzou has come together on two fronts. First, the team unified in its stand against racism. Whether you support that or not is irrelevant. The fact remains the team has come together...and it showed in their win over BYU this past weekend as home dogs. Second, head coach Gary Pinkel announced officially yesterday this will be his last home game as he is stepping down after a nice career in Columbia. I think the Vols win outright (though a Mizzou win won't surprise me), but don't cover more than a TD against a stingy Tigers defense.
Notre Dame -17 over Boston College, 7:30 NBC Sports Net
This game at Fenway Park is technically a home game for the Irish in Boston. BC's offense as we all know is just putrid. ND needs the style points to maintain their status as a likely playoff candidate. The Irish held Wake to 7 pts in South Bend this past weekend. That's about the most BC likely gets themselves. The Irish should put up at least 28 pts as they have in 8 of their 10 games this season. An Irish shutout is possible.
GLA!
Utah -2 over UCLA, 3:30 FOX
Utah has played a tough schedule and is 2-1 versus the top 30 in the nation. UCLA has only played one game against a top 30 team and lost it by 21 to Stanford. Utah is at home coming off a loss and is fighting for the Pac 12 South title and chance to win the Pac 12 at the conference championship game. The Utes are tied currently with Southern Cal at 5-2. Utah has UCLA at home and then hosts Colorado (which should be a win). Southern Cal has a much tougher road as they travel to Oregon as 4.5 pt dogs this weekend before playing cross-town rival, UCLA, in the finale. With a W at home over the Bruins, the Utes have a great shot at winning the division. I think they get it done and cover the small number.
Navy -12 over Tulsa, 7:00 CBS-SN
The Mids are like a well-oiled machine right now and playing with great confidence. They won't look past the Golden Hurricane on the road to their huge Black Friday matchup against undefeated Houston to potentially decide a Group of 5 NYD MEG participant. Navy's only blemish remains the Irish in South Bend. Tulsa's 5 wins are over FAU, New Mexico, LA-Monroe, SMU, and UCF. Their losses have all been against good teams but also by double digits. Disciplined Navy gets it done here.
Arkansas -3.5 over Mississippi State, 7:00 ESPN
The Bulldogs are riding the coattails of the overreaction of the SEC West's strength LAST YEAR. They simply aren't very good. They haven't beaten anybody this season worth anything. I thought the win over Auburn might have been a decent win but after watching some of Auburn's butt ugly offense against the Cesspool this past Saturday, I am convinced they suck as well. The Hogs OTOH sport the 7th strongest schedule in the nation per Sagarin's and they have won 4 straight coming into this game hot. Their last 2 wins include road victories at Ole Miss and at LSU (by 17 pts). After a very tough start in September, HC Bret Bielema has done an admirable job turning this season around. Note, this ARK team reminds me a bit of the Jackets team that got on a late season roll last year and just steamrolled opponents.
Missouri +8.5 over Tennessee, 7:15 ESPN-2
The Vols have a bad tendency to play to the level of their competition. They can rise up and take Bama to the final gun. Same at the Swamp. But then, their immaturity shows when they are established as 40 pt chalk hosting a pathetic North Texas bunch this past Saturday and then proceed to essentially sleep walk through the game with little intensity for a yawning 24-0 win. Mizzou has come together on two fronts. First, the team unified in its stand against racism. Whether you support that or not is irrelevant. The fact remains the team has come together...and it showed in their win over BYU this past weekend as home dogs. Second, head coach Gary Pinkel announced officially yesterday this will be his last home game as he is stepping down after a nice career in Columbia. I think the Vols win outright (though a Mizzou win won't surprise me), but don't cover more than a TD against a stingy Tigers defense.
Notre Dame -17 over Boston College, 7:30 NBC Sports Net
This game at Fenway Park is technically a home game for the Irish in Boston. BC's offense as we all know is just putrid. ND needs the style points to maintain their status as a likely playoff candidate. The Irish held Wake to 7 pts in South Bend this past weekend. That's about the most BC likely gets themselves. The Irish should put up at least 28 pts as they have in 8 of their 10 games this season. An Irish shutout is possible.
GLA!