12:00 ESPN: #12 North Carolina (9-1/6-0) at Virginia Tech (5-5/3-3)
*This is a huge game. For the Tar Holes, they can wrap up the Coastal Division and cash their ticket to Charlotte for the first time in program history. Boy, that loss in the opener to the pathetic Gamecocks is looking really bad right now. Imagine an undefeated UNC on a collision course with #1 Clemson. I mean, it is already that way of course, just UNC has that lone (bad) loss. This is of course Beamer's last home game so emotions will indeed be running very high in Blacksburg. The Tar Holes are laying 6.5 and that seems like a lot on first glance. But, once the first couple of drives take place and it gets down to talent, depth and execution, there are few teams playing better right now than UNC. Not sure the Hokies offense is good enough to keep up with the high-scoring Tar Holes. And, I doubt UNC will be as charitable giving the Hokies the ball as say GT was this last week. Great game for the ACC though with lead-in from ESPN Game Day. If the Tar Holes win, the Hokies will have to win at SSS to keep their nation-leading meaningless exhibition game appearance streak going.
12:30 ACC Network (split): Georgia Tech (3-7/1-6) at Miami (6-4/3-3)
*Will there be more than 10,000 fans in attendance for this game? We'll see. When Miami is bad, boy are they terrible. GT will score right around 21 pts. Maybe 14 or 17 if Tech's D or special teams doesn't score. Can Tech's defense hold Miami to under 21? Doubtful is my guess, but hopeful based on the decent defensive effort Tech put up against the Hokies. Miami is laying 1 pt in this game. Methinks they'll cover that and then some. (hoping I'm wrong of course)
12:30 ACC Network (split): Syracuse (3-7/1-5) at NC State (6-4/2-4)
*The Orange are one of five ACC clubs who will not get the requisite 6 wins to qualify for a MEG. Kudos to the Orange though who continue to play everybody tough. They gave Clemson a good game in their dome (as expected and predicted) this past weekend. NC State's wins this year have been over Troy, E Ky, ODU, South Alabama, Wake and BC. Here's another team with a losing record so I'm guessing they'll win. I wouldn't guarantee it though. As of this posting, the line is off the board at Vegas.
3:00 RSN: Chattanooga (8-2/6-1) at #16 Florida State (8-2/6-2)
*The Mocs just won the SoCon this past weekend and the AQ berth to the D1AA playoffs this past weekend. One of my childhood friends directs the offense for the Mocs. Great to see him doing well. FSU needed its backup QB to come in and lead the way to a W over the Pack this past weekend. Will be interesting to see if he stays as the starting QB. I'd like to see the Noles playing well when they head to the Swamp on the 28th.
3:30 ESPN-3: Duke (6-4/3-3) at Virginia (3-7/2-4)
*Duke has owned this series of late, but this year they are getting 2.5 pts at SSS. Makes sense really as the French are playing much better ball at this point in the season while Duke is banged up. I like the French at home in London's final days.
3:30 ESPN-2: Wake Forest (3-7/1-5) at #1 Clemson (10-0/7-0)
*The Orangenecks are favored by a whopping 30 here and they'll probably cover it. Style points at this time of year count. The Kitty Cats cannot afford to step off the gas so I expect they'll RUTS and unfortunately for Wake it is understandable (and forgiven given the opportunity).
3:45 ESPNews: Louisville (6-4/5-2) at Pittsburgh (7-3/5-1)
*Well, the Panthers should know their Coastal fate by kickoff from the result of the UNC-VPI&SU game earlier in the day. The Cards have won 6 of their last 7. Pitt is coming off a thrashing of a reeling Rutgers-Durham team on the road. This should be a good game regardless of what happens with the earlier game. Both teams are playing to enhance which meaningless exhibition game they are forced to play. Pitt is laying 2 pts.
7:30 NBC Sports Net: Boston College (3-7/0-7) vs #4 Notre Dame (9-1) at Fenway Park
*This is the ATS lock of the week, IMO. ND is "only" laying 17 pts. Guido advises me the computers say this line should be more like 27 pts. BC as we all know will play good D. But, they can't score for the life of them. ND will score like Clemson did and as mentioned earlier, style points matter at this time of year more than ever for those dreaming playoff dreams. The Pac 12 is out of the playoffs now and the Big 12 very well may kill themselves beating one another. The Irish need to drill the Eagles as I expect they will and then defeat Stanford and they are in the playoffs, IMO.
Other games of note...
3:30 ABC/ESPN-2: #9 Michigan State (9-1/5-1) at #2 Ohio State (10-0/6-0)
*Sparty was absolutely screwed by the refs in their lone loss this season at Nebraska keeping this from being a game of unbeatens. But, not too many tears for MSU because they were handed a gift from Michigan and I'm not sure they have covered a spread all season long. Having said that, Ohio State has been very pedestrian all season while not having played anybody of note. A Sparty win here puts them in the driver's seat for the B10CG. Michigan will actually be rooting for their rival, Ohio State. A Buckeyes win sets up a winner-take-all game between the Buckeyes and Wolverines at the Big House right after Turkey Day for the divisional title assuming Michigan can get past Penn State in Happy Valley this upcoming weekend. Lots of playoff implications as well. Plus, you still have undefeated Iowa sitting over on the other side of the Big Ten. Ohio State is laying a whopping 13 pts at home. Seems like a lot for a team who hasn't beaten anybody worth bragging about so far (and who beat Northern Illinois at home by 7 and won at Indiana by 7 after the Hoosiers blew the game late).
7:30 Fox: #10 Baylor (8-1/5-1) at #4 Oklahoma State (10-0/7-0)
*Well, you kind of could sense that the Bears were ready to be beaten...and as predicted, they were. Now, I think a lot of the nation is probably rooting for them to knock off OSU. With the Pac 12 essentially out of the playoffs now, this opens up a legit shot for a 1-loss team out of the Big 12 to make the playoffs...especially if it is Oklahoma. With no CG, their worst case scenario is probably Baylor winning here and then OSU defeating Oklahoma. Then again, OU's loss against Tejas still is a pimple on their resume' and OU still has to defeat TCU this upcoming weekend, which looks likely with TCU's QB out now. Baylor had to go undefeated plain and simple with their vaginal OOC scheduling. Glad they lost. Now, I hope they win. Vegas has the Gun Slingers as a 1 pt favorite at home in this No Defense League contest. Still wish Iowa State had pulled off the huge upset of OSU this past weekend as I'd love to see the playoffs without these Defenseless League teams appearing. I like Baylor here now that the pressure of staying undefeated is off and they can play spoiler. If they think they still have some shot at the playoffs, good for them. They don't. But, let's not tell them. It's cute watching them think they do.
*This is a huge game. For the Tar Holes, they can wrap up the Coastal Division and cash their ticket to Charlotte for the first time in program history. Boy, that loss in the opener to the pathetic Gamecocks is looking really bad right now. Imagine an undefeated UNC on a collision course with #1 Clemson. I mean, it is already that way of course, just UNC has that lone (bad) loss. This is of course Beamer's last home game so emotions will indeed be running very high in Blacksburg. The Tar Holes are laying 6.5 and that seems like a lot on first glance. But, once the first couple of drives take place and it gets down to talent, depth and execution, there are few teams playing better right now than UNC. Not sure the Hokies offense is good enough to keep up with the high-scoring Tar Holes. And, I doubt UNC will be as charitable giving the Hokies the ball as say GT was this last week. Great game for the ACC though with lead-in from ESPN Game Day. If the Tar Holes win, the Hokies will have to win at SSS to keep their nation-leading meaningless exhibition game appearance streak going.
12:30 ACC Network (split): Georgia Tech (3-7/1-6) at Miami (6-4/3-3)
*Will there be more than 10,000 fans in attendance for this game? We'll see. When Miami is bad, boy are they terrible. GT will score right around 21 pts. Maybe 14 or 17 if Tech's D or special teams doesn't score. Can Tech's defense hold Miami to under 21? Doubtful is my guess, but hopeful based on the decent defensive effort Tech put up against the Hokies. Miami is laying 1 pt in this game. Methinks they'll cover that and then some. (hoping I'm wrong of course)
12:30 ACC Network (split): Syracuse (3-7/1-5) at NC State (6-4/2-4)
*The Orange are one of five ACC clubs who will not get the requisite 6 wins to qualify for a MEG. Kudos to the Orange though who continue to play everybody tough. They gave Clemson a good game in their dome (as expected and predicted) this past weekend. NC State's wins this year have been over Troy, E Ky, ODU, South Alabama, Wake and BC. Here's another team with a losing record so I'm guessing they'll win. I wouldn't guarantee it though. As of this posting, the line is off the board at Vegas.
3:00 RSN: Chattanooga (8-2/6-1) at #16 Florida State (8-2/6-2)
*The Mocs just won the SoCon this past weekend and the AQ berth to the D1AA playoffs this past weekend. One of my childhood friends directs the offense for the Mocs. Great to see him doing well. FSU needed its backup QB to come in and lead the way to a W over the Pack this past weekend. Will be interesting to see if he stays as the starting QB. I'd like to see the Noles playing well when they head to the Swamp on the 28th.
3:30 ESPN-3: Duke (6-4/3-3) at Virginia (3-7/2-4)
*Duke has owned this series of late, but this year they are getting 2.5 pts at SSS. Makes sense really as the French are playing much better ball at this point in the season while Duke is banged up. I like the French at home in London's final days.
3:30 ESPN-2: Wake Forest (3-7/1-5) at #1 Clemson (10-0/7-0)
*The Orangenecks are favored by a whopping 30 here and they'll probably cover it. Style points at this time of year count. The Kitty Cats cannot afford to step off the gas so I expect they'll RUTS and unfortunately for Wake it is understandable (and forgiven given the opportunity).
3:45 ESPNews: Louisville (6-4/5-2) at Pittsburgh (7-3/5-1)
*Well, the Panthers should know their Coastal fate by kickoff from the result of the UNC-VPI&SU game earlier in the day. The Cards have won 6 of their last 7. Pitt is coming off a thrashing of a reeling Rutgers-Durham team on the road. This should be a good game regardless of what happens with the earlier game. Both teams are playing to enhance which meaningless exhibition game they are forced to play. Pitt is laying 2 pts.
7:30 NBC Sports Net: Boston College (3-7/0-7) vs #4 Notre Dame (9-1) at Fenway Park
*This is the ATS lock of the week, IMO. ND is "only" laying 17 pts. Guido advises me the computers say this line should be more like 27 pts. BC as we all know will play good D. But, they can't score for the life of them. ND will score like Clemson did and as mentioned earlier, style points matter at this time of year more than ever for those dreaming playoff dreams. The Pac 12 is out of the playoffs now and the Big 12 very well may kill themselves beating one another. The Irish need to drill the Eagles as I expect they will and then defeat Stanford and they are in the playoffs, IMO.
Other games of note...
3:30 ABC/ESPN-2: #9 Michigan State (9-1/5-1) at #2 Ohio State (10-0/6-0)
*Sparty was absolutely screwed by the refs in their lone loss this season at Nebraska keeping this from being a game of unbeatens. But, not too many tears for MSU because they were handed a gift from Michigan and I'm not sure they have covered a spread all season long. Having said that, Ohio State has been very pedestrian all season while not having played anybody of note. A Sparty win here puts them in the driver's seat for the B10CG. Michigan will actually be rooting for their rival, Ohio State. A Buckeyes win sets up a winner-take-all game between the Buckeyes and Wolverines at the Big House right after Turkey Day for the divisional title assuming Michigan can get past Penn State in Happy Valley this upcoming weekend. Lots of playoff implications as well. Plus, you still have undefeated Iowa sitting over on the other side of the Big Ten. Ohio State is laying a whopping 13 pts at home. Seems like a lot for a team who hasn't beaten anybody worth bragging about so far (and who beat Northern Illinois at home by 7 and won at Indiana by 7 after the Hoosiers blew the game late).
7:30 Fox: #10 Baylor (8-1/5-1) at #4 Oklahoma State (10-0/7-0)
*Well, you kind of could sense that the Bears were ready to be beaten...and as predicted, they were. Now, I think a lot of the nation is probably rooting for them to knock off OSU. With the Pac 12 essentially out of the playoffs now, this opens up a legit shot for a 1-loss team out of the Big 12 to make the playoffs...especially if it is Oklahoma. With no CG, their worst case scenario is probably Baylor winning here and then OSU defeating Oklahoma. Then again, OU's loss against Tejas still is a pimple on their resume' and OU still has to defeat TCU this upcoming weekend, which looks likely with TCU's QB out now. Baylor had to go undefeated plain and simple with their vaginal OOC scheduling. Glad they lost. Now, I hope they win. Vegas has the Gun Slingers as a 1 pt favorite at home in this No Defense League contest. Still wish Iowa State had pulled off the huge upset of OSU this past weekend as I'd love to see the playoffs without these Defenseless League teams appearing. I like Baylor here now that the pressure of staying undefeated is off and they can play spoiler. If they think they still have some shot at the playoffs, good for them. They don't. But, let's not tell them. It's cute watching them think they do.
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