Week 8: Games to Watch

The closer we get to December the bigger the pressure gets.  Last weekend we saw five top 25 teams get upset and several others get tested for the first time all season.  This weekend provides some incredible games as well.  Four top 25 match-ups, with one of those being effectively an elimination game from national championship contention.  See below for the games to watch.

Games to Watch:

Date	Time (CT)	Rk	Away		Rk	Home	Channel	BMW’s pick
10/18/2013	7:00 PM		UCF	v.	8	Louisville	ESPN	Louisville
10/19/2013	11:21 AM	22	Florida	v.	14	Missouri	SEC	Missouri
	2:30 PM	9	UCLA	v.	13	Stanford	ABC	Stanford
	2:30 PM	24	Auburn	v.	7	Texas A&M	CBS	Texas A&M
	6:30 PM		USC	v.		Notre Dame	NBC	USC
	7:00 PM	5	Florida St.	v.	3	Clemson	ABC	Florida St.
Other Notables:
	11:00 AM	16	Texas Tech	v.		West Virginia	FS1
			Texas				BYE

Last Weekend Ramblings:

Ramblings from my mind after watching a jam-packed weekend of football last weekend.

• LSU drew up the blue print to expose my Gators biggest weakness – the offensive line.  With the 82nd ranked offense, teams know to stack the box and make us throw the ball.  Tyler Murphy is adequate at throwing the ball, but with a stacked box, comes blitzes on passing downs and the O-Line looked like Swiss cheese.
• UT finally wins big in the Red River Rivalry.  What a great way for this team to come out fighting to send Mack Brown out with a victory, in what many believe will be his last Red River Rivalry.
• Baylor faced their first somewhat decent opponent and only won by 10 (for BU that is close).  As I mentioned last week, their schedule only gets more tough as the season progresses.  Can they continue to throw up video game numbers offensively?  Each week is a bigger test, even in a down Big 12.
• Oregon and Marcus Mariota looked really good in their first big contest of the season – defeating #16 Washington by 21 points.  Look out!  They too have a tough road ahead in the Pac-12 – which is likely the 2nd best conference in the nation this year (some would argue the best, over the SEC).  This team is good!!!
• Stanford got taken from the undefeated ranks by Utah.  Big loss for the Cardinals.  Can they bounce back this week against a very tough UCLA team?
• The injuries for UGA finally caught up with them.  And, the team that has flown the most under the radar this year – Missouri – finally put it to the injured Bulldogs.  Missouri didn’t escape without injury however, as they lost their starting QB in the game.  The Tigers are undefeated and now control their destiny in the SEC East.

I went 3-2 on my week 7 picks.  My pick percentage for the season is now at 78%.

Week 7 Poll Movers and Losers:

• Lots of movement this week in the polls with the five top 25 upsets occurring.  MOVING ON UP: Missouri was by far the biggest mover this weekend after knocking off the injured Bulldogs and remaining, a not-so quiet anymore, undefeated.  TUMBLING DOWN: Three teams all moved down about the same in the polls after upset losses – Oklahoma (losing to UT by 16), Georgia (losing to Mizz by 15) and Stanford (losing to unranked Utah by 6).

Games to Watch – Previews:

This weekend’s slate has one big elimination game which matches two top 5 teams, two big SEC games, 1 big Pac-12 game and several other intriguing match-ups:

• #5 Florida State v. #3 Clemson – This is the first HUGE match-up of the season.  The meeting will take place in Death Valley – two great offenses, both teams are loaded with talent (see preview video below).  The winner of this game is in the drivers seat for the ACC crown and possible national championship spot.  The loser of this game is eliminated from the national championship hunt, in all reality.  Can the freshmen phenom QB from FSU (Jameis Winston) continue his incredible season?  Or does Tajh Boyd the veteran, senior QB for Clemson put it on the rookie?  This game will be a close one.  I think the biggest thing to watch will be whether or not Clemson’s D-Line can get pressure on the young QB?  If they can, I think they can disrupt his offensive flow just enough to squeak this one out, if not… I look for FSU to take this one.  (Pick: FSU by 3)

• #22 Florida v. #14 Missouri – Mizzou is undefeated and in the drivers seat in the SEC East.  The storyline here is the #3 ranked UF defense versus the redshirt freshman QB from Mizzou.  Maty Mauk is the QB of this undefeated team now, the senior – James Franklin – injured his shoulder last week and will likely miss the remainder of the season.  The rage out of Columbia is that Maty is “better” than James Franklin (meet Maty in the video below).  We’ll see on Saturday as it won’t take much offense to win, because my Gators can’t score at all.  (Pick: UF by 3)

• #9 UCLA v. #13 Stanford – Can Stanford rebound after a disappointing loss to the unranked Utes last weekend?  I expect the Cardinals to come out with a chip on their shoulder.  However, this UCLA team is very well coached (Jim Mora) and will be up for this game as well.  This one should be exciting to watch.  (Pick: Stanford by 7)
• #24 Auburn v. #7 Texas A&M – Auburn is another SEC team that has flown under the radar this year.  If Johnny Football plays around with the football (carrying it like a loaf of bread) like he did last week, Auburn could pull the upset in College Station.  The Aggie boys better suit up for this one, the Tigers may be under the radar but don’t take this team lightly.  Another thing to remember is that Johnny was hurt last week against Ole Miss on a non-contact throw (see video below).  He better hope Jake Matthews (OT) can keep the lauded Auburn freshman – Carl Lawson out of his ear all day.  (Pick: A&M by 7)

• USC v. Notre Dame – I know neither team is ranked, which is a story in and of itself.  Nonetheless, this is two storied programs that will be going at it on Saturday.  If for some reason, the BIG game (#3 v. #5) gets out of hand then this is a good backup option on NBC during the primetime window.  No one will be watching this one, but it’ll be a good ole football contest.  (Pick: USC by 3)

Buckle up!  The season is just getting good.  At this point there are still 12-14 teams with a shot at the National Championship.  In a few weeks, that number will be reduced drastically.  Here we go.