Cram Session - Week 7

Pretty weak weekend for college football. Both Notre Dame and Nebraska are on bye weeks and their are no real stand out games that grab your attention. Sometimes those weekends end up being the best though, because the games end up being good and catch everyone by surprise. Most of the hyped games this season have been blowouts, so perhaps dialing down on the hype will lead to better games.

Top 10 - Saturday, October 15

#1 LSU (6-0, 3-0) at Tennessee (3-2, 0-2)

Last year's game is remembered for the whole too many players on the field debacle that kept the Volunteers from a huge upset win in Baton Rouge. The Volunteers will start backup Matt Simms, as starter Tyler Bray is out with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. The Tigers feasted on Florida's third string quarterback last weekend and will no doubt he licking their chops to face Simms. I expect the Vols to keep this game closer than the Gators were able to, mostly because they have a pretty good defense. The LSU offense remains pretty mediocre I think the Vols can force LSU into some mistakes that will allow them to hang around. It won't be enough though.

Prediction: LSU 24, Tennessee 13

#2 Alabama (6-0, 3-0) at Mississippi (2-3, 0-2)

The Alabama offensive attack is becoming more balanced with the emergence of QB AJ McCarron which would seem to give them an edge heading into their November 5th showdown with LSU. Houston Nutt is hanging on by a thread at Mississippi and the next three weeks figure to not be too kind to him and the Rebels. After they lose to Bama this weekend, they have to play at Arkansas and host Auburn in the next two weeks. Life in the SEC.

Prediction: Alabama 30, Mississippi 10

#3 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0) at Kansas (2-3, 0-2)

Its sad to see former Husker legend Turner Gill failing so miserably in Lawrence. Jayhawks fans are probably missing morbidly obese Mark Mangino right about now. The Jayhawks had 70 laid on them last weekend by Oklahoma State, while the Sooners absolutely destroyed Texas in the Red River Rivalry. The only reason I am not expecting Oklahoma to hang 70 on the Jayhawks is because the game is in Lawrence and the defense has been a little less than awful at home.

Prediction: Oklahoma 48, Kansas 17

Indiana (1-5, 0-2) at #4 Wisconsin (5-0, 1-0)

This is another huge mismatch. Indiana's only win of the season came against South Carolina State. Non-sequitur but some Penn State fans don't understand why their team isn't ranked when they are 5-1. Well, beating a sorry team like Indiana by 6 points is probably a huge part of that. The only reason I don't expect Wisconsin to win by an even larger margin is I think they will call off the dogs rather early. They have a huge game at Michigan State next weekend to prepare for.

Prediction: Wisconsin 45, Indiana 13

#5 Boise State (5-0, 0-0) at Colorado State (3-2, 1-0)

The Broncos are making their Mountain West Conference debut. With all of the conference realignment that is happening it remains to be seen how long Boise remains in the Mountain West. The Broncos laid a butt whooping on Fresno State last week, winning by 50 points on the road. However, with no ranked teams left on their schedule, and with TCU being down this year, it will take a miracle for Boise State to play in the national championship game. Heck, even making a BCS bowl may be impossible, even if Boise finishes unbeaten.

Prediction: Boise State 38, Colorado State 20

#6 Oklahoma State (5-0, 2-0) at #22 Texas (4-1, 1-1)

The Longhorns have no time to lick their wounds after their embarrassing defeat against Oklahoma last weekend. Next up is the Cowboys, whose offense continues to put up insane amounts of points and yards. This is the start of a pretty tough four game stretch for the Cowboys, who are hoping to go into their rivalry game with Oklahoma unbeaten. I don't think the Longhorns are as bad as they showed last weekend, and it also helps that the Cowboys defense is nowhere near the level of the Sooners defense. I think Case McCoy and David Ash will bounce back and make some plays to keep it interesting. However, the Horn defense is too young to stop Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon.

Prediction: Oklahoma State 35, Texas 27

#7 Stanford (5-0, 3-0) at Washington State (3-2, 1-1)

Stanford keeps blowing teams out, and Andrew Luck keeps playing amazing football on his way to a Heisman trophy. Washington State has showed some fight this season and if they hadn't choked against UCLA last weekend would be 4-1. I think this will end up being Stanford's toughest game this season but tough is relative, they will still win by two scores.

Prediction: Stanford 37, Washington State 23

#8 Clemson (6-0, 3-0) at Maryland (2-3, 1-1)

Everyone is still waiting for Clemson to revert back to the norm but the Tigers keep winning. Now they face a Terps team in some turmoil as a quarterback controversy has erupted. It is not clear if C.J. Brown or Danny O'Brien will start for Maryland but what is clear is that it likely doesn't matter. Clemson will only lose this game if they beat themselves and have turnovers or something. The Terps defense showed fire at Georgia Tech last weekend in limiting the Yellow Jackets attack, so because of that I expect the Terps to hang around for a bit. However, too much Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins for the Terps to pull an upset.

Prediction: Clemson 26, Maryland 17

#18 Arizona State (5-1, 3-0) at #9 Oregon (4-1, 2-0)

The absence of star running back LaMichael James for the Ducks gives the Sun Devils some hope. Arizona State's only loss this year was by 3 points to undefeated Illinois, and by Pac-10 standards they have a pretty good defense. Despite being without James, the Ducks still have plenty of depth as both Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas have had success rushing the ball. The quarterbacks will also be fun to watch. Ducks QB Darron Thomas has 15 TDs and 2 INTs, while Sun Devils QB Brock Osweiler is extremely accurate and has 13 TDs to 6 INTs this season. Dennis Erickson has done enough this season to get himself off the hot seat but his team isn't ready to win a road game like this. That being said their is a pretty good chance these teams could see each other again in the Pac-12 Championship game.

Prediction: Oregon 27, Arizona State 20

Last Week: 11-0!!!!!!!! (28-0 my last three weeks)
Overall: 53-4