College Football Week 8 Preview

Evan is on the road once again so only was able to make picks via text.

South Florida @ Pittsburgh, Saturday 12pm
Mike: Pitt is one of 3 teams unbeaten in the Big East (how has WVU only played 1 conference game?). So far this year Pitt has been the only competitor to Cincy for a chance at the title. USF? They are the wild card that probably won’t win the conference but in any given week could knock off anyone. So the safe pick for me is Pitt. I’m going with the fact that it’s supposed to be a washout in eastern PA so it should be at the very least soggy in western PA and that will slow down USF. Pick: Pittsburgh
Matt: Pitt has been very much under the radar this season, but now they find themselves in the top 25. They have a very good freshman running back that has been putting up some good numbers. I am still not very big on USF. They only have that one “quality” win over Florida State. If the weather for the game is how Mike mentioned it might be, then I like Pitt to control the game with their ground game. Pick: Pittsburgh
Evan: South Florida
Ahad: Weather will probably impact this game which means the running games will most likely decide this one. Pitt appears to have the better ground game. Pick: Pitt

Arkansas @ Mississippi, Saturday 12:21pm
Mike: This game is getting attention thanks to Arkansas containing UF. Although if you move the endzone to the 10 yard line, UF blows out Arkansas. All Mississippi needs to do is hold on to the ball. Ole Miss hasn’t looked too bad except for that Bama loss. But Arkansas is no Bama. Pick: Mississippi
Matt: Arkansas lost a tough one last week to the Gators. They were aided by several Florida turnovers, though. This should be a good passing matchup between Mallett and Snead. Snead should get the better of the matchup with the Razorback’s defense. I think Ole Miss will get back on track after the Alabama loss and give Houston Nutt a win over his old team. Pick: Mississippi
Evan: Arkansas
Ahad: Here is a matchup of two bigger name qb’s in the conference. I think Snead has the better supporting cast and home field advantage in his favor. Pick: Ole Miss

Penn State @ Michigan, Saturday 3:30pm
Mike: I feel like this is before the Iowa game again. The first test. We don’t know this team. I fault the Big 10 for being mediocre. PSU’s defense showed up against Minny and held a fairly decent offense scoreless. Lee didn’t look 100%, which gives me more hope that he is still improving. Both Michigan QBs like to scramble. Our DTs like the get in the backfield and our linebackers love running down QBs. So, it comes down to, can PSU put points on the board? I hate going back to just pulling out one game, but Indiana put up points on Michigan. If you look at their games against the Big 10 + ND, they least they’ve given up in a game was 26, in a loss to MSU. That’s enough. Pick: Penn State
Matt: Penn State’s last trip to the Big House resulted in a 14-9 loss and proved yet again Anthony Morelli’s ineptitude as a quarterback. And let’s not even talk about the trip before that. The main question for this game is how will Daryl Clark handle himself? He self-destructed in the Iowa game, and he needs to avoid those similar mistakes in this game. The only concern I have about the PSU defense is the secondary. They played well last week, but they need to continue to get better because they will certainly be challenged in this game. After applying the traditional officiating screwgie factor, the game will be a close one. Can we get SEC officiating crews to work this game? Time to exorcise those demons. Pick: Penn State
Evan: Penn State
Ahad: PSU in the Big House hasn’t turned out too well for us lately. Paterno has been talking about how he wanted replay years ago after the Tony Johnson calls. This game will be a big test for PSU. Michigan is a really young team that has shown some ability. PSU is the veteran team in this matchup but this game will come down to how Clark plays. He is the leader of this team. Look for the O-line to continue to improve and the ground game to be a factor. The PSU defense should be able to contain the scrambling of the Michigan QB’s. Pick: PSU

Oklahoma @ Kansas, Saturday 3:30pm
Mike: Kansas doesn’t impress me at 5-1. Looking at their schedule I can see them ending up 6-6. Oklahoma doesn’t have Bradford but they still have their D. That’s all they need. Pick: Oklahoma
Matt: I agree with Mike…Kansas doesn’t impress me either. Without Bradford, this game will be much closer. Oklahoma’s three losses have been by a combined 5 points, with two of them being on the road. The Sooners defense will come to play and their offense will make just enough plays to pull out the win. Pick: Oklahoma
Evan: Oklahoma
Ahad: Losing Bradford and Gresham really messed up Oklahoma’s season. This team still has a lot of pride and a very good defense. They had a good chance against Texas but the turnovers killed them. Look for the Sooners to get things going in the right direction. Pick: OU

TCU @ BYU, Saturday 7:30pm
Mike: Mid-major game of the year? The likely battle for the Mountain West title. TCU had a tough D and when they don’t play anyone, they put up points. BYU has their signature win against Oklahoma but also that loss to FSU. I’m taking that FSU game off the board, it will make my head hurt to think about how that happened. BYU will put the ball in the air, but TCU only has 4 picks this year. It comes down to what I think of when I think about BYU, revenge. You don’t take away their chance at a BCS game last year and think they will forget about it. Pick: BYU
Matt: BYU has a slight advantage in this matchup being at home. However, they did lose in a blowout at home to Florida State. I trust TCU more than BYU right now, and I think TCU’s defense will be the difference in the game. Pick: TCU
Evan: BYU
Ahad: BCS Buster Game of the year? Look for TCU to keep rolling. Pick: TCU

Average Games
Connecticut @ West Virginia – As I said above, WVU is 1-0 in conference. The Big East needs to convince at least one more of its basketball schools to play FBS football.
Maryland @ Duke – This week’s definition of average game.
Boston College @ Notre Dame – Remember when this game used to be interesting?
Arizona State @ Stanford – An evenly matched 10:15pm Pac 10 game. I love these. Almost never get to watch, but I still love them.

Standings
Matt 22-13 (4-1)
Mike 20-15 (4-1)
Evan 19-16 (3-2)
Ahad 18-17 (3-2)