College Football Week 9 Preview

First, a note … Gregg was busy this week and not able to do the UCR rankings. He should be back next week.

Boston College @ North Carolina, Saturday 12pm
Evan: The UNC dream was shattered with an embarassing loss to a Cavalier team that is awf”wonder”ful, depending on the week. I’m sticking with my beantown boys. Also, Bruce Springsteen’s son just started at BC, and his name is Evan. Pick: Boston College
Matt: North Carolina had a big letdown last week, but I think they will right the ship this week at home. Pick: North Carolina
Ahad: UNC will get things moving in the right direction after a tough loss last week. If VaTech had any kind of passing game, they would have beaten BC last week. I am going to continue to hate on Boston. Pick: UNC
Mike: Can I quit the ACC? I don’t really care about the conference this year. No one is going to challenge for the top of the rankings. You have teams like Virginia and Maryland, who are more unpredictable than any teams I’ve ever seen. I fear I’m going to get burned by not respecting Boston College yet but I still have faith in North Carolina. Pick: North Carolina

Wake Forest @ Miami (FL), Saturday 12pm
Evan: I have been waiting for the game where Miami beats a team they shouldn’t because of their superior talent despite lack of experience. This is the game. Pick: Miami
Matt: Wake hasn’t been playing very well of late and I think Miami will be able to pull off the upset. Pick: Miami
Ahad: Miami has the talent to beat Wake but no the experience. Pick: Wake
Mike: I don’t like picking this game, even a little bit. Wake lost to Maryland last week but that’s not a big deal, the national championship caliber Maryland must have shown up. At some point I figured Miami would start to get rolling. They struggled with Duke, but scored a few late TDs to make it look worse than it was. It pains me both to pick a team and to have it be … Pick: Miami

Oklahoma State @ Texas, Saturday 3:30pm
Evan: I’m going with the strategy that if I pick Texas, they will lose. Pick: Longhorns
Matt: Can Colt McCoy be stopped? Will Oklahoma State be able to put up enough points to stick with the Longhorns? Just curious, but what is the rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma State called? I will be rooting for the Cowboys, but Pick: Texas
Ahad: McCoy announced that he is coming back for his senior year. He shouldn’t be worried about that right now. Just focus on the games ahead of you. Oklahoma State has stopped construction on their new athletic super-complex because all the money that the rich alumnus donated has gone away with his hedge fund taking a dump. I will also be rooting for Oklahoma State, but if Texas doesn’t get complacent, they will win. Pick: Texas
Mike: You can’t pick against Texas. It just doesn’t make sense. OK ST went into Missouri and won, which gives me hope that this will be a good game. It might be close during the 1st half but I think Texas runs away with it. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch the game, unless I fire up ESPN360. Pick: Texas

Georgia @ LSU, Saturday 3:30pm
Evan: I’m still looking forward to this game, even though both teams have a loss. The winner still has a great shot to go to the SEC championship game, and ultimately the national championship. The loser will have to wait until next year. I’m going with the Dawgs, because I want them to be ranked as high as possible when we play them next week. Pick: Georgia
Matt: This is a tough game to call for me. LSU is usually pretty tough at home, but I like Georgia’s chances. Pick: Georgia
Ahad: This is the perfect example of a game that no one really knows what is going to happen. The winner stays alive in the SEC and the loser is basically done. If Georgia leaves the black jerseys at home, I think they can pull it off. Pick: Georgia
Mike: I feel this game is getting overlooked because it doesn’t have an immediate impact on the top of the BCS Standings. What happened to being pumped just for a great matchup? This game is a lot bigger for LSU than Georgia. An LSU loss puts them 2 back of Alabama (if they beat Tennessee). A Georgia loss drops them into the 2 loss pack in the East but with a chance next week to beat Florida. Georgia then would control their destiny, at least as far as the SEC is concerned. I think I’m one of the few that still thinks the SEC is the best conference. I think so far Georgia has faced the tougher competition and Florida exposed the LSU defense. I guess Auburn exposed them too, a good defense doesn’t let Auburn score 21 points. This win will give Georgia a bunch of hype leading to the Cocktail Party next weekend, which I expect to be a great game. Pick: Georgia

Penn State @ Ohio State, Saturday 8pm
Evan: WOOOO! I’m glad that Ohio St dismantled Michigan State last week, that will prevent any talk that this is a “should win” for Penn State. I’ll be wearing my Penn State jersey and wearing a Phillies hat while I watch the games at the local Penn State bar. Everytime I pick against Ohio State, they end up winning. If I pick them, and they lose, I’m happy that Penn State won. If I pick them, and they win, at least I get a point. Pick: Buckeyes
Matt: Wow, here it is. Time to exorcise some more demons. We haven’t won in Columbus since 1978, but I think we have the team to do it. I don’t think it will quite be the defensive struggle like the game in 2005. Daryll Clark has something about him that won’t allow this team to lose. If this is our year, then we must have this game. I expect to see Todd Boeckman in this game. He tore our defense up last year, and I think Tressel will insert him to switch things up. The key to the game is PSU’s defense’s ability to stop the running of Pryor and Wells. Pick: Penn State
Ahad: Another chance to make up for past failures. They took care of business against Michigan now comes the bigger test. Clark is trying to put this team on his shoulders just like Robinson did a few years ago. If they can contain the running game, PSU has a great chance. OSU doesn’t have much of a passing attack, and rotating QBs is a possibility. Let me also say that I think Laurenitis is over-rated and has benefited from playing behind a good d-line. Pick: PSU
Mike: I had my worries about Michigan and most of them came out in the 1st quarter. I have similar worries for this game but I think the team knows this is serious. My top concern is with the playcalling. In these big games the past few years we go away from the offense that was successful all year and try and run it down their throats, with poor results. I hope that we have yet to see all the wrinkles of the Spread HD yet. I’m looking for some 1080p action in this game. I feel like Kirk during GameDay, I shouldn’t have to pick this game. Pick: Penn State

We all picked Georgia. I figured it would be split or LSU would get more picks. This concerns me. This whole week we all have similar views. Everyone picked Texas. Everyone but Evan picked Penn State and UNC. Ahad picked Wake to try to differentiate himself from the crowd. Going against the crowd has worked for Evan and Ahad thus far. They lead these picks with a 16-14 record so far. Let’s hope it doesn’t keep up for them.

Schedule for Week 9